Posts Tagged ‘soccer skills’

Improve Your Soccer Skills With Our Tips

Saturday, November 19th, 2011

Soccer is a physically demanding sport. Whether it be shooting, free kicks or passing, a player can always improve their skill set.. In order to become a successful soccer player, it is important to practice on and off the field. Practicing with your soccer team is not enough if you want to become one of the top players on your team. Professional soccer athletes always talk about how many hours the spend practicing and the variety of techniques the practice in order to improve their soccer skills.

The first step is to realize what areas of the game are your strengths and which are your weakest. In order to become a top level player you will have to focus on your weaker zones. It is crucial to maintain a balanced skill set. You may have steady control over the ball but if you are not fast enough, you opponent will be able to kick the ball away from you. Therefore, this weakness can prevent you from becoming a top level player. Once you know your strengths and weaknesses pick out the drills that will help you become a better player.

Once you do that, it is highly recommended that you set up a schedule of your daily soccer training. This aspect is crucial; you should never let an exercise or drill become routine. Once it becomes routine you could become bored with it, which will detract you playing your best. Whenever you are practicing, use alternative techniques and a variety of methods. Talk to your coach, teammate or go online to learn different routines and soccer drills.

It is also important to run every day since soccer is a demanding sport. A soccer player averages 6 miles per game through walking, running and jogging.. Another technique used by soccer athletes is practicing with ankle weights which allows you to gain foot and ankle strength. Practing everday with a wide variety of soccer skills and techiques you will become a better player within a few weeks..

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The Significance Of Rehearsing Soccer Skills

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Many people watch a game of soccer and do not know the number of hours get into practicing the different soccer skills required to play the overall game.  To become a decent player, you will spend a lot of time doing boring coaching drills.  These are the foundation of soccer; they help you to get a body accustomed to doing certain moves without having to think about it.

Running down an area while keeping charge of a ball isn’t as easy since it looks.  Consider that you will see many other people trying to get that ball from you which is even harder.  When you join a team become familiar with how you can move with a ball, how to ensure that it stays from another team, how to pass it, and you’ll learn to get this done while running as quickly as you can.  If you can have a minimum of a part of what you need to do almost automatic, then you can focus on other things.  The drills can help you with this.

While at practice you need to watch your team mates too.  Find out how they move, listen once the coach tells you about individual strengths and weaknesses.  Soccer is really a team sport, and also you all need to know how to experience with one another.  Don’t think the hour you spent passing the ball round the field like a chore or punishment, instead give consideration.  As it pertains game time you will have to know things like number 3 is great when the ball is due him on the right, but misses a great deal if coming on the left.

You should be sure you visit all your practices.  Yes, this can mean giving up a number of your free time.  Practice may not be as much fun as a game, but if you don’t go you won’t have the ability to play.  Your coach, or even the organization itself, may have rules on attending practices to be eligible to experience.  More to the point though, if you don’t visit practices you won’t have the soccer fitness to play.  You’re not good towards the team if you get fatigued in the middle of the game.  Make sure to keep your body up and moving, during half time you might want to spend a few minutes re-warming up prior to going back out to play.

Soccer may not be a complete contact sport, but there is a lot of endurance needed, and a lot of skill.  If you intent to playing the game, take time to discover the basic soccer skills and plan on practicing a great deal!

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Soccer Training Tips: Tips On Flexibility

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Soccer training tips

I’d like to ask you something. Almost all soccer coaches tend to ignore the soccer training tips while designing training programs for kids with the intent of just making up the numbers and going through the motions. Are you doing the same thing?

Before planning your next training session, set some goals for the team. Ascertain what you specifically wish to achieve from the training session and do everything required to get that done.

Add to your training program such soccer drills that are new, innovative, and fun to perform so as to add variety. It will allow the players to try something new instead to repeatedly doing the same drills every day. Once the kids enjoy participating in the training sessions, their performance will improve drastically.

Make your players learn to respect you and listen to you, irrespective of their age or the level at which they play. Appreciating each other’s feelings creates an environment that is pleasant for both the coach and the kids.

Soccer Training

Soccer players get an edge over others when they are highly flexible. There are 3 types of flexibility.

Dynamic flexibility: It refers to a player’s capability to perform fast movements within the full range of motion in the joint, like twisting from side to side.

Static active flexibility: The ability to stretch a tough muscle by using the tension within that muscle is termed as static active flexibility. One example is to hold one leg in front of you and keep it as high as you can. The hamstrings are stretched while the quadriceps and hip flexors hold your leg up.

Static passive: It is the ability to hold a stretch using your body weight or some other external force. For instance; hold your leg out in front of you and rest it on a chair.

Let’s now move on to the next step in following soccer training tips. Here, you need to check if the kids are clad in appropriate clothes that suit the weather conditions.

Training for soccer should be complemented by a fitness program that is designed to identify and improve upon the weak areas. Following are the factors that must be kept in mind when designing a training program like this.

Player’s age: Decrease in the flexibility of soft tissue with aging is directly related to the reduced range of movement as one grows older, irrespective of the gender. However, decrease in flexibility can be significantly slowed down if we keep active.

Gender: Girls show greater movement, no matter what their age.

Activity: When it comes to displaying soccer skills, active individuals demonstrate a greater range of movement than inactive individuals.

Injury: Injuries also hamper the range of motion in a joint.

Pain: Flexibility decreases as pain increases, resulting in muscle spasms. On the other hand, strength training does not affect flexibility if you are doing the exercises correctly and in full range of motion.

Genetics: The amount of flexibility that a player possesses also depends upon his genetics.

Therefore, soccer training tips like these should always be a part of the training program that makes it more useful and effective. Subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community that has tons of articles, newsletters, and related videos to improve your coaching skills.

 

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 Drills For Kids.

 

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Soccer Training Tips: Tips On Stretching

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Soccer training tips

Let me tell you that stretching is an vital part of soccer training tips and professional coaches highly recommend it along with almost every player in every sport practicing it daily? As a sport, soccer is growing and developing incessantly in its superiority.

There are two kinds of stretching; static and dynamic, that are slotted in planning training for the soccer season.

Static stretching requires players to stretch their muscles to a point of resistance and hold for a given duration of time. Rebounding, rhythmic bouncing, and recurring motions are involved in dynamic stretching. Generally, static stretching is considered as more effective and involves less risk than dynamic stretching.

In this article, you’ll find some good points of stretching that can help average players become great players.

Soccer Training

Stretching reduces injuries: Stretching helps bring down the risks of injury when performed over a period of time by stretching the muscles daily, thus promoting their growth. Stretching provides a way of growing the muscle mass and strength as well.

Stretching shapes flexibility: Stretching puts a stop to any loss of flexibility. Nevertheless, stretching works best when performed for a greater length of time than for shorter periods of time.

Performing stretching for a few minutes before starting any playing activity is likely to enhance flexibility. When it comes to soccer training tips, the best bet is to distribute a stretching program over a predetermined length of time to continuously increase the range of motion.

Stretching perks up performance: When stretching program is designed specifically to suit soccer needs of the players, their performance improves.

Stretching can be great fun for the kids: If you include a lot of different types of soccer drills in your practice sessions, it can be a lot of fun. Keep varying the warm-up activities you do before stretching. Try tag games, ball tag, and keep away.

Concentrate all your energy on stretching, experience and identify with each stretch while checking for soreness.

For almost all players, one single 15-30 minute stretch for each muscle group is sufficient but some may need longer stretches and more repetitions.

The reason is that when the temperature of muscles is higher than normal, tension decreases and extensibility increases. Those players who wish to sustain or increase their flexibility can partially attain this goal by stretching. It’s advisable to perform stretching exercises when the body temperature is higher than normal as it is safer and more useful.

That’s why some experienced coaches recommend stretching after a workout also. Stretching for five minutes after practicing soccer skills prevents muscles from tightening too fast.

Usually, players who practice an active warm-up ahead of stretching get a superior range of motion than those kids who just stretch. So if injury prevention is your aim, stop stretching before exercise and increase the warm up time.

I again reiterate that the most important of all soccer training tips is to remember that hurried stretching does not help kids become flexible, gets monotonous and pointless, so let them take their own time to warm up before stretching. Join our youth soccer coaching community and enhance your knowledge about soccer through loads of articles, videos, and podcasts available there.

 

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: Youth Soccer Drills.

 

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Soccer Training Tips: How To Coach Goalkeepers

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Soccer training tips

The importance of soccer training tips for goalkeepers can be easily made out from the fact that a goalkeeper is the only player on the field who can touch the ball with both arms and hands.

And so, soccer skills that a goalie possesses give him an edge over other remaining players. But this makes a coach’s job tougher and more complex when training goalkeepers for soccer.

Soccer Goalkeepers are often the first line of the offense and the last line of defense, depending upon the technique of play. They wouldn’t mind using their body in every possible way to stop the ball or obstruct a shot from getting inside the goal. They are always prepared to grab hold of the ball by pitching into any direction whatsoever.

A goalie’s training for soccer can be very challenging, keeping in view their specific role requirements and their level of play. You must also keep in mind, his mental state when you are training him/ her on all important skills and techniques.

Soccer Training

The only player in the team who can match the vigor of a goalkeeper is the striker. Actually some of the best goalies have already been great strikers at some point in their career. You’ll often see a goalie and the forwards in a direct battle at different levels of competition.

One of the most important soccer training tips for a goalkeeper is to stay balanced and know the center of gravity of the body. This will benefit a game setting by enhancing the activity of a goalkeeper and the promptness of other players.

Even though most of the goalkeepers are tall, have long arms, and big hands, but even if it isn’t so, they can compensate for it with good vertical and lateral mobility.

Goalkeepers need unvarying motivation even though they have a good sense of self-worth and the coaches should never forget this. Soccer Goalkeepers need to do their regular warm ups with the team, but then separate from the team and perform the specific soccer drills that will prepare them for the game.

Goalkeepers have a dominant personality and in that sense they are also the leaders of the teams. So they should be placed in a voiced and representative capacity so that they can successfully accomplish their duties with the support of all the team members.

The goalie can handle the ball only in the 18 yard box. When the ball gets touched by the arm of any player other than the goalie, the opponent team gets a free kick. If it is a goalie’s teammate, it’s a penalty shoot from “the spot”.

So go ahead and use these soccer training tips in improving the overall performance of the team by supporting the goalkeeper who’s the leader in the 18 yard box and should be appreciated for that. Join our youth soccer coaching community that has loads of relevant articles, videos, and newsletters to update your knowledge on the subject.

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.

 

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