Soccer practice games are immensely important especially in comparison to drills and it’s not hard for someone like me to understand this. Firstly, it’s imperative that kids are more focused on acquiring the skills and working upon them to better their movement with the ball. But there are certain points that you must check when they advance in their soccer training.
We’ve already discussed it previously that kids enjoy the game more and also get a chance to work upon their individual style of play when divided into groups. To begin with, the size of these groups must be small enough so that the kids have more freedom and liberty to take their own decisions.
Subsequently the kids will fell free to move about in the large and open field, get a feel of the ball more often, and feel liable for the decisions that they make since the players in their group are significantly less.
Conversely, keep looking for the time when kids get used to playing in small groups and show improvement as you now need to make some changes. You should now introduce progressions in soccer practice games. What this means is you tend to make the rules of the game a little more stringent, play games in larger fields, and increase the size of the group. It’s time when team’s overall objectives should also be catered to together with player’s individual development by bringing in a more elaborate strategy.
Pay special attention to what I mention here. Most coaches make the mistake of rushing on things so that kids become match-ready ahead of time. Understand that there are no shortcuts. Just like soccer drills, you cannot mechanize the process. It must progress in a natural way slowly.
The objectives may not be met if you rush with things, make a lot of rules, and expose kids to a lot of knowledge soon enough. This leads to a block in their ability to learn.
When kids progress from smaller groups to larger ones, they should inculcate team spirit and understand the objectives behind the games. It is crucial to understand the difference between focusing on your own skills at one time and then using those skills to win the games for your team.
In this period, along with games, you must also encourage free dialog with your team. Know that the players now understand the various techniques of soccer. Hence, it is an error of judgment to doubt their abilities in soccer exercises.
Involving them in decision making and encouraging them to come out with their thoughts will go a long way in inculcating a sense of responsibility in them.
The games should now challenge their thoughts about how to win matches. If they start believing in team spirit while playing matches, you have done marvelously as a coach.
Your next step! To take what you’ve just learned and implement in your plan. Soccer practice games are essential for making the kids learn naturally and so you must be very creative in selecting them. sEnroll for our youth soccer coaching community that has a number of games and strategies to make training sessions fun and educational.
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 Practice.
Tags: soccer drills, soccer exercises, Soccer practice games, soccer training