Let me show you a neat way to remember a few vital soccer coaching factors that are instrumental in ascertaining your team’s philosophy and fulfilling it. Applying this philosophy to your youth team can be very easy, easier than you can think.
There are 6 factors; parents, coaches, excitement, selection, time and success windows which are required for an effective youth coaching philosophy.
Consistent Parental Guidance: During soccer training parental influence is very important for the mental and physical progress of your players, mainly on the match day. A brochure of the “parental responsibilities” at the beginning of the season is not enough. An effective strategy would be is to have regular meetings with them to remind them the essential points and share problems.
Upcoming soccer coaches: Your philosophy should emphasize the importance of development of the coaches along with the players. Assess and see if you can turn one of your kid’s parents into a soccer coach? They are the perfect choice for this job, and could be tried in the future.
Selection: The drop out of players with great soccer skills is mostly because of non-selection. According to the research, players go in bad teams saying that they are fearful of not getting selected in a good team. Therefore, use a logical selection system which gives all players equal game time.
Time: Start the session on time and tell the parents to be on time as well. Clearly established start times and finish times allow you to plan and deliver the session effectively.
Excitement: Is it a must that each soccer coaching session is interesting? Make an effort to make each session an enjoyable one but do not forget that it is not possible to each session like that. Hence, choose enthusiasm as a substitute.
While training the kids, it is natural for every coach to run out of ideas on how to make practice drills exciting and enjoyable. Therefore, the biggest obstacle that coaches face is to be creative enough to bring about new drills every now and then.
In soccer drills, it makes sense to keep escalating the difficulty aspect so that kids get skilled. A method of doing this is to start a game, introduce a problem, and then find a solution of it in a drill.
Success windows: Make an effort to create a success window for the season as an important part of your training. This actually requires you to determine a lower limit and an upper limit of time with a view to measure the level of success that needs to be achieved.
As an example, time frame of minimum four and maximum eight weeks. This can be worked out for both the team and individual members.
Do yourself a favor and have a soccer coaching philosophy like this become a part of the development phase of your kid’s training once the basics have been covered. To get the most out of your soccer coaching skills, join our youth soccer coaching community where you will find the best resources, tips, and tricks on youth soccer.
Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Coaching Drills.
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