New coaches need to climb a steep learning curve, and a basic understanding of drills and practice plans will lessen the learning curve. Soccer drills are very simply the key to your coaching success. The drills you choose are going to be the foundation to your practice plans, and will determine your teams progress on building their fundamental skills, or getting passed by other teams. Well designed practices will allow you to focus on areas requiring development, and will improve the speed which your team improves on their fundamental skills. When building a practice plan, divide the practice into the different components, and focus on developing your players in a systemic fashion where transition is incorporated. The players will be able to start putting the pieces together in scrimmage and game situations, and the better the fundamental skill development and transition flow, the better the assimilation into game situations.
Here are some offensive drills that can help you focus your team on improving their skills around the goal. The nice thing about offensive drills is that you can combine the offense with a defensive transition where you can teach the kids about the importance of attacking the ball and recovering once the ball is lost.
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This drill will develop a players aggressiveness for 50/50 balls, focus on the goal once the ball is won, and defending if the ball is lost. Divide your team into two sides and have them line up on each goal post. Have a cone about 20 yards from each goal post. On the coaches' signal, each player will sprint toward the cone. As the players approach the cone, the coach will release a 50/50 ball. As the players round the cone, they will attack the ball, each trying to gain possession. The player that gains possession tries to score a goal while the player that did not get possession defends the goal. The coach needs to emphasize speed when rounding the cones, attacking 50/50 balls, and attacking or defending quickly once the ball is won or lost. Cycle through until one team gets to 10 or some other pre-determined number. The drill should be run quickly, and players should not have much downtime between turns.
Shooting/Follow-up and transition
This drill will focus on shooting and the quick follow up on shots on goal. It will also focus on transition from defense to offense, and creation of offensive opportunities from a defensive position. Divide the field into two halves. The size of the field will be determined by the age and ability of the players. A full size goal will be placed on either side of the field, with a goalkeeper in each goal. Taper the sides of the field so the angle for shooting will be optimized. Teams will consist of 6 players; 4 defensive and 2 offensive players. Each half will have 4 defensive players from one team, and 2 offensive players from the other team. Once assigned to a half of the field, each player must stay on their assigned half. The 4 defenders will move the ball around and take shots on the opposing goal. Once a shot is taken, the offensive players will follow up on the shot, while the defensive players will try to recover the ball. Once the ball is recovered by the defense, the two offensive players will try to regain possession, while the defense works into position to shoot on the opposing goal again. Encourage players to take shots, and have an extra ball available for quick turn around when the ball goes out of play. This game should be kept moving and transition speed encouraged.
Focus on solid practice plans that emphasize speed and transition. Offensive drills can be used to build skills around the goal and emphasize the transition from defense to offense. The transition game is one of the toughest to teach to children just learning the game. The coach that uses transition while teaching offensive soccer skills will build a much higher fundamental understanding of the skills and flow of the game.
Youth Soccer Drills and GamesIf you intend to be an effective coach, you will need to run organized and strategic practices.
Having a plan for your practice is important - and that plan will obviously include LOTS of basketball drills. But just penciling them in won't be enough...
Take the following five principles into consideration as you chose and implement your basketball drills to ensure that you're not just working hard, but that you're also working SMART!
1) Choose basketball drills that address the real needs of your team. Running drills that are too advanced for the skill level of your team will frustrate your players, and running drills that are too simple for the skill level of your team will bore them. Study your players carefully, and then decide which skills need the most attention. Then find drills that provide repetition in those skills. For example, if you notice that many of your players don't know how to pivot effectively, find drills that provide focused repetition on pivoting. At first, you should use drills that allow the players to perform pivots without any defensive pressure. Once they master the form, then find drills that add defensive pressure. If you jump to defensive pressure drills without first drilling your players on basic form, they will struggle with the skill.
2) Run your basketball drills with intensity. If you don't demonstrate your belief in the value of the drill, your players will notice and will not be motivated to focus and exert. Insist on focus and intensity and give appropriate feedback constantly. Encouraging words are infectious! Transition from drill to drill quickly and smoothly within a practice. Again, planning is essential so that your practice is intense rather than frantic or lackadaisical.
3) Use basketball drills that minimize inactivity. Practice time is valuable, and there is no reason to use drills that have eight players standing in line while two players are doing something. Do your best to keep your players engaged and active most of the time. Split your players up into smaller groups and utilize all the practice locations available to help with this.
4) Set performance goals for your basketball drills. Provide your players with a performance incentive for some of your drills. For instance, if you're doing a full-court passing and lay-in drill, you could establish some standards for successful repetitions and then reward the team with a treat for meeting a stated number of successful repetitions without a mistake. This kind of set-up builds in some fun and focus to practice routines.
5) Vary the basketball drills that you use. Nothing is more deadly than overdoing a drill. One way to keep things fresh is to have some options. Many drills address the same skill, and changing the format up slightly helps keep players from tuning out. With so many good options readily available, it is really quite easy to find enough good drills to keep your practices interesting without sacrificing your developmental goals. Keep an organized drill file and review it often.
Five Basic Principles for Getting the Most Out of Basketball Drills