Category Archives: Advice & Tips

understanding the offside rule-hdr

Offside Rule In Soccer Made Easy-To-Understand

The offside rule in soccer is one of the most hotly contested on any soccer pitch. Thus, referees, players, coaches and parents all have a say. But, this is not without good reason. The rule has several exceptions that can throw off most fans. This post attempts to explain it in very easy-to-understand terms so you can “register your vote” with confidence, or just help others learn how to interpret it properly.

For a much more detailed explanation and the official rules / laws of the beautiful game, you can go straight to the source. Go to the FIFA website and check out this PDF (Laws of the Game).

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Coaching Youth Soccer Positions

Coaching Youth Soccer Positions – The Top 3 Tips For Each

The secret to coaching youth soccer positions is to communicate clear instructions to players. People found “3 Things To Tell A Goalkeeper On Gameday” so useful, we decided to extend it. Here are the top 3 things to teach each of the four position roles (goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, and forward).

You could provide more instructions to players based on whether they are in a central or outside role, or other aspects of the game. The following basic instructions will get a good response from your players though as they are simple and easy to understand. A lot of people struggle with coaching youth soccer positions, but with these tips, you won’t have to.

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Coaching encouragement

The Importance of Encouragement

In the span of less than 90 seconds today (Aug 14, 2016), Arsenal’s Theo Walcott managed to earn a penalty kick, miss it, and then score a goal from the run of play against rivals Liverpool. The reason for the ultimate success, just shortly after a  deflating failure, is the mental fortitude Walcott displayed.

We as youth coaches play a huge role in developing that mental strength that can make the difference between our players walking away with a negative or a positive experience.

When players make a mistake they first look to their coach for a reaction. If our reaction – both physical and verbal – is positive, or at least not negative, then the players are bound to recover from the mistake quicker. A quick recovery is in the interest of both, the player and the team, because the players making mistakes – and there will be many players making many mistakes at the youth level – will be able to focus their skills and abilities towards helping the team, rather than dwelling on the mistake and missing segments of the game.

If possible, the coaches should make every effort to:

  1. Avoid making facial expressions that can be associated with anger or disappointment after a mistake is made
    1. Instead offer praise for the player’s effort. A quick handclap is often enough
  2. Follow any physical reaction with words of encouragement
    1. “Great try” is often enough
  3. Follow the reaction with a teaching moment
    1. “Next time try this other way”

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: During my soccer college career, a sports psychologist discussed with our team the difference between college and professional players. The conclusion was that the training the two sets of players were exposed to was relatively similar, as was the intensity, yet the professional players had a huge edge over the college players in mental strength. This was measured in terms of recovery time after a mistake was made.

It took a college player several minutes to get over a mistake – it took high school players about one half of a game and youth players the entire game – while a professional player recovered in a matter of seconds. Theo Walcott’s goal against Liverpool goes to prove the point.

Imagine if one of your players missed a penalty kick midway through the first half. How long would it take them to recover, and what could you do to help them get their head back in the game?

Team Building Drills

3 Fun Team Building Drills

Although individual brilliance (think Messi’s free kick against the US) has featured in this summer’s rich soccer repertoire, it has been teams who have shown they can work together that have captured the attention of the soccer world. Chile’s triumph in Copa America, as well as Wales and Iceland pushing so deep into Euro 2016, have proven that a strong collective can overcome individuals. Let’s not forget Leicester City winning the Premier League and Atletico Madrid making the Champions League final earlier in the year in proving that good organization goes a long way in soccer. Here we offer a few team-building drills that focus on movement and communication. These are drills that young soccer players have enjoyed every time we have used them.

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soccer book recommendations

5 Soccer Book Recommendations to Spice Up Your Reading List

The waves crash. The kids play in the surf with their friends. The sun beams down on you, but the gentle breeze and a cold drink cool you down. Just one thing is missing – a good book.

Thankfully, the beach season is set to start in only a few weeks. We at Soccer Drills App cannot help with much of your beach planning but we’ve got you covered for that good book. Listed below are several books that we have either read, or that trusted friends have recommended to us in recent years. Some of the listed books are also appropriate for your children to read. In addition to these books, a(n) (auto)biography will also usually prove to be a good read.

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FA Cup Final Wembley

Final of the Oldest Soccer Competition – The FA Cup

The FA Cup is the oldest association football competition in the world. The definition for “association football” is “soccer.” The word ‘soccer’ was somehow – I don’t know how you’ll have to ask the late 19th Century Brits about that – derived from the word “association.” So when Manchester United and Crystal Palace meet on Saturday, May 21, they will be partaking in the following:

  • High-stakes soccer: the winner of the cup earns a trip to one of next season’s European tournaments. Although Manchester United has already earned a trip to UEFA Europa League by finishing 5th in the Premier League, the underdog Crystal Palace is still fighting for a chance to play in Europe
  • Tradition: the FA Cup dates back to the 1871-1872 season
  • Chance for Records: Manchester United will tie Arsenal for most appearances in the FA Cup final (19) and with a win would also tie Arsenal’s record of FA Cup final wins (12).
  • Chance for Revenge: Crystal Palace appeared the FA Cup final one other time (1989-1990 season) and lost to Manchester United. The 1st game finished 3-3 and the rematch – these days we would see penalty kicks if the game was tied after extra time – went United’s way by the score of 1-0.

These factors definitely fit our criteria for picking a game to watch with your kids and sparking their interest in soccer. In the meantime, here are some links to get you a bit more excited for the game that kicks off at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3600681/Manchester-United-vs-Crystal-Palace-FA-Cup-final-composite-XI-Marcus-Rashford-makes-cut.html

http://en.espn.co.uk/facupstories/sport/story/205406.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/fa-cup-final-numbers-highest-8015442

http://www.espnfc.com/english-fa-cup/40/blog/post/2876740/how-manchester-uniteds-history-was-forever-altered-by-the-1990-fa-cup-final

 

 

Real Madrid vs Atlético Madrid

La Ciudad of Two Tales

The UEFA Champions League finalists have been determined. Two teams from the same city – Madrid – will be facing each other on May 28 in another city – Milan – to decide who will be crowned the champion of the most coveted club soccer competition in the world. Real Madrid, one of the sport’s richest clubs, always features a star-studded roster and is always one of the favorites to reach the final, and once there, to win it. Two years ago they won the competition for the 10th time, which is a record.

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Juggling

Learning to juggle with both feet (training your less dominant foot)

One of our fans wanted to know how he could improve juggling with his less dominant foot. If you too are struggling with this, we hope this post helps. Please let us know how it goes or if you have any other questions.

Juggling consists of two things: ball control and balance. Using both feet actually helps maintain your balance as it is more natural for the body to stay balanced when both feet are used. For example, it is easier to stay balanced when you walk then when you skip on just one foot.

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