Tag Archives: soccer skills

The Number One Key For Developing Athletes

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What do you think is the most important trait for kids to become athletes?

Is it strength? Speed?

Perhaps it’s size…or toughness.

All those traits are important. But I don’t think they are the most important.

I think it’s consistency.

Consistency in practice, in getting outside and playing, consistency when having ups and downs.

Consistency to develop athletic kids

No matter how skilled an athlete is, they need to practice consistently. It doesn’t have to be the same sport (in fact for younger athletes it shouldn’t be). It does have to be every day.

The NFL has a program called “Play 60″, encouraging kids to get outside and play for at least 60 minutes every day.

I don’t think that’s enough. Honestly, I think that kids need to be active for at least 3 hours a day. That doesn’t mean they need 3 hours of soccer practice. It means they need to be outside with friends; running, throwing, kicking, climbing, and just playing.

By consistently getting outside and playing, or even physical playing and movement inside, then kids will be more fit, more healthy and more athletic.

To learn how you can consistently play with your child to develop their athletic skills and become a better soccer player (or athlete), click here.

Soccer Fitness and Coaching: Three Things You Always Need to Assess Your Team

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Coaches need to asses their team in a variety of areas

Always assess your team for improvement

As a coach you need to be assessing your teams progress and development daily.

This doesn’t mean you have to give them tests every day.

It does mean you must watch them and see if they are improving.

Sometimes you might have tests or other ways to measure how their soccer skills are coming along.

Let’s look at a variety of soccer skills that can be assessed and a few ways to measure them.

You could measure individual fitness. For instance;

  • Timed runs in the 100 yard dash and the mile run;
  • How many push-ups can they do in a minute;
  • What’s the average distance per kick out of five trials?

Obviously, there are a ton of things to measure and it would depend on your philosophy, the kids age and experience and the time of season that you would measure.

You can also measure practice stats as well. How many come to practice? How long does it take to get practice going? How much time is spent on warm-up, strategy, scrimmage?

And of course, you can measure game statistics. The worst thing to measure is how many wins you have or how many goals. This tends to make you focus on the outcome of the game rather than then the process of learning and improving.

The next post will be about different types of assessments and some of the advantages and disadvantages of them.

Hey, if you read this, you might be wondering who I am. My name is Ron Usher and I’m a kids fitness expert. I help parents, teachers and coaches work with kids for fitness, health and sport. You can read my complete bio here by clicking the link.

Soccer Skills: Teaching Anticipation. Part 2

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In the previous post, I mentioned how important it is to be ready to anticipate where the ball is going to go or where the player is going to go.

Of course, there is a lot more to it than I gave. I hope you’re able to take the technique and the soccer drill and apply it appropriately to the age and skill level of your team or child.

The next step is to have the body be ready to move.

It is one thing to know which way the ball is going or the player is  going. If you’re not ready to move it will be too late.

The key to this step is to be in an athletic stance. If you are running or jogging there are ways to make the body be ready to move as well.

A good athletic stance will have these three things.

  • The head will be up, eyes covering the field;
  • The knees will be bent, ready to move;
  • The weight will be on the balls of the feet and shifting.

The same basics apply to athletes moving as well. If they are running and their head is down they will not be able to see the pitch or the players…

If they are moving or running with their knees bent then they will not be able to change direction…

If they are running with their heels first they will be slow and not able to keep up.

Parents and coaches should teach the basics of the athletic stance early and it needs to be reinforced through lots of repetitions on soccer drills and when working soccer skills.

For a complete description on way to teach it, it’s in my athletic skills for soccer book which teaches parents and coaches how to develop the athletic skills necessary for soccer fitness and success. Click the link to learn more.

Soccer Skills: Anticipation…How to Teach It. Part 1

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A master of soccer anticipation

Soccer is a game of anticipation. The player that anticipates the next move or where the ball is going to go is most likely going to be the first one to the ball…or to be in the right spot at the right time.

There are three main features to being able to out anticipate an opponent. They are:

  • Being able to know the situation and what you should do. This is mental and learned.
  • Being ready to move. This requires both mental and physical skills.
  • Being able to move quickly. This requires physical skills and practice.

The concept of anticipation has to be taught to the kids. Even U6 soccer players can start to learn how to anticipate.

The first soccer drill is to have them line up for a pass. Bring your right leg back so that the only way you could kick the ball is to their right.

Ask them which way they think the ball is going to go? They will quickly learn to observe body position changes and location/speed of the ball to make the right decisions.

This technique can be used in a host of other soccer drills and skills.

It will take time and practice to master, but it is well worth it.

This is also a great drill for Mom or Dad to do with the kids. It’s a guessing game and fun. They can also play it with you, though they will soon be tricking you because that’s pretty funny. As their soccer skills improve (and yours) the game will get very challenging.

For more ideas on how to work with your child to develop soccer skills, click the link. Playing with your kid is one of the greatest things about being a parent. Learn how to do it so that your son or daughter develops a lifetime love for sports and fitness.

Variations on the toe tapping drill for soccer skills

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I’m sure that every soccer coach uses the toe tapping drill for their kids. It’s a good drill for getting a lot of touches on the ball, as well as building endurance.

Soccer Dribbling

But any drill needs to be adjustable for difficulty. Maybe it’s too hard for some (especially U5 soccer ) and too easy for more advanced players. Here are some variations you can do to make it easier…and more challenging.

Here’s the basic drill:  Give every player a ball, and at your signal, have them tap the ball with the sole of each foot, switching feet, as fast as possible. Continue this for 10 to 30 seconds or so, then take a break.

While older kids should pick this up right away, younger players will need more time to get the coordination of this drill down. Typical variations are to move the ball forward, back or to the side. But even that limits the players ability to challenge themselves and have fun.

Try these variations and be sure to experiment. Have fun with it and ask your kids to come up with new ways as well.

To make it easier:

  • Hold on to a wall or fence.
  • Hold on to another player.
  • Use balls with less air.
  • Use a Koosh ball that doesn’t roll.

To make it more difficult:

  • Face a partner. Hold each others shoulders and go at the same time. Great for getting kids use to physical soccer play.
  • Add a hop before touching the soccer ball.
  • Jump up and touch the ball with both feet at the same time.
  • 10 touches, run around ball, 10 touches, run other way.
  • One toe touch, circle foot around the ball. Repeat other foot.
  • To make it more physical and conditioning add an exercise or a run after a set number. Push-ups, jumps, burpees, etc.

I hope this is enough to get you thinking out of the box on ways to have fun and teach at the same time. It’s really what great coaching is all about. If you want more ideas on progressions and modalities which is what this is, be sure to get my Athletic Skills for Soccer.

As always, leave your comments for others. Got other ideas? Let’s share!