Coaching Youth Soccer: Expert Tips
Coaching Youth Soccer can be exciting and fun but there are important aspects every coach needs to take into consideration. You may say that some of these are just simple common sense, but they are not for sure common practice:
1. Don’t make speeches. If you’re a youth soccer coach and your teaching young kids, it’s especially important that you don’t bore them with long speeches and lectures. The age of your players is nor important. What is important is that you keep your speeches short, sweet and right to the point.
2. Don’t complicate things. Strip every drill to its basics and test it with your players making sure they are ready to move forward and perform it well. It’s really easy for the kids to lose interest and attention when a coach tries to implement and demonstrate drills with lots of diagrams and instructions.
3. Don’t be a ball boy- during a soccer practice ball will be travelling all over the field. Leave them alone! This can affect your authority and control over the players and severely damage the respect they have for you. They need to go get it.
4. Do you have kids helping with getting the balls? If that’s the case, don’t let them join the training session. This simply signals a laxity in discipline- ball boys are just there to get the ball. Some of these kids may want to join your drills. Let them know that they can join if they want to make part of the team in the future.
5. Never, ever criticize the player. If a player misses a shot or fumbles, don’t blame them. Point out the flaws in their technique or skill and do that calmly. Screaming at a player for being ‘stupid’ is a great way to make them want to leave your team.
6. While Coaching Youth Soccer, explain it clearly and as briefly as possible. After that it’s time to show the kids how it’s done. They will understand it if you do it properly. Conversely, don’t try and demonstrate something that you can’t do.
7. Health and safety should always be foremost in a coach’s mind. This means making sure that the ground and the equipment are in good shape before your soccer training session starts. Remember that if a kid sprains his ankle because the ground was slippery, then it’s technically your fault.
8. Don’t leave the parents out in the dark. Meet with parents regularly and always keep them up-to-date when it comes to the team’s problems and challenges. Always remember that your player’s parents can be your best ally.
When Coaching Youth Soccer, these are important aspects that every coach should consider. You can discover how to improve the soccer skills of your players really fast and make training more fun and exciting at SoccerDrillsTips . com.
About The Author:
Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching. If you want to learn how to explode your players’ skills and make practice more fun and interesting, get your free Soccer Coaching guide at http://www.soccerdrillstips.com – Coaching Youth Soccer Drills.
Coaching Youth Soccer: You Can’t Make These Mistakes
When Coaching Youth Soccer and as with any profession, there is a list of things that a soccer coach should always follow. Most of these are based in common sense and as a result, are pretty easy to remember:
1. Don’t make speeches. If you’re a youth soccer coach and your teaching young kids, it’s especially important that you don’t bore them with long speeches and lectures. The age of your players is nor important. What is important is that you keep your speeches short, sweet and right to the point.
2. Don’t complicate things. When teaching a drill, try to strip it down to its bare run-through and make sure that the players are fluent in it before you modify it. I can bet your players will lose their interest in the practice sessions if you try to give them over complicated exercises with lots of instructions.
3. Don’t be a ball boy- this is essential. If you want to keep your players’ respect, don’t run after balls. This can affect your authority and control over the players and severely damage the respect they have for you. They need to go get it.
4. Do you have kids helping with getting the balls? If that’s the case, don’t let them join the training session. This simply signals a laxity in discipline- ball boys are just there to get the ball. Some of these kids may want to join your drills. Let them know that they can join if they want to make part of the team in the future.
5. Never, ever criticize the player. If one of the kids makes something wrong, don’t blame him. Point out the flaws in their technique or skill and do that calmly. Screaming at a player for being ‘stupid’ is a great way to make them want to leave your team.
6. While Coaching Youth Soccer, explain it clearly and as briefly as possible. After that it’s time to show the kids how it’s done. They will understand it if you do it properly. Conversely, don’t try and demonstrate something that you can’t do.
7. Health and safety should always be foremost in a coach’s mind. This means making sure that the ground and the equipment are in good shape before your soccer training session starts. Remember that if a kid sprains his ankle because the ground was slippery, then it’s technically your fault.
8. Don’t leave the parents out in the dark. Hold regular meetings with them to address concerns and to let them know about the upcoming games or events. Parents are a powerful ally when it comes to keep your coaching activities running smoothly.
When Coaching Youth Soccer, these are important aspects that every coach should consider. You can discover how to improve the soccer skills of your players really fast and make training more fun and exciting at SoccerDrillsTips . com.
About The Author:
Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching. If you want to learn how to explode your players’ skills and make practice more fun and interesting, get your free Soccer Coaching guide at http://www.soccerdrillstips.com – Coaching Youth Soccer Drills.