How would you react to the fact that one thing that young players find truly hard is to use a straight leg to kick the ball? In coaching soccer drills, this is by far the biggest problem that a coach and the players face. It calls for the player to keep complete balance and bend the leg at the knee in order to kick the ball. Both posture and strength to kick the ball comes out from below the knee.
This is the starting point for almost all styles of kicks in soccer practice. The speeding up of the foot from below the knee generates a great impact on the ball. This offers great amount of power to players for carrying out different types of kicks. Still, the style of kick that would emerge would depend upon the nature of contact of the ball with the foot.
For example; it could be knocked very high, driven low, turn left, or sway to the right.
There are three vital passes in soccer i.e. a side foot pass, the outside of the foot pass, and the instep drive. Let's now discuss them some more.
The side foot pass: In teaching soccer, this pass is considered as the most extensively used and the simplest. It is generally used for making short distance passes. While this pass can be easily predicted and is a little slow, it is extremely simple to learn and easy to carry out. The ball makes a contact on the inside of the foot and ankle, and the foot is turned outward.
In coaching soccer drills, players should know that their body need not be tense during the movement with the ball. When it comes to different kicking actions, this rule is the truly indispensable. The ankle and the foot should be stiffened only at the time of contact with the ball.
Once the players become confident, their overall action should seem relaxed, smooth and effortless.
Outside of the foot pass: Al though a little tricky to learn, this pass needs to be taught to the kids correctly as it’s quick, unpredictable, and accurate. The ball gets in touch between the outside edge of the foot and the laces with the foot extended and turned inwards. With the help of the foot, the pass is modified into a quick flick for short distances.
In the course of these coaching drills, players should keep their stance relaxed.
The Instep Drive: Here, the two versions; lofted versions and the low driven version are utilized to pass the ball to longer distances. There is also an option to adapt this style to make a "chip pass" or an "in swinging pass". The approach of the instep drive is slightly angled and the non kicking foot is placed about 12 inches to the side of and behind the ball.
The ball then comes into contact with the laces and inside of the foot which must be hard and extended.
So then, go on and train your players on these basic techniques of kicking along with the variations so that the ball does little different things.
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Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in Coaching soccer drills and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. To explode your players' skills and make training fun, download your free Soccer Coaching ebook at: Youth Soccer Drills.