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Soccer Practice

All drills are from our practice books:
Kids (4-8) Youth (9-12) Competitive (13+)
Goalkeeping Systems of Play Indoor/Mini
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Friday, November 02, 2007

soccer ball control drills
It is never too late to improve your soccer skills, however, the older a player is, the more difficult it becomes. It has been said that you need 4000 touches on the ball per week from early childhood on to develop excellent soccer skills.
We have developed a progressive skill development program for a team we are coaching right now. The focus is on ball control and passing. Both are individual development programs that are ideally suited for indoor gym training, but can also be used outdoors.
The concept is to challenge players through 10 levels of skill which they must achieve to demonstrate competence. Today, we want to share with you ball control skill development. If you combine the exercises with the idea of 4000 touches per week, then 2-3 hours per week doing these exercises will give you sufficient touches. The drills today are designed to play balls off a wall from various distances, various angles and various height of contact on the wall.
These exercises can be done outdoors by playing off walls. You may want to use rubber balls so you don't damage high quality and expensive regular balls. Players will improve weight of passing, ball receiving skills and 1/2 touch control. Other benefits are improving anticipation, movement without ball, reaction, decision making and aerobic conditioning.
Note: The number in the "passes" column is the number of consecutive successful passes following all rules a player must complete to move on to the next level.
Please click on the link below to open the program, print it and enjoy the improved skill of your players.
soccer skills - ball control
Our Practice Books And Resources
Kids Soccer Practices
Youth Soccer Practices
Competitive Soccer Practices
Soccer Goalie Practices
Soccer Systems Of Play
Indoor Soccer Practices
Soccer Fitness Training
Soccer Skills Training
posted by soccer coaching world @ 4:41 PM 0 comments links to this post
Monday, October 08, 2007

Soccer Goal Scoring - Build-Up
A major international soccer league reported on where and how goals were scored. Over 400 goals were recorded and we will provide an analysis of the results, and what it means from a coaching point of view.What was the build-up to scoring goals?
Goals in the study were scored after:
controlled attacking plays (slow or fast build-ups): 43%
set plays (corners, free kicks,etc.): 26%
counter attacks: 13%
turnovers: 10%
2nd efforts after set plays: 8%
Coaching Implications
The stats emphasize the needs to practice three key areas:
1. a strategy of play leading to scoring chances, be it slow possession, fast break, combination of above,etc.
2. set plays and second efforts after
3. turnovers/quick counters
Too many times coaches emphasize only one or two of the above strategies, thus limiting a good % of chances and making the opponent's defending job easier.
Our Practice Books And Resources
Kids Soccer Practices
Youth Soccer Practices
Competitive Soccer Practices
Soccer Goalie Practices
Soccer Systems Of Play
Indoor Soccer Practices
Soccer Fitness Training
Soccer Skills Training
posted by soccer coaching world @ 8:39 AM 0 comments links to this post
Saturday, October 06, 2007

Soccer Nutrition
THE ULTIMATE NUTRITION GUIDE For Soccer Families With Hectic Lifestyles!
Answers the questions of what? when? where? and how much? to maximize your nutritional patterns for soccer performance
Click on the book below for all the details:

Our Practice Books And Resources
Kids Soccer Practices
Youth Soccer Practices
Competitive Soccer Practices
Soccer Goalie Practices
Soccer Systems Of Play
Indoor Soccer Practices
Soccer Fitness Training
Soccer Skills Training>
posted by soccer coaching world @ 1:06 PM 0 comments links to this post
Saturday, September 15, 2007

Soccer Goalkeeper Warm-Up
Far too often goalkeepers are left on their own while the team goes through their pre-game or practice warm-up and stretching routines. Maybe someone will throw some balls or take some shots at the goalie. At www.soccerpracticebooks.com we believe that a proper soccer goalie warm-up is essential. It gets your keeper game ready and sharp, therefore being in the best mental and physical condition to make the saves that count. Below is a soccer goalie warm-up plan for you to use. Click on the link and a PDF file will open in a new window.
Soccer Goalkeeper Warm-Up
Make sure the warm-up ends with a good save by the goalie !!!!
We offer an entire book of soccer goalkeeping practice plans and drills:
Soccer Goalie Practices
Our Practice Books And Resources
Kids Soccer Practices
Youth Soccer Practices
Competitive Soccer Practices
Soccer Goalie Practices
Soccer Systems Of Play
Indoor Soccer Practices
Soccer Fitness Training
Soccer Skills Training
posted by soccer coaching world @ 5:45 AM 0 comments links to this post
Sunday, September 02, 2007

Soccer Tryout
www.soccerpracticebooks.com has developed a quick tryout package for soccer teams. This package is ideally suited for situations with limited time prior to season start. The package includes information forms, evaluation charts and three tryout sessions. It is available as a free bonus with any soccer book combo deal available at:
Soccer Practice Special Offers
posted by soccer coaching world @ 10:50 AM 0 comments links to this post
Thursday, August 30, 2007

Soccer 4-4-2 Zonal System
The following is an example of systems explained in our Systems Of Play book. In the book are diagrams showing basic positioning for defending, transition, attacking.
Soccer Systems Of PlayOVERVIEWThis system is very popular and used by such great teams as the Dutch National and Manchester United. It is a very effective and versatile attacking system based on coming down the sides as well as spreading the defense and then penetrating through the center. With overlapping outside defenders and midfielders the 4-4-2 quickly converts to a 4-2-4 or 2-4-4 putting immense pressure on the opposing defensive units. The vulnerability of the 4-4-2 lies in its flat back defense which can be torn apart by diagonal runs through its center. TEAM REQUIREMENTSTeams employing this 4-4-2 system must have outside defenders and midfielders who are in exceptional aerobic shape as they will both make deep runs to attack and then need to chase back in the team's transition to defense. The zonal system requires a high degree of verbal and visual communication, particularly when defending, to ensure that opposing attackers are challenged and covered. This system relies on the off-side trap and that is where defenders need to be alert to ensure they stepup just before the ball is played in behind them. This requires almost automatic mechanisms because there is little time to provide each other with instructions.When attacking, the outside players as well as the forwards all need to be able to play 1v1 and place accurate crosses into the penalty area. Both forwards and central midfielders must have goal scoring technique and capability for heading the ball.Inside midfielders are the strategists who read the play, decide when to come back to support the defenders, where to distribute the ball and when to make penetrating runs down the middle. They require excellent vision and ability to read the position.COACHING REQUIREMENTSFirst and foremost, coaches need lots of time before the season starts to train the key elements of this system. Emphasis needs to be on keeping players in their zones and on getting them to make the right decisions regarding challenging penetrating opponents. Much work will be required to coordinate the off-side trap, which again requires verbal and visual communication. Players with ability to beat opponents 1v1 on the wings with the ability to play effective crosses into the target area need to be developed. Aerobic conditioning and speed training are a requirement, articularly for the outside players.GAME STRATEGYThis system works very well when attacking just about any other system an opponent might play. It is particularly effective against other zonal 4-4-2 systems or a 4-3-3 system because it outnumbers it in the critical midfield area. The weakness of this 4-4-2 lies in defense, particularly against a 3-5-2 system which can outnumber it in central midfield, thus pulling out a central defender causing difficulty with the integrity of the flat back zone. A 3-4-3 system can also cause difficulties, particularly if its three forwards get additional support from overlapping midfielders. Ultimately, the strength of your own team will determine if the opponent is forced to make an adjustment to their system during the game or if you need to adjust because the opponent's system is dominating. This 4-4-2 is a very attractive attacking system with risks on defense.
Our Practice Books And Resources
Kids Soccer Practices
Youth Soccer Practices
Competitive Soccer Practices
Soccer Goalie Practices
Soccer Systems Of Play
Indoor Soccer Practices
Soccer Fitness Training
Soccer Skills Training
posted by soccer coaching world @ 4:29 AM 1 comments links to this post
Sunday, August 19, 2007

soccer passing drill - ages 9-12
Each month we will feature a soccer drill from one of our soccer practice books. We will show you the training secrets behind the drill, how and why they improve your players and your team. This information is exclusive to this site. All our soccer drills in all our books have the same depth and training benefits behind them.
Today's soccer drill is Technical Drill #8 from our Youth (9-12)Book. Please click on the link below to open the drill, print it and enjoy finding out the training concepts behind it:
4v2 passing drill
Skill DevelopmentAttackers will learn receiving the ball in a tight space under pressure. They will need to move the ball quickly and therefore will need to set up a good first touch. Passing must be accurate over a short distance. Players will learn the proper weight (pace) of the pass for these short distances. One and two touch passing will quickly become the standard. The small size of the grid will ensure maximum number of passing opportunities in a very short period of time. There is very little opportunity to set up 1v1 moves. Attackers will learn to judge the movement of players and pass into space as well as to the feet.Defenders will learn to close down players with the ball putting on pressure quickly. They will have opportunities to practice slide tackles at the appropriate times. Once defenders win the ball, passing is not likely an option. However, they will learn to keep possession, mostly through shielding the ball.
Tactical DevelopmentThe tactical underpinning for the attackers is to learn how to split the defense. That is why there are more points for a pass between defenders. They will learn to anticipate where spaces between defenders will open up. The player with the ball will need to develop vision and play a ball into the space that either is open or will open up shortly. The other attackers need to recognize the same space at the same time and move into it before the ball arrives. Therefore timing of runs and passes will develop into automatic movement after a while. It is a great drill to have two forwards and two midfielders play against two defenders.Defenders will learn the key tactical element of "challenge and cover". One defender will put pressure on the ball carrier while the other needs to be in position to (a) challenge if their partner gets beat in a 1v1 or (b) intercept a pass to the most likely target. In particular, the covering defender is responsible to shut down the passing lane and opportunity between them. Once the ball is passed, it is typically the covering defender who now challenges and the challenger will move into covering position.All players will learn quick transitions from offense to defense and vice versa. As soon as possession changes to defenders, defenders will now need to play a possession game to keep the ball away from attackers. Attackers on the other hand will learn how to apply pressure and win the ball back.
Mental TrainingThe key mental aspects being trained are anticipation and quick decision making.Attackers need to make a decision first as to how to receive the ball, i.e. is the first touch a pass or a set up in a certain direction for the pass. Once in possession, they need to anticipate the runs of any of the other three, always looking for the pass between defenders. They then need to decide if the 3 point pass is available or not. There is little time. They also need to be able to change their decision quickly if the play they thought was available has been closed down.
Defenders also need to make quick decisions. They need to decide who will be the challenging and who the covering defender. That will require verbal communication. Once in position, they will need to read the movements of the attackers and anticipate the pass. The decision then becomes whether or not to move to close down a passing lane or to wait and intercept the actual pass. It all depends on what skill level and pace the attackers operate at. So defenders will also learn to judge the abilities of their opponents.All players will rotate through all positions so they will all learn the responsibilities of various functions. That will make them better in reading opponents and ultimately get them to make better decisions. Communication, both verbal and non-verbal will be required and acquired.Finally, the point system adds a natural competitive element, forcing players to play quickly and look for the play that gives maximum points.
Fitness ImpactThis drill will have lots of short sprints for all players. As the players get better there will be a lot more running. The drill will deliver both aerobic and anaerobic benefits when the players are good enough to keep in constant motion, playing with few interruptions. Initially, however, expect some static breaks and hence the key benefit will be short distance speed development. There will also be lots of turns and quick body rotations so that flexibility and co-ordination should benefit.
Game ApplicationPlaying the ball through lanes between defenders is one of the most effective ways to penetrate a defense. Two attackers can easily play through two, three or even four defenders. For instance, your team has possession in the opponent's half. The opponent plays with a flat back four defense and your forwards are covered by the central defenders. The ball carrier anticipates a diagonal run by the striker in behind defenders and plays the ball between the neares two defenders. That can open up much more space and a quicker attack than playing the ball to the feet of a covered striker with their back to the goal. Also this is a crucial technique to play the ball out of defense when being pressured.If you watch some soccer on TV you will see this play a lot and you will see its effectiveness. It is valuable in all areas of the field.
Coaching TipsIntroduce the drill to the players, stating the objective and ask them to do a quick demonstration. If they don't seem to understand, step in and show them. Do not explain the entire theory behind the drill up front. Getting them organized and started should not take any more than two minutes.To get the maximum benefit out of this drill, encourage the players to be in constant motion.Do not stand in the practice grid, but rather on the side to be able to observe. Let them play without constant interruption or shouting of instructions by you. They need to learn to make decisions on their own. If the drill really is slowing down or the players are not catching on, then take a brief time out and show them what they could have done better in a specific situation. Give positive feedback as they improve. You will notice smoother and faster play as time progresses.Have two or three grids going at the same time and spend time which each group. That allows the two groups not being observed to develop independence. Do glance over though and see if they are doing the drill or slacking off because you're not there.This drill may give you new ideas as to which positions might be better suited for some players than where you thought. Some good passers, communicators and decision makers may offer themselves for midfield positions. Quick runners with good sense of spaces opening up may be new candidates for forwards. A forward who slide tackles may be a defender in the next game.After the drill is done, call everyone in and ask what they learned or thought was important. They should mention most of the points above. The missing ones, you fill in. Take no more than a minute for the review.If you think the team didn't quite get as far as you'd like, repeat the drill at the next practice, explaining clearly what needs improvement.
Our Practice Books And Resources
Kids Soccer Practices
Youth Soccer Practices
Competitive Soccer Practices
Soccer Goalie Practices
Soccer Systems Of Play
Indoor Soccer Practices
Soccer Fitness Training
Soccer Skills Training