Coaching Youth Soccer – Avoid These 8 Mistakes!
If you are Coaching Youth Soccer, there are some things every youth soccer coach needs to consider and be aware. Most of these are based in common sense and as a result, are pretty easy to remember:
1. Don’t make speeches. Especially if you’re coaching young kids, making them sit through long lectures is a great way to bore them out of their minds and disinterested in soccer really fast. No matter how old your players are, be short and sweet in whatever you have to say to them.
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. You can test this by showing the kids a complicated soccer diagram of a drill with fancy arrows and dozens of instructions, you’ll lose their interest.
3. Don’t be a ball boy- it’s not the coach’s job to run after runaway balls during soccer practice. Doing that can dangerously unbalance the player-coach equation. If a player shoots a ball out of bounds, make them go get it.
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 ask to be part of the practice session, make them know that they can’t do both.
5. Never, ever criticize the player. One of your players missed a goal? or a decisive pass? Don’t blame them. 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. Then demonstrate it- your players will pick it up quickly if they see how it’s done. 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. Make sure you hold meetings from time to time with parents and keep them informed about future events and the team’s concerns. 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. Learn how to literally explode your players’ skills and make trining more fun in less than 29 days 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.
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