Coaching Youth Soccer: You Can’t Make These Mistakes
If you are Coaching Youth Soccer, there are some things every youth soccer coach needs to consider and be aware. Here’s a list of some of these important guidelines that can help you in many different ways:
1. Don’t make speeches. This may not seem important but kids really get bored and distracted when coaches have the habit of making incredible long speeches and instructions. 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- it’s not the coach’s job to run after runaway balls during soccer practice. Make your players go run and get the balls that they shoot out of the field. You can even make it a rule that if they score they don’t have to catch it anymore for that day.
4. If you do have special ball-boys on hand to help out, make sure they don’t join the practice. This simply signals a laxity in discipline- ball boys are just there to get the ball. If they want to join in the practice, they have to join the team like everyone else.
5. Never, ever criticize the player. Never blame a player for missing a goal or a shot. 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. It’s important that you interact with your player’s parents in a way that they feel integrated and well informed of what it’s happening. 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. If you’re a youth soccer coach and you’d like to learn how to dramatically improve your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time visit us right now 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.