Shooting Drills For Soccer
No matter what the sport, kids love to practice scoring or
hitting. One only has to watch young players get on a basketball court and one
of the first things they do is go beyond the three-point line and start
shooting the basketball. In baseball, when players go to practice they are
always anticipating batting practice. Soccer is no different. Players love to
shoot the soccer ball. The one advantage soccer has over the other sports in
that it is easy to set up any kind of make shift goal be it just two cones or
garbage cans. In basketball you need that rim to shoot at and in baseball you
need to have a whole field with a pitcher and hopefully fielders. But in soccer
all you need is yourself and a soccer ball or any kind of kick ball.. Here are
five basic shooting drills that can be done with a soccer team or with a few
adjustments, in a backyard with a parent and a child.
1)
Straight On:
This
simple shooting drill is a great warm up drill to begin any soccer practice and
is also an excellent way for position players to loosen up and to get used to
the feel of the ball during warm-ups before games. In this drill, a coach or
player, who acts like a server, stands five to ten yards in front of a line of
participants, all with balls. The first player in line passes his/her ball to
the server, who then lays the ball back off, moving away from the player. The
player will then shoot toward an empty net. Each player retrieves his/her own
ball before returning to the end of the line. This drill emphasizes the
shooting fundamentals, such as staying square to the ball when preparing to
make the shot, kicking the ball with the laces instead of the toes, and landing
with the foot you kick with during the follow through. Servers can at first
only lay off the ball on the side of the shooter’s stronger foot before
graduating to not letting the shooters know which side the ball will be laid
off to. It is imperative for position players to be comfortable with striking
the ball with both legs and this drill can condition them to do so. This drill
is also a good way for the shooters to practice kicking a ball that is moving
away them. In game situations there will be three different types of balls that
players will have to learn to handle: balls moving away from the shooter, balls
moving toward the shooter, and stationary balls. Players must be comfortable
with all three. Straight On can be performed with an empty net and with a goalie.
2)
Straight On With Server:
This is
a progression of the previous drill. In this drill, however, players will
practice shooting a passed ball that is moving toward them. The same shooting
fundamentals should be stressed. Shooters should have their non-kicking foot
planted on the side of the ball and pointed at the intended target when
preparing to shoot. In a balanced position, the players’ shooting leg should be
bent all the way back so that the heel of their foot should almost be touching
their back. With all of their weight and momentum swinging forward, the
shooters square themselves to the ball, kick the ball with the laces, and
follow through by landing on the kicking foot. In this drill, shooters
shouldn’t just be kicking blindly toward the net. They should instead pick
their spots, such as the corners of the net, where, in game situations, it is
the toughest places for opposing goalies to defend. To make this exercise more
challenging for the participants, coaches can designate a limit to the number
of touches the players can take before shooting.
3)
Straight On With Chips:
This is
another variation of the previous two drills. In games, the ball is not always
placed on a tee for the shooters. Very rarely will a ball roll smoothly right
to the kicker’s foot. In this drill, coaches simulate all of the different ways
a ball can bounce. Players must be comfortable with handling a ball out of the
air. In this drill, participants can have the choice of either kicking the ball
right out of the air or securing it to the ground with the body before
shooting. When securing the ball to the ground, players can trap the ball with
the chest or knee and allow the ball to fall just in front of their feet for an
easy shot. In game situations, if shooters are free from defenders, they can
let the ball roll a little farther away from their feet after trapping the ball
so that they can build momentum when re-approaching the ball for the shot. When
kicking a ball out of the air, the same shooting fundamentals should be practiced.
4)
Toss Overhead:
Toss
Overhead is very similar to the three previous Straight On drills, however, in
this drill, a coach stands behind his/her players and, on the “go” command,
tosses a ball over their heads for them to run after and shoot. This gives the
shooters a different look at the ball. In games, the ball will not always come
easily from in front of the shooters. Many times the ball will blindly come
from behind them. Players may be uncomfortable with this situation at first,
however, by practicing anticipating the ball coming from any direction, the
team will be in a better opportunity to score. When young players experience
seeing the ball come from different spots and get different looks, they will be
more aware on the field.
5)
Rapid Fire:
This
drill requires numerous soccer balls. The balls are lined up in a line opposite
a net. To start off for very young players, the distance should not be too far
away. It really isn’t common for
position players to strike a stationary ball unless it is a penalty kick,
however, this rapid fire drill allows players to get a lot of repetitions in
during a short period of time. For more skilled players, coaches can have
players alternate kicking with the strong foot and the weak foot. Eventually
all players must be comfortable kicking with both feet if they want to be
effective scorers. Coaches can also yell out a specific part of the net to aim
for before each ball is struck to emphasize the importance of picking spots.
A number
of years ago I made a terrible mistake when I coached baseball. I was on a
terrific winning streak and won a few championships. One year I thought I had
invented the game and changed my practices with defense one day and offense the
next. What a mistake! Please do not deny your team practicing shooting during
their practices. In fact make sure your goalies and defensive players get a
chance. They will never forget it!
Related
Resources:
TEE BALL
PLANTING POSITIVE SEEDS
By Marty Schupak
Tee Ball is the most popular youth baseball program, having
the most participants than any other age group. As the 5 and 6 year-olds who
participate in Tee Ball get older there is a drop off in youth baseball each
year. Traditionally the largest drop off of players in most youth leagues
occurs after players reach their twelfth birthday. Soccer is almost a year
round sport and youth lacrosse is growing, which are both in direct competition
with youth baseball. Baseball parents, coaches, and leagues are almost
compelled to make the first baseball experience for young kids a positive one.
Youth baseball leagues can develop certain positive
philosophies that will maximize the chances of retaining baseball players in
their leagues. I'll touch on just few that I feel most appropriate. First of
all, Tee Ball leagues should strive to make it as non-competitive as possible.
Some overzealous parents who are very competitive will look upon their own
child's first Tee Ball experience as the Major League World Series. Leagues
must set a standard with this non-competition philosophy. Not keeping score is
an option leagues try. But, from my experience with my own kids, as much as
parents and coaches try, some of the kids themselves will be keeping score and
reminding the coach and the other teammates every time a player crosses home
plate. This will also lead to the kids keeping track of wins and losses. One
option leagues might consider is to mix the teams up every 3rd or 4th game.
This option affords Tee Ball teams to still have a team concept because they
will practice with their team, and 75% of their games will be together. One
thing they will have to overcome is two sets of different colored uniforms
playing on the same side. Maybe one way to overcome this is to have players
come to these games in white tee shirts and the leagues supply cheap colored
vests. Maybe we call these games "All League Games", or another
positive term that everyone can accept.
The other part of the game that needs to be addressed is
that at the age of 5 & 6, the skill level will vary tremendously. Leagues
need to treat the Tee Ball season as a progression type situation. In a 20 or
25 game season, maybe use a larger ball when hitting off the batting tee for
the first five games. In practices, coaches should use a larger ball on a tee
early in a season. One thing I did when coaching Tee Ball is to take a bathroom
plunger, turn it upside down, and place it into the batting tee. Now a coach
can rest a beach ball or a kick ball on top of the tee for the kids to hit. It
always amazed me how coaches expected all their players to be able to hit a
regular size baseball off the batting tee. And for some, this is the first time
they had ever seen a tee or tried hitting a ball off it. Coaches can use the beach ball concept
at their first practice and decrease the size of the ball at each future
practice. As coaches and parents, we want the players to have as much success
as possible.
When teaching fielding, coaches need to make the task as
achievable as possible. Some coaches will toss a ball while the player holds
his glove with the palm up. I like to start with no glove and the player is in
front of a fence. The coach can use really soft cushioned balls for this drill.
Bean bags are also good. The coach should toss the bean bag or soft covered
ball to one side of the player then to the other side. Many young players are not
used to having their hands cross their eyes and then completing an action. And
by completing the action the player does not even have to catch the object but
just make contact with it or knock it down. This drill is a great beginning.
Another concept I would do to start the season would be to
use a Velcro ball and Velcro paddle to catch a fly ball. The kids love this. It
keeps the skill easy and fun. From this drill, coaches can move to hitting soft
covered balls off a racquetball or tennis racquet. The key here is to emphasize that the players do not have to
catch the ball, but only make contact with the ball with their glove. In fact, with this, coaches may want to
tell players that they do not want the players to catch the ball. Once the
players are confident, and this won’t happen in one or two weeks, coaches can
then teach the players how to catch a ball in their glove.
On ground balls, like fly balls, teach the players to make
contact with the ball with their glove at first and they don’t have to catch
it. The first step is to toss ground balls right at them in a stationary
position. Then you can move on to getting the players to laterally moving their
feet and not reaching for the ball. You have to reinforce for the players to
keep the ball it in front of them. This is an excellent point to teach players
at this young age that on grounders, outs can be made on baseballs that are not
caught clean.
On throwing, keep the distance short, spreading the players
out very liberally and moving them back after every five throws.
These are just a few ideas that leagues should address,
keeping in mind that we must start with baby steps and progress as the season
goes on. Parents must realize that they will have their fair share of
competition as their kids move up in age. Tee Ball should be a positive
experience in every sense of the word. Skills should be the theme of Tee Ball
and less competition. In the world of youth sports, which includes playing time
problems, parental sniping, and on the field arguing, youth baseball Tee Ball
should be immune to this problems as much as possible.
RELATED
RESOURCES
T-Ball Skills & Drills
Five Basketball Rebounding Drills
I’ve written about the skill of rebounding and how
determination and desire can overcome some lack of athletic skills. Former NBA
players like Paul Silas, Nate Thurmond and Dennis Rodman had stellar careers
mainly from rebounding. Can the everyday youth player become an NBA player as
just a rebounder? Probably not but here are five rebounding drills for coaches
and parents that may help their players and kids improve their individual and
team rebounding.
1) Two-Hand Basic. This is one of the simplest, basic
rebounding drills that some of the top coaches in the country use at each and
every practice. Line up players on one side of the backboard about six feet
away from it. Toss the ball against the backboard, run to get the rebound,
secure it with two hands and come down with it. When the player lands, he
should have a nice wide base with his feet. The feet in fact should be farther
apart then the player’s shoulders. Once the player goes, he turns and pivots to
the outside for the outlet pass and passes the ball to the next player. This is
done continuously. Coaches can use both sides of the backboard with two lines.
For younger players who may have trouble tossing the ball against the backboard,
coaches can use a wall. This is one of those simple drills that give coaches a
great opportunity to point out fundamental mistakes and correct them.
2) Bull In The Ring. This drill can get very physical.
Anywhere from two to five players will pair up with someone. This drill is done
around the circle at the free throw line. So say we have three pair of players
participating. The three defensive players will be spread around the circle.
The three pair of offensive players will be spread outside the circle. Each
pair will be facing each other. The coach will put the ball in the center of
the circle and get out. When the coach blows the whistle, the offensive players
will try to get inside the circle to get the basketball. The defensive players
will pivot at the sound of the whistle with their back to their partner. The
defensive players will try to keep the offensive players outside of the circle
and away from the basketball using out their boxing out skills. The coach can
use 3, 4 or 5 seconds as the goal to keep the offensive players outside the
circle. Coaches can adjust this drill according to the age and skill of the
players that are being coached. And there is a safety factor here so coaches
should pay strict attention and get ready to quickly blow the whistle. This
drill can also be done around the mid-court circle. Because of the size of the
circle, here you can only have one pair of players. An idea for coaches is to
use all the circles in the gym.
3) Ball Bangs. This is a great drill for older kids who
have some height and jumping ability and can hit the backboard. With that said,
coaches and parents of younger kids should never be turned off by any advanced
basketball drills they see or hear about. I would bet that 90% of most advanced
drills can be adjusted for the youngest youth basketball players. In the “Ball
Bangs” drills, starts on the right side. The player holds the basketball with
two hands over his head. The player will jump up and bang the ball against the
backboard. He does this as hard as he can three times. On the fourth jump, he
puts the ball in the basket. You can work up to ten or fifteen or even twenty
jumps and coaches can “encourage” players by yelling to hit the ball harder
against the backboard. Players can then switch sides. For younger players a
wall is just as good as the backboard. Coaches and parents should make sure
players keep the ball over their head. Hitting the ball hard against the
backboard or wall will condition the player to use his strength to hold the
basketball. There is no rest or winding up between jumps.
4) Over The Top. This rebounding drills starts at the
block (square color) on one side of the key. Each player has his own basketball
and is in one line. The player will toss the ball to the box target above the
rim. When he does this, as ball goes to the other side and the player should
himself move to where the ball will be coming down. The goal for the player
when getting the rebound is to make the effort to attack the ball at the
highest point he can possibly reach it. When the player lands, coaches want to
emphasize that the player should create a large base with his feet and his
shoulders are square to the baseline with the ball around chin height, with the
elbows out. With the shoulders
square to the baseline and elbows out, this helps shield off any defensive
player from the ball. After securing the basketball, the player will try to put
the ball into the basket either with no dribble or with one power dribble. Then the next person in line goes. This
is an excellent drill to utilize numerous baskets in one gymnasium. Or one
player can do this continuously going from side to side. This can be a dual
purpose drill for conditioning as well.
5) Carousel. In this rebounding drill, we have two
regular five man teams in different color t-shirts. They are at the circle at
the foul line. The coach is in the middle and the players will begin to walk
around the circle. The coach will then toss the ball up to the backboard. The
players will scramble for the rebound.
They will play a one-point game and then start over at the circle.
Coaches should have players go one way and then go the other way. It is
important that while the players are going around the circle, they are able to
see the coach at all times so they all know when he shoots the basketball.
These are only five of many basketball rebounding
drills that teams of all ages can utilize. Coaches have to emphasize to their
players that rebounding is one of the most important parts of the game of
basketball though there is no guarantee that the best rebounding team will win
the game. It is not a guarantee but it will help keep teams competitive and
will put them in a position to win games.
RELATED RESOURCES
Young Little Leaguers Learning To Catch Fly Balls
There is no set age for young players when they start to feel comfortable catching pop ups. Many of the really young players are afraid of getting hit in the face by the ball and will camp under a pop up very apprehensively. Unless catching a fly ball is practiced, their nervousness can lead to injury. There are numerous drills a coach or parent can practice with their players. Some drills will work for some athletes and not for others.
One of the first drills I do is to hit a soft covered ball off a paddle. I explain to the kids that I only want them to make contact with the soft covered ball with their glove. I do not want any kids catching the ball. Telling them not to catch the ball will do two things. First, you are making the drill uniform, with the goal attainable by everyone on the team. Second, the weaker kids will not feel bad if everyone catches the fly and he or she only makes contact with his glove. And, you want the really young kids to experience as much success as they can. This success will lead to more and more confidence when a real hard ball is used.
Another technique I have used is one of those velcro paddles with velcro balls for the young kids, and they love it. I toss up the Velcro ball as high as possible and they take turns catching it. This is another great confidence builder, and the success experienced with many repetitions will help immensely when catching a real hard ball, which is the ultimate goal. Wiffle balls and tennis ball are also good to practice with. Progression is the key. And you can even set up competitions with catching any of these balls. Even the young players love contests and competitions.
So remember that the key to teaching young players to catch fly balls is to do it by progression. Having them dive into the deep end with no experience might open up the possibility for an injury with never extinguishing their fear of the ball. Successful repetitions will lead to confidence and give them the best odds of mastering this skill.
http://www.YouthSportsClub.com
Marty Schupak has coached youth baseball for 21 years and is the video creator of "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice", "Backyard Baseball Drills", "Winning Baseball Strategies", "Hitting Drills & Techniques", “Pitching Drills & Techniques”, and author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills". He is a principle with Videos For Coaches and is also President of the Youth Sports Club, a group dedicated to making sports practices and games more enjoyable for kids.
One of the first drills I do is to hit a soft covered ball off a paddle. I explain to the kids that I only want them to make contact with the soft covered ball with their glove. I do not want any kids catching the ball. Telling them not to catch the ball will do two things. First, you are making the drill uniform, with the goal attainable by everyone on the team. Second, the weaker kids will not feel bad if everyone catches the fly and he or she only makes contact with his glove. And, you want the really young kids to experience as much success as they can. This success will lead to more and more confidence when a real hard ball is used.
Another technique I have used is one of those velcro paddles with velcro balls for the young kids, and they love it. I toss up the Velcro ball as high as possible and they take turns catching it. This is another great confidence builder, and the success experienced with many repetitions will help immensely when catching a real hard ball, which is the ultimate goal. Wiffle balls and tennis ball are also good to practice with. Progression is the key. And you can even set up competitions with catching any of these balls. Even the young players love contests and competitions.
So remember that the key to teaching young players to catch fly balls is to do it by progression. Having them dive into the deep end with no experience might open up the possibility for an injury with never extinguishing their fear of the ball. Successful repetitions will lead to confidence and give them the best odds of mastering this skill.
http://www.YouthSportsClub.com
Marty Schupak has coached youth baseball for 21 years and is the video creator of "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice", "Backyard Baseball Drills", "Winning Baseball Strategies", "Hitting Drills & Techniques", “Pitching Drills & Techniques”, and author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills". He is a principle with Videos For Coaches and is also President of the Youth Sports Club, a group dedicated to making sports practices and games more enjoyable for kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment