Soccer players will be soccer players - theyโre hyper and ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ป๐ฎ๐. So instead of getting frustrated, be prepared! Here are a few tips on how to keep players (or younger kids) focussed at soccer training...
Amazon - Coaching Book: https://amzn.to/3aqhtjn To buy a colour PDF of the 5 book bundle directly, visit www.chriskingsoccercoach.com or Email: chriskingsoccercoach@gmail.com
๐ญ. ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ง!
Soccer players come to training to play soccer, not listen to the coach yabber on. ๐ฆ๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฎ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด, ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น๐น. Give them a short description of the main points and get into the drill!
Once youโve been going for a couple of minutes then you can stop and adjust it quickly and give them any more instructions. Or even just give instructions to a player as the drill is going so that youโre not constantly stopping it.
If you give them 10 different things to remember at the start itโs a waste of everyone's time.
๐ฎ. ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ก๐!
Hands up who likes to stand in a line and wait? I thought so. So why make players wait in line when they could be getting in more repetitions of the skill?
So instead of having long lines or players waiting to come on, do this:
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฝ ๐บ๐๐น๐๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ (๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐น๐น). It may feel a bit crazy but so what? It stops the long wait in lines and therefore stops getting bored and creating trouble . If you set the drills up side by side you can be in the middle and keep an eye on everything.
๐ฏ. ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฆ
Getting players attention can be hard. ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป!
One of my fellow coaches says โEyes!โ to his group of young players. Itโs amazing to watch, itโs like heโs a magician or hypnotiser.
As soon as he says โEyes!โ his players know to stop what they are doing, if they have a ball sit on it and make eye contact with him. Itโs simple but very effective. If they are sitting on the ball they arenโt kicking or bouncing it. And if they are looking at him he knows they are paying attention.
Another fun one is to say โSoccer Pose!โ. This is where your players stop what theyโre doing, put one foot on top of the soccer ball, fold their arms across their chest, turn their heads slightly to the side and look at you as if theyโre the best soccer player in the world. Kids love it! And it achieves the same as the โEyesโ - all players stop and look at you.
More for young players, but a third one is to say โKnee, Shoulders, Heads!โ. Players know to stop what theyโre doing and place their hands firstly on their knees, then shoulders and then head. This one works well because no one wants to be the last to put their hands on their head.
๐ฐ. ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ช & ๐ง๐๐๐
This simply means when explaining a drill or skill, ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป so the players are more involved.
An example would be if youโre explaining how to do โHappy Feetโ (quickly moving the ball back and forth between your feet), ask the group โWhat does a good Happy Feet look like?โ and then whoever puts their hands up, get them to show the group.
Even getting the players to choose which drill they want to do to practice a particular skill will keep them engaged. Plus you get to see what type of drills they like.
An example of this would be if you were focussing on crossing ask the group โWhat drill can we play that will help us with our crossing?โ
๐ฑ. ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐
This doesnโt mean that there is a winner or loser each time. It may just be competing against themselves - if it's a shooting drill see if they can score more goals each round of the drill. Or can they use their non-preferred foot? ๐ข๐ฟ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ "๐ฝ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐" ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ (or punish the coach!).
๐ฒ. ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จโ๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ก๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ฅ & ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐๐ก
Sometimes ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ! Wave your arms around, bring lots of energy, be animated! Be that crazy uncle or aunty that your nieces love.
Jump into a drill and be the target for a few minutes (players get a point for beating/scoring past/hitting the coach. Make it so it has to hit you below the knees though otherwise balls will be going everywhere!)! Or jump into a game, join one of the teams and say โI am the best player in the world! No one can beat me!โ and watch the energy level go up from all the players.
๐ณ. ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ก ๐๐๐ข๐จ๐ง (& ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ) ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ
Itโs easy to go through a whole season without learning too much about your players or team mates outside of football.๐๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ!Ask them about family, school, favourite soccer players, favourite foods, music, etc.
I coach a men's team (mostly 18 to 30 year olds) and in the Facebook group chat I get them to put a thumbs up or down for who can attend training that week. And along with asking who can attend training I ask them a question for the week as well. For example it might be something as simple as โWhat did you do on the weekend?โ.
Or I have asked โWhat do your parents do for a living?โ, โWhat can you cook?โ, โTell us your best jokeโ, or โHardest thing youโve had to deal with?โ.
If itโs a fairly personal thing make sure to say โIf you feel comfortable sharing something aboutโฆโ so they donโt feel pressured.
And if itโs a brand new group I might start it off with answering the question myself to break the ice.
I have found this to be a great experience in bringing the players closer together and they enjoy their time around each other no matter win, lose or draw.
If you find this drill useful, there are ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ & ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ available through Amazon, my website or email directly at chriskingsoccercoach@gmail.com to purchase the PDF of all 5 books:
Amazon Book: https://amzn.to/3aqhtjn Or a PDF directly from my website www.chriskingsoccercoach.com ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น: ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต@๐ด๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น.๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ
Happy coaching! Chris King.
#footballtraining #soccertraining #football #soccer #coach #coaching #training #footballcoach #soccercoach #football #footballcoaching #youthsoccer #youthfootball #soccertrainingdrills #soccer #soccercoachingdrills #soccercoaching #passing #dribbling #shooting #footballskills #finishing #soccertraining #footballsession #tacticalpad #womenfootball #soccersession #coaching #fitness #footballcoach-
Comments