Teaching Soccer Technique

Teaching Soccer Technique takes time and emotional investment, but is arguably the primary responsibility of the youth coach working with players in the developmental stages.  Teaching technique is time spent not organizing the team for a victory on game day, but is equipping each player for a lifetime of success in the game.

Soccer technique is like a language, and players must become fluent before they are placed into competitive situations, where they will fall back on their athleticism as a means to get by.  There is a place for that athleticism, as a compliment to the skills at the heart of the game.

Here--first video below, click on the image to play-- we start with a ball at rest. The aim in all of these videos is for the player to play a straight, low, ball with sufficient power.

Coaching Keys to play a Straight, Low Ball

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1) Step Back Straight away from the Target about 3-4 Steps

2) "Get your Motor Running": Prepare the feet by a light jog in place

3) Approach and Follow-through straight at the target--do not draw leg across body

4) Lock the ankle and strike the center of the ball with a firm proper foot surface--laces or side of foot

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Which of these Players will have a harder time hitting the target?  Why?

 

That Touch is redeemed as she cleans up her approach run and contact with the ball.

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As a means of raising the stress level,  a hurdle or some other obstacle can be placed in the player's path to the ball.  This will increase the ability of the player to perform the technique in game-like conditions in which the time and space are limited.

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Moving from a stationary to a moving ball, we still attempt to recreate the conditions for transitional footwork in a tight space before performing technique.  Here we see the players have lost the timing and therefore intensity of the setup; the ball should arrive just as the player's feet are recovering from the series of jumps.  The coach needs to step in and reset the tone.  When the technical and psychological dimensions click, the players perform. 

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A Circuit is a loop in which the player carries the ball or locates a ball along the path.  Here we see a  circuit these players found both challenging and fun.  You may want to set up your circuit before the players arrive.

As coach has arranged this path, the players had a water break and began a hand game only they can explain.  From Coach's perspective this adds an element of social fun to the team environment.   How to Soccer encourages you to experiment with the concept of the circuit, and tell us about your training in the comments section.

 

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