There have been stories and videos posted all over the internet of phenomenal players, sometimes as young as three years old. However, one thing to always remember when you see such things is that these are in fact “phenoms,” and are not a true representation of how quickly your child can learn the sport. When you decide to involve your child in the sport, you must make sure that it is at the age when they feel they are ready, and you are ready to make the commitment as much as they are.

The age recommended by most in the field if you look for a number is 4-5 years old. By this time, the child has started to develop basic coordination skills as well as a desire for a sport. This is also an age when most children develop an essence of understanding and basic functional sporting skills.

As suggested, the ultimate decision of when to start your child playing soccer should be when you feel they are ready, and when you are ready to commit as well. If you are not able to your child starting a sport, then hold off.

There are many ways for soccer moms to stay organized and calendars are only one of them. Wall calendars that are divided into each person in the household are helpful to keep track of everyone and their schedules. You know at a glance where everyone is and why. If someone has a test on a certain day of the week, you can remind them of this and to make sure they are studying the few days leading up to the test. If there is a big game on Saturday, then you can make sure everyone has no plans except for the big game. It’s nice to see everyone’s schedule at the same time and not have to flip through pages to find out what everyone is doing on a certain date.

When using a wall calendar, it’s nice to give each member of the family a certain color or set of stickers for there section on the calendar that way you can distinguish who is going where on what day at a glance and so can every one else in the family.

Other soccer mom’s prefer the convenience of a portable calendar, on in which they can keep all the family appointments and soccer games logged into one convenient place. These portable calendars will help a soccer mom stay on track and organized for not only the soccer practices and games, but for doctor appointments and other important appointments and family functions that need to be remembered.

Yet another way to stay organized for soccer moms is using a computer program or calendar online. This is a great way to keep organized if you work from home or have a large family that has a continually changing schedule. The computer calendar allows you to move the family’s schedules around easily between days and months and often covers a broader range than the wall or portable calendars. However, with a computer program calendar, there is no portability unless you print out a page with the day or month on it.

There are cell phones and personal devices which have calendars in them so they are portable and can hold all the appointments each person in the family has and allows you to see a day, week or month at a time. These are, however, small and unless they are hooked up to a printer, you are unable to show them to the entire family at a glance.

Printing out daily schedules can become costly, therefore printing out a weekly or monthly schedule, especially if it’s going to be a busy month or you have a special family vacation or other activity planned, would be the wiser thing to do.

Importance of having soccer coaching drills

Body control: Taking control over the body is the most important skill in the soccer games and thus soccer coaching drills teaches this skill first.  During the training session, trainees are made to play some interesting games without the use of the ball and once the team feels comfortable and understands the drilling concept, they continue the training session with the ball.  Such soccer coaching helps players to become experts in having control over the ball and to have superior control over their body.

Trapping skills:

Trapping skill enables the player to maintain ownership after he catches the ball. The perfect use of chest, thighs and feet improves the trapping skills of the player.  As per the investigation, trapping skills other than passing and dribbling enhances your team’s ability to beat your opponents.

Tips to enhance trapping skills

Engage the feet:  Players use their foot in tackling the ball and thus soccer coaching drill instructs young players and kids to make use of both inside and outside of their foot..  It is easy to catch hold of the ball if both the sides of their foot is used and if the ball is leaping much, then the players are guided to make use of their shin or ankles.

Thigh Movement:    Using your thigh to control the ball keeps the ball in your control. Soccer coaching drills directs players to move along with the ball to capture the ball and the ways to retain the ball. Players should certainly lift the thigh up to capture the ball and bring down the knees to drop the ball so that the ball trickles down the foot.

Utilize the chest:   Chest is essential in trapping the ball and to keep the control over the ball. Soccer coaching drills trains players to take out their chest with full energy.  By doing this, the ball loses the speed and drops down to the foot immediately.  But it is not advisable for kids as they get accustomed to the use of their hands and chest together that results in issues.

Well there are two reasons, the first is that it is fun and challenging, and learning a new juggling move, or beating your previous record is something that you can do on your own, in a small space and you only need a ball! When you can finally keep the ball in the air get past the elusive 100 barrier, you will have kept yourself entertained for some time and have great bragging rights over your friends.

The second reason why you should learn how to juggle a soccer ball is more soccer related and is that being able to juggle a soccer ball, whilst not used a lot in a soccer game is the best way to improve that your first touch and give you confidence when you are receiving the soccer ball. As a player, you are often in one of two situations.

1 You do not have the ball
2. You have the ball.

The transition between 1 and 2 is why learning how to juggle is important and that is when you are receiving the ball.
When you receive a soccer ball from a team mate, your main concern is:

“What am I going to do next?”

This decision should be made prior to actually receiving the ball, and so you should know what you are going to do with the ball, and more importantly what position you want you body to be in and where you want the ball to be after receiving the ball, and that is exactly where juggling will help you!
So, lets learn how to juggle a soccer ball.

STEP 1
1. Use a slightly deflated ball
2. Start juggling on a hard smooth surface, one with a nice even bounce
3. Hold the ball with both hands, arms extended at chest height
4. Drop the ball and let it bounce once
5. Before it bounces again, kick the ball back to chest height and catch it

There, you have done your first juggle, now on to bigger and better things
The sequence that you just did was called “drop-bounce-kick-catch ”

Keep practicing Step 1 using both feet until you can consistently kick the ball back to chest height

STEP
2
You will do a similar exercise to step one, but this time the sequence is
“drop-bounce-kick-bounce-kick-catch ”
That’s right, all we have done is increase the number of kicks to 2 using the same foot
Keep practicing Step 2 until you can do it consistently.

STEP 3
We are now at the stage where we should be able to repeat the “kick-bounce-kick” sequence as many times as possible.
We will continue as we did in Step 1 and Step 2, but this time

Try to kick the ball to the same height that it was dropped from
Stay within a square that is 5 yards by 5 yards

STEP 4
Now for something a bit more challenging
We will repeat Step 1, but this time we do not let the ball bounce, so the sequence is “drop-kick-catch”

Keep practicing Step 4 using both feet until you can consistently kick the ball back to chest height

STEP 5
You guessed it, Step 5 is similar to Step 4, but with an extra kick, so the sequence is “drop-kick-kick-catch ”

Keep practicing Step 5 using both feet until you can consistently kick the ball back to chest height

STEP 6
You are now ready to do unlimited kicks, using one foot at a time,
So you just repeat the “kick-kick” sequence.

At this stage you should only use one foot at time. That is to say see how many you can do using only you right foot, and then see how many you can do using your left foot.

JUGGLING PRACTICE
As well as using your feet, you should also include other parts of the body, such as the thigh and the head. When using the thigh, make sure you use the fleshy part of the thigh and NOT your knee.
You will probably find that the thigh is overused, because the thigh is an easier part of the body to juggle with, so try to avoid overusing the thigh, just because it easier.

USE A PATTERN
Rather than aimlessly juggling, using patterns is a far better way to improve, so use patterns like
1. Left foot
2. Left thigh
3. Head
4. Right thigh
5. Right foot
6. Repeat 1 to 5

Try making up your own patterns, as it is far more beneficial to follow a pattern, that to just chase a ball around, trying to keep it in the air.

Keep up the juggling practice and you will definitely improve your first touch.

First, you have to work on your body. One of the primary things you can do to become a better soccer player is to develop your body. This means that you must take good care of yourself both on and off the soccer field. You should eat right and healthy foods and stay in shape. Many soccer players that are very good do not just practice soccer, they also take part in other training such as physical endurance, and even weight lifting to meet their goal. You must have the capacity to run and keep up with your team while a game is going on and in order to do this, you must be in the best possible physical status.

You have to learn the game. In order to be the best for your team, you must also learn the ins and outs of the soccer game. You should take every chance to learn all you can about how the game is played and the governing rules. Read books and magazines that are related to soccer. Talk to other soccer players and watch good soccer players play to gets some important techniques. When you know all you can about the game, then you are taking a good step in making good for yourself when you are out on the field.

You have to be a good listener. When you listen well enough, you are also taking a big step in being a good player. That means that you must work well with your team and listen to your coach effectively. There have been many players that just do not take advice well and this is a huge downside if you are playing on any team. You must have the capacity to do this; else, no one will want to work with you. You must also be able to take the advice and criticism your coach is giving you and use it to your advantage.

You have to work on your skills. When you play soccer, you will also have to work tirelessly on your skills. You must be able to show up and work hard for your practices and practice every aspect of the game and with that, you will become a better soccer player..

Let’s look at it like this. For some reason, your team is forced to stay away from their daily exercise regime. They didn’t even find the time to go out for a walk or a jog for a long time.

Now you and your team must get back on the field. Imagine the plight of poor kids in such a scenario. Their body will also not support them to exercise at the same pace initially because the muscles become stiff and weak.

Nevertheless, there are several valuable soccer workouts will make their life easier by eliminating the need to begin from scratch. Soccer has the ability to draw from all forms of energy systems that are used throughout the game.

It’s this quick acting anaerobic organism for high strength work. On the other hand, the aerobic system provides an equitable resource of energy for long durations. These soccer conditioning workouts will therefore do away with the need for the players to start from scratch in building endurance.

You are the coach so it’s up to you to come up with a plan which is a right combination of both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. The plan must be growth oriented which moves from one stage to the next in a predetermined order. This will assist you in tackling the overall conditioning part of the program.

The anaerobic energy system functions through the energy stored in the muscles along with lactic acid, which is the energy metabolism by-product. It makes possible the release of energy for a small amount of time. The position at which the player plays as also the team’s playing style determines how much anaerobic energy is used by the player.

As an example, the goalie does not move a lot in the field. So from this source, he will be able to produce energy for a very long period of time.

Energy is sustained as long as the body’s demand for it is maintained. In the event of lack of sufficient energy, the player does not feel energetic. This is why players need oxygen to continue when the training goes beyond a particular time.

In this form of soccer fitness, the aerobic system works in tandem with the anaerobic system. Their capacity to maintain high speed and power during the last stages of the match will prove to be advantageous when the opponent feels tired.

Still, your team or you may face situations where there is paucity of time to train ahead of a tournament. This does not suggest you to cut back on your conditioning exercises. You don’t want your players to get injured before or during the game.

If a soccer fitness training series is devised correctly, even 3 days time would be sufficient to train the players fully. All you need to do is be honest in carrying out the plan based on some good homework. There are one or two tips which work well with short but successful training plans.

Warming up: Guide the players to open with any of these; high knees, jumping, or heel flicks or a five minute jog. Take time to relax for a while in between. This should be followed by some stretching of muscles for about 5 minutes to tone them up. Be sure to include all the major muscle groups in these soccer workouts.

Running: Some coaches tend to make their players do continuous running. Though it’s absolutely ok, but in my opinion the players should be made to practice only soccer specific running. It means that for 20 to 30 minutes, they do a mix of running, jogging, walking, and sprinting in no set order.

This form of running at different speeds helps the players get strong and have more control over their bodies. And they do not feel exhausted since a walk after a sprint evens things out.

Just let the individual players make a decision as to what they want to do and when. If they wish to do sprints more than light jogging, there is no harm in it. As the stamina of the kids increases, you can increase the duration of the soccer conditioning program slightly.

Stretching: Encourage the players to do it whenever they can; after a training session and after the match. Concentrate on working out the whole body specially the hamstrings, groins, quads, calves and lower back. Keep the stretching positions longer than in the warm-up sessions. Usually, 20 to 30 seconds is perfect.

Make the players rest a day before the match. This will make the muscles build up strength as well as negate the possibility of injuries. Also, use this time to discuss your plan with the team and encouraging them.