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Coaching High School Soccer: How To Teach Effectively

Jun 172010

I don’t know if you know this but communication is the most important element to succeed in coaching high school soccer. Coaching is an art of communication. It enables you to let people understand exactly what you wish them to do and in what sense.

Majority of coaches in soccer coaching are the players who used to play the game in their younger days. Then also they have to face a number of issues while coaching young players. The reason why many of these issues show up is the coach’s inability to communicate. As a coach, you need to work upon certain communication related problems for effective execution of your responsibilities.

These are described for you one at a time.

Emotions of the coaches take over their minds while they are watching their kids play on field. They tend to become spectators rather than analytical observers. They fail to notice the important points that could better their team’s performance. They therefore lose the opportunity to have an objective conversation aimed at winning the game.

Though the coaches today are complete professionals fully acquainted with the game, they lack communication training. For example; in soccer coaching, many coaches are not aware of the utility of a flip chart or a video. It’s important for the coach to know the game well but if he is unable to communicate his thoughts, the training gets repetitive.

Coaching Youth Soccer

In coaching high school soccer, communication becomes all the more important because the kids start to understand the game quite well. They have been doing these soccer drills for some time but at different levels. One effective method is to continuously vary the format of training in order to avoid the repetition of boring messages.

The coaches have a tendency to just forget that training sessions are being executed by human beings and not machines. They tend to get carried away in the process of coaching and training. For instance; the communication is incomplete when an instruction is given to a player but without his/ her name thus making it difficult for any of them to apply it.

Some guidelines meant for coaches in football coaching include the following:

• All messages from the coach are important for players. So it’s necessary that they are deduced correctly.

• Use positive language that encourages players to give their best shot. Help them to improve rather than reprimanding them for not playing well.

• All players should get an equal opportunity to sit with you and learn. It has come to light through various studies that coaches spend much more time with their top players (up to seven times more!).

• Don’t wait for the problems to arise to sort them out.

• Reinforce the player’s self esteem by balancing praise with criticism. Tip the balance more towards praise with players in coaching high school soccer.

Trust me. When you apply these rules to your training sessions, the benefits will be much more that you’ll expect.

There’s not limit to the amount of information that you can lay your hands on. You just have to subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community to get all the latest and relevant information pertaining to the game.

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Coaching high school soccer.

5 Simple Steps To Coaching Soccer Drills

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Jun 172010

Coaching soccer drills

Before you get on with coaching soccer drills to kids, let me share with you some teaching ideas that are sure to help you, whether you agree or not. Let’s say that the soccer practice has one broad goal for both the coach and the player and it is to have fun while participating in the practice sessions.

Herein, you must remain careful otherwise you’ll not be able to follow the fun part. Consequently, identify such objectives that are particularly important for you as a coach and also equally important for the team. Some examples are; focus on player’s individual soccer skills, promote the importance of their physical fitness, and help them grow into mature, professional, and sporting soccer players.

Since you are the coach, you only are responsible for setting high standards of sportsmanship for players. Support them in developing a sporting attitude, a feeling of team spirit, and an attitude of fair play. There are several objectives important in teaching soccer that can be incorporated in your list along with these.

The theory of winning is one concept that I’d like to stress upon when it comes to coaching youth soccer. When you coach your kids, you must instill an open concept of winning in their minds. Teach them that as long as their performance is out of ordinary on the field, they are winners, no matter what the final result.

Soccer Coaching

This will take away the pressure off the kids and they’ll focus more on playing their best game rather than just winning it.

Coaching soccer drills requires you to give clear and precise instructions to your team so that they get the desired results. Before coaching, you need to teach your players about some explicit do’s and don’ts in soccer. The variation between coaching and teaching is prominent because coaching deals with a bunch of players who already play soccer pretty well.

In the process of coaching drills, it is nice to first impart 5 to 6 demonstrations about a drill to the kids and then let them practice it themselves. It is because kids have a tendency to learn quickly by watching than by listening. If you try to explain everything as a lecture, they may not get it. Relatively, they imitate perfectly.

So, as a general rule, demonstrate the skills yourself whenever possible.

Finally, but still very important is your ability to keep the kids engaged in important activities. This becomes even more important when the weather is windy, wet, or cold. It’s a fact that all kids love to play in the rain. Hence, instead of simply cancelling the session, it makes more sense to have them play soccer games or something like that.

Just make sure that in a situation like this, your kids have an extra layer of clothing and proper footwear.

Now, it is time to add these tips to your training program and make the most of them. You will be surprised by the results.

To access more similar tips on coaching soccer drills, enroll for our youth soccer coaching community that has tons of useful tips and tricks on youth soccer coaching.

Free Soccer Drills: Want To Learn Heading

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Jun 162010

Free soccer drills

One of the most thrilling aspects of any soccer game is performing free soccer drills, I am sure you would agree with me in this regard. One of the basic faults that players make when dribbling a soccer ball is that they focus more on the ball and don’t know what is happening around them.

I will share with you a drill that has often been used repeatedly during soccer practice to teach young players to dribble a soccer ball because they love it. The drill teaches the players to seek and make the maximum utilization of space.

The biggest hurdle faced by the coach is to make the young soccer player aware of his environment while having control of the ball under his feet.

The most often used drill to teach the young players to keep their heads up while dribbling is also a lot of fun apart from teaching valuable skills.

Soccer Drills

This drill is far better than other soccer exercises which makes the players just dribble around the cones because it gives the opportunity to feel the ball and for the space close to them for their utilization.

1.On an average start by marking out a square of size 20 * 20 yards (change the square size depending upon number of players and age).

2.Hand over the balls to the one half positioned on the opposite side of the square. These players are named as the attackers.

3. Next, have the other half of the players spread out and cover the square. These players are named as crabs.

4.Crabs use their hands to protect themselves after sitting down. These players can walk around using their hands and feet only.

We can accomplish both a lot of learning and yet have fun during these free soccer drills.

Upon the coaches’ whistle, all the players dribble the ball to the opposite side and stop the ball on the line opposed to them. The attackers are renamed as Crabs, when the original crab attacks the attackers. The game comes to a conclusion only when one Attacker is left and he is declared as the winner.

The Crab learns the importance of teamwork by refusing space to the attackers and tries to take the ball away from them; it’s really a win-win situation in soccer coaching.

It’s a simple but effective way of teaching the players to dribble with their heads up, cross the defenders, and avoid bumping into each other as they move across the square.

The final inference is every player has the ability to be more alert, to react quickly and to run faster. These free soccer drills help achieve better acceleration and decision making speed.

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About the author

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Soccer Drills.

How To Coach Soccer: Want To Know The Secrets

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Jun 112010

How to coach soccer

Has it ever crossed your mind how a few tips on how to coach soccer can help in building a great soccer team with ease? If no, then go through these simple but helpful tips on different aspects of soccer strategies, practice drills, fitness, diet, and basically everything that makes the game and its players shine.

This article has some key points and some general approaches for a coach to adopt in building a match winning team.

1. Devise soccer coaching drills carefully: Instruct the kids duly in advance before you start with the training session. But make sure that a lot of time is not spent on these. For example: Limit the briefing to 10 minutes maximum if the training session is scheduled for 30 minutes.

2. After the players start playing, leave the field and let them have fun while they play. Note down the mistakes made by players but don’t discuss them until the session gets over. When you go on disrupting players in between the matches, it’ll kill all the fun involved.

3. Introduce variety in your drills: One of the most practical tactics is to initiate variety in drills in the practice sessions so that the kids look forward to take part in the forthcoming sessions. Allow them to take part in a variety of activities including walking, jogging, running, and the like, along with their daily drills.

Soccer Coaching

4. Divide players into small groups: As a youth soccer coach, when you are to train a lot of players at the same time, it works well to divide them into small groups. Moreover, teaching soccer requires the coach to keep a vigil on each group’s progress and their activities.

It must be ensured that each player gets undivided attention and that the players also get opportunities to talk to each other.

5. Feedback is important but should be carefully summarized: Talk to your players keeping in mind their age and intellectual capabilities. What you do in terms of how to coach youth soccer is mainly derived out of your knowledge of what the abilities of the kids are at a certain age.

6. Communication is essential: Speak proudly about the achievements of the kids and praise them when they meet the goals. This will enhance their confidence and also encourage them to do more.

7. Listen well: Every now and then, kids may come up with ideas that are dazzling only if you care to listen to them. Support the kids to speak out their mind. If you befriend the kids, they learn soccer skills at a fast pace and also enjoy more.

8. When the kids do things at a certain level easily, increase the standard. There is no harm in testing the capabilities of the young players and also present a few challenges.

These tips are whole-heartedly accepted and have proven their effectiveness. It is the most efficient and easy to follow theory about how to coach soccer as it enhances your confidence as a coach and also presents factors that are responsible to make a winning team.

There is a good amount of information in the form of articles, videos and newsletters posted on our youth soccer coaching community which keep you updated with the latest and the best in soccer, hence you should subscribe it.

Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Free Soccer Drills.

Coaching High School Soccer: 10 Sure-fire Tips To Self-Control

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Jun 082010

Coaching high school soccer

In coaching high school soccer, it’s a fact that similar to confidence; self-control too is a choice players need to make. In soccer coaching, self-control strategies are based on the relationship between thoughts and emotions. We are all aware that our feelings influence our emotions and this consequently boosts our performance.

You can aid your players in learning the skill and discipline of self-control with the 12 step strategy that I’m going to share with you. Nevertheless, it’s imperative that players agree to these steps after that are sure that it holds a lot of importance for them.

Besides this, they must also assume total responsibility for their actions. The 12 step strategy is explained in the following paragraphs.

1. Awareness: In coaching youth soccer, lend a helping hand to players in identifying their weak points. Help your players evaluate the reasons how, where and when they lost control on the ground in their past.

2. Understanding: Make the players realize why their thinking changed and how it caused them to lose their emotional balance.

Coaching Youth Soccer

3. Differences: Give them time to recollect situations when they did lose control and when they did not. Let them gauge the difference in their attitudes, emotions, and behavior.

4. Problem: When it comes to coaching high school soccer, try to point out the real problem. For example: Is it the guilt of letting the whole team down because of their performance?

5. Belief: The players should manage to raise their expectations from them including self-control as one of the behaviors. Give confidence to players to change themselves.

6. Reinforcement: Reinforcement has the potential to accelerate a change in behavior. Being a coach, you need to appreciate the good changes in the players to ensure that these remain forever.

7. Goals: To improve the skills of the players, you must start with several small goals. Help the players understand the connection between thoughts, feelings, and actions.

8. Techniques: Put together different behavioral action items to uphold the confidence level. For example: If a certain situation happens, this is the course that players must follow.

9. Plan: In football coaching, teach the players to pursue their goals in a planned and systematic way.

10. Progress: Teach them how to be patent. Let them know that improvement always comes in a series of ups and downs.

11. Setbacks: Help the players in accepting the setbacks, as these will continue to happen. Thus, utilize these to learn new things for improvement.

12. Remembrance: Finally another important point is making the players understand the importance of the reason for they are trying to change. The players must always know that why and what are they doing. What will their future be like, if they don’t change.

We all agree that a perfect performance state for a soccer player is that of a relaxed promptness. This simply means use of full energy without stress.

You must not make any mistake about it. You must include relaxation techniques in coaching high school soccer and train the players on how to control the thought process so that they can keep themselves stress-free.

There is lots of good information available in the form of articles, newsletters, and videos on youth soccer coaching community to help you learn new coaching techniques; hurry subscriptions are open.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: Soccer Practice Drills.

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