Soccer Practice

When compared to soccer drills, games have a bigger contribution in developing kids talent in soccer practice, of which you'll be sure once you get to the end of this. Games require the same amount of energy like in a live match but are more refreshing than drills.

In relation to soccer training, games command passion, is a source of great fun, and in the process of learning it, kids benefit from various phases of the game. There are a few guidelines that you need to keep in mind before introducing games in training sessions.

1. Its necessary for each player to both have the ball and play with it more often.

2. Its vital that each player has an equal participation in the game. In no case should it happen that weak players don't get the opportunity to play with the ball.

3. The strategy of reward and reprimand should be done away with. These are not intended for the games.

4. Games should only concentrate on building soccer skills.

5. Ideally, you should not enforce any rules or limits in a game.

6. Make the games easy to comprehend and participate. Difficulty in understanding the games results in wastage of time.

7. Last but not the least, it is important to increase the challenge in a game once the kids have passed a certain level.

Every player doing soccer practice should have at least 200-300 touches to the ball in one session. This will ensure that they are making progress in improving their skills. Some exciting, well-liked and successful soccer coaching games have been given below that aid in building player's skills.

1. Shoot the coach: This game requires the kids to travel in a crowd while maintaining their head up and attempt to strike the ball into the goal. This leads to a player's dribbling ability and concentration power getting better. The best way to make the kids play it is start with 3 players and then increasing the number slowly.

2. Freeze Tag: It's best for doing the warm up sessions and making the kids learn the art of keeping the ball away from the defender. In this game, every player has a ball except one and the player without the ball must touch (not kick) the ball. When it comes about, the player having the ball becomes still and acts like a goal post. He can be de-frozen only upon the other player hitting the ball through the other player's legs. Continue playing till the time all players are in a frozen state.

3. Red light, green light: In this game, the players stand in a line. The coach will shout green light and turn his back to the players who will then move forward along with their balls within the time that the coach again shouts red light and faces the players. If a player does not come forward, he is asked to go back. This is a nice game that builds quickness and focus.

So there you have it! If you like to know more about such soccer practice games, register for our youth soccer coaching academy where you will find several such resources.