What if I told you that young players find it really hard to kick a soccer ball using a straight leg? In coaching soccer drills, this is by far the biggest problem that a coach and the players face. It calls for the player to keep complete balance and bend the leg at the knee in order to kick the ball. Both poise and power to kick the ball comes from below the knee.
This is the starting point for almost all styles of kicks in soccer practice. The increase of rate of the foot from below the knee puts together a powerful blow on the ball. This offers great amount of power to players for carrying out different types of kicks. Yet, it is the kind of contact of the ball with the foot that decides what type of kick would originate.
For example; it could be knocked very high, driven low, turn left, or sway to the right.
There are three basic passes in soccer namely, a side foot pass, the outside of the foot pass, and the instep drive. We’ll now chat about them further.
The side foot pass: This is the easiest and the most widely used pass in teaching soccer. It is generally used for making short distance passes. Despite the fact that this is somewhat slow and predictable, it’s easy to learn and simple to execute. The contact with the ball is made on the inside of the ankle and the foot with the foot turned outwards.
In coaching soccer drills, players should know that their body need not be tense during the movement with the ball. When it comes to different kicking actions, this rule is the truly indispensable. Players should strengthen the ankle and the foot only at the time of making contact with the ball.
Once the players become confident, their overall action should seem relaxed, smooth and effortless.
Outside of the foot pass: This pass is a little complex to teach and learn but it must be learnt well as it’s the quickest, most accurate, and unpredictable pass. The ball gets in touch between the outside edge of the foot and the laces with the foot extended and turned inwards. With the help of the foot, the pass is modified into a quick flick for short distances.
In coaching drills, it’s imperative that the players maintain a comfortable posture.
The Instep Drive: Both the versions of the instep drive namely, lofted version and the low driven version are applied to pass the ball to longer distances. There is also an option to adapt this style to make a “chip pass” or an “in swinging pass”. Since the approach of the instep drive is slightly angled and the non kicking foot is placed about 12 inches to the side of and behind the ball.
The ball makes a contact with the laces and inside of the foot, which should be firm and extended.
So now coach your kids the various techniques of kicking the ball and with variations to let them do different things with the ball.
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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 Training Drills.
Tags: coaching drills, coaching soccer drills, Soccer practice, teaching soccer