Fit and Cool

Soccer Practice – 5 Big Reasons To Be Flexible

Soccer practice

In soccer practice, the physical ability and skills of the players is perceived by many people as natural and inherent. Even though a lot depends on the genetics but it is still possible to teach the players some basic fitness components that help improve the player’s performance.

To come up with an efficient soccer training plan, first understand what the demands of the game are. There are many components that lay the fitness foundation for soccer. Swiftness, alertness, stamina, elasticity, power, and control are some of these.

These elements can be ranked in the order of importance to suit your individual requirements and goals. But it must be noted that training all the components will have an energizing effect on the player’s performance.

In soccer drills, let’s take a closer look at the given fitness components in order to know their relation with the player’s performance. The game of soccer calls for certain movements that entail a wide range of activity. For this reason, flexibility training should be made a part of the daily soccer practice routine.

Soccer Training

You’ll see the benefits of flexibility training and better mobility in due course of time. It’s always easy to maintain flexibility than developing it.

During coaching sessions, teach kids to maintain a full variety of movement which will produce top class performance on the field. As a general rule, those flexibility drills should be made a part of daily practice which include hitting the ball, jumping, and sprinting. Because the game is reactive to a great extent, better flexibility would give the players the talent to make prompt decisions in field.

Goalkeepers take up a large space on the field from all possible angles. So, it is natural that they require a lot of action. Midfielders who possess the ball also require jumping, kicking, running etc around the field. Attacking players have the advantage because they can move when they maneuver the ball among opponents.

When the players keep the body flexible, their movement is increased and there are no chances of injuries. During the practice session, preventing injury is of utmost importance. Flexibility is vital for minimizing strains and pulls to muscles and ligaments when exhaustion begins to cause a problem in your running and playing posture. And then, cool down exercises bring a lot of relief to the players.

When there is no flexibility in soccer coaching, the overall well-being of the player is affected. Whereas, if the players are flexible, they can do a lot of movements freely. Speed is another supplement to great flexibility. With quickness in your hip, knee, and ankle joints, the players will be able to stretch their strides while sprinting.

To end, remember that it is important to develop a regular routine in soccer practice sessions to attain your flexibility goals. This is possible only if you include games and drills in your routine that encourage flexible movements.

If you would like more insights on soccer games, join our youth soccer coaching community that has tons of similar resources on youth soccer.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn  how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: Soccer Training Drills.

Another great health, fitness and nutrition resource is Truth About Six Pack Abs by Mike Geary. Check out Girlwithnoname’s review of this awesome eBook here:

Sports Activities Are A Great Character Builder

Sometimes the activities children are involved with can lead to careers they pursue later in life. When identifying things for them to do, it can be somewhat of a challenge. The best way to identify a good activity would be to become perceptive of what interests them.

Sports activities can never be introduced too early in a child’s life. Adults generally participate in the game of golf, but a young child could benefit from learning the game. You could easily start by providing an inexpensive set of golf clubs and the best golf instruction book you can find.

Another activity a young person most likely would enjoy is wheel-less skateboarding. There is a new skateboard on the market equipped with a type of sensors in the board (not nickel free batteries), that adjusts to the weight of the rider’s feet. This model skateboard was developed by a young man who grew up skateboarding.

Such a sporting device would be particularly challenging, but you’d want to make sure the rider wears some type of helmet. You could color coordinate maybe a black helmet to match a black skateboard, and the rider would get a good workout in style.

Not many people seem to participate in horseback riding. This is one sport, however, that a skilled horseman can get great pleasure from, just being outside sailing through the wind atop a magnificent animal. If he/she is lightweight, there is a good possibility their skillfulness could be put to good use as a horse racing jockey.

Of course, basketball, football and baseball will probably never lose its appeal. There is the opportunity to participate in these sports at a very young age, and if you are proficient enough, eventually work your way into the major leagues.

Sports activities can be a wholesome addition to children’s lives and help them grow to their fullest potential. It takes just a little encouragement on the part of someone who is interested in their development and who is willing to invest some time.

Becoming a productive citizen can result from keeping a developing child occupied with activities designed to strengthen their character. Not only will there be development of the mind, but the time and energies expended can also instill discipline and confidence. It is not a hard thing to identify the best activities to pursue. By paying attention to the natural skills displayed by the child, you can get an idea of activities that compliment those skills.

Another great health, fitness and nutrition resource is Truth About Six Pack Abs by Mike Geary. Check out Girlwithnoname’s review of this awesome eBook here:

Kids Soccer Drills: 7 Ways To Dribble

Kids soccer drills

In kids soccer drills, this is for sure that anyone who has played the sport will understand the importance of dribbling in the game. Dribbling refers to the skill of maneuvering the ball in the field while keeping its control. To begin with, kids are trained on this very skill of dribbling.

Now the point is to choose the degree of importance of dribbling skills. For your kids to become experts in dribbling skills, it’s best to have them do regular drills. It teaches the kids the basic movements to drive the ball well. It’s the skill of dribbling while maintaining contact with the ball which lets you leave behind several opponents in the play ground.

To become a good dribbler, you need to spend time with the ball and take to heart these key fundamentals. The ability to use the face of their foot is taught in kids soccer drills. When dribbling at a fast speed, kids will be frequently using the front part of their instep.

Yet, the kids must know the art of using the interior and exterior of both their feet on way to be good dribblers. This helps the kids to retain the ball’s control despite the direction from which opponents strike. Teach the kids the trick of using both the sides of their feet like that of a hockey stick.

Youth Soccer Drills

Soccer drills for kids must ensure they touch the ball with every step taken with the ball. When dribbling the ball, tap it when it’s in front. The kids will therefore be able to be in charge of the ball and enhance the dribbling speed along the ball.

This has the effect of eluding the defenders when they try to get close to the ball to capture it. So initiate step by step and make it certain that kids are increasingly feeling associated with the ball in each step.

Players in youth soccer drills should be taught to vary the speed. So as to defeat the opposing team in dribbling, it’s not required for the kids to be exceedingly fast. Instead, make the defender snooze for a moment and rush past the opponent at immense speed.

Guide the kids to constantly keep an eye on the ball. When dribbling, it’s critical for the kids to be focused on the ball and also know what’s happening in the ground.

Support them in getting their weak foot better. Soccer drills for youth should include continuous striking of the ball against a wall using the bad foot which will help them improve slowly. In the spare time, kids should play about with a soccer ball. Tell them to sit down, take a ball and use the weaker foot to just roll it back and forth. The more they do it, the more they will be able to control the ball.

So, you’ve got it now! Kids soccer drills should teach the kids to use their body to defend the ball. When a defender comes near, body should be used to protect the ball. To get an access to many more tips on soccer coaching tricks and dribbling, join our youth soccer coaching community.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Kids soccer drills.

Another great health, fitness and nutrition resource is Truth About Six Pack Abs by Mike Geary. Check out Girlwithnoname’s review of this awesome eBook here:

How Can I Encourage My Children to be More Active?

Building of Outdoor Play Apparatus

As parents we are constantly reminded that it is our responsibility to get our offspring to be active, to get exercise and not to lie around eating fast food while playing computer games. Many parents will probably agree that tearing their children away from their televisions and computer games can be tougher than pulling teeth.

Last year I invested a significant amount of hard earned cash in a few pieces of outdoor play equipment, chosen by my two youngsters. They always enjoy a visit to our local park where they can race around, swing on the swings, slide on the slides and climb the climbing frames. Unfortunately our nearest park is about 3 miles away so we don’t get to visit as often as they or I would like. So I bit the bullet and shelled out quite a bit of money on a wooden swing slide playset and climbing frame which I put together whilst my wife was conveniently at the health spa.

Now I would like to report that my generosity has paid off and my children are now fit and active and can’t get enough of their new equipment.But that is far from the truth. Since I installed the equipment (which presented many headaches, took a lot of hammering and quite a bit of swearing) they have probably only played on it three times. Admittedly I didn’t get the equipment until the Autumn of 2009 and since then our weather has been atrocious.

At least that is the reason they give when I suggest they might enjoy a little outdoor fun. It’s too cold, they often say. Or, ‘the swings are too wet to sit on’ is another excuse that I hear. I’ll be needing one of those spa treatments at this rate!

I’m hoping that, as we move into spring and the weather improves, they will naturally want to get out into the garden and get some much needed exercise on their new outdoor toys. I’m dreading another miserable, wet summer as this will result in my fat children just getting fatter instead of working off those excess pounds with a little outdoor adventure. Nobody ever said that being parenting was easy. Although the odd massage does go down well when it all gets a bit stressful

Another great health, fitness and nutrition resource is Truth About Six Pack Abs by Mike Geary. Check out Girlwithnoname’s review of this awesome eBook here:

Tips On Preventing Kids Soccer Drills Mistakes

Kids Soccer Drills

Let me tell you that in kids soccer drills, there are certain blunders that coaches make which reduce their teams to rubble and bring it down. Yes, it’s a fact. Most of you might wonder as to what can be so big that puts the team on a loosing streak. Then let me tell you, there can be numerous causes.

When it comes to soccer drills for kids, you have to be very careful and strategic. It’s very important for you know the kid’s psychology. Speak with them in a language that they can understand well. But it’s really sad that a lot of coaches are still untrained to get used to this. They do not appreciate the difference between coaching the kids and coaching mature players.

Here you go; main errors that coaches make that result in a team’s downfall.

1. Many coaches take their jobs for granted. They are not punctual, fail to organize the drills, and don’t think it’s important to plan the sessions. These qualities are not just unacceptable and also upset the kids. Just like the kids, you too should get serious about soccer. Make arrangements for youth soccer drills beforehand. Arrange for various equipments needed to perform the drills before-hand.

Youth Soccer Drills

Don’t be late. Always reach the field before the kids. Well in fact, grace the filed with your presence when kids reach. It provides you some spare time to review the drills and organize things better.

2. Before the sessions, when the coaches impart instructions for kids soccer drills, they get so lost in it so as to loose track of the time. Have you ever considered how bad that can be? You must appreciate that kids are more eager to play than hearing long speeches. Keep your instructions brief and to the point. These sessions should be used to boost the confidence of the kids as well as motivate them.

Also, do not interrupt the kids when they are playing. If you have noted anything wrong, share it after the drill has ended. Also, observe the kids from outside when they are playing.

3. Some coaches get ruthless and unkind while dealing with the kids. In soccer drills for youth, this can prove to be catastrophic. It may prove counter productive to show your emotions on the field. It is natural for the kids to make errors on the field. Always remember that they are young. You should not take it seriously and get offensive with the players.

In such a situation, you disengage the kids from the game and also create problems for yourself. Soccer is a game of the mind. Help the kids understand this so that they get inspired by you.

Just don’t let these problems of kids soccer drills affect you and you are a winner. If you need more information on what the behavior of the coaches should be like, join our youth soccer coaching community. This will dramatically improve your knowledge and skills.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn  how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: Soccer Training Drills.

Another great health, fitness and nutrition resource is Truth About Six Pack Abs by Mike Geary. Check out Girlwithnoname’s review of this awesome eBook here:

8 Ways To Practice Soccer

Soccer practice

Practice makes a man perfect is a phrase that we use very sparingly. It is all the more true for soccer practice sessions. The kids look forward to getting to the field each day with an intention to learn something new. Nevertheless, it’s imperative that kids practice regularly the old techniques in soccer training as well that have been taught to them.

So the challenge before you is to ensure that monotony does not set in despite the kids practicing a few identical drills everyday. Given below are certain tricks that’ll allow you to execute practice sessions in a disciplined, expected, and an attractive way.

1. Does this need more emphasis? You are the kid’s instructor and therefore they will imitate your actions. Be punctual on the field, show them your expertise with the ball, involve everyone in drills, and organize the sessions well. This will help you win the players respect and trust.

2. Instruct the kids to bring their own ball to the field everyday. Every kid is necessarily required to have a soccer ball. Keep some extra balls handy in case any of the kids fails to get his.

Soccer Training

3. Some soccer moves must be practiced everyday without fail. Kicking, passing, dribbling, throw-ins are the essential elements of soccer practice. It is imperative that kids practice these on a daily basis. Make sure each one of the kids participate in this even if some of them shy away in the beginning.

4. Initiate games more than soccer drills in your practice sessions. The reason is that games require much more stamina and dexterity in contrast to drills. Also, with games, you can experiment and innovate while keeping the focus on soccer.

5. Order is very important to be successful for a team. With kids, it is almost certain that you will have issues. It is mandatory to correct all instances of indiscipline irrespective of their scale. However, do it carefully since it is kids you are dealing with and they are susceptible.

6. While the session is on, you will note that some players do not run with the ball while others do. Ensure that this does not happen. All the young players should involve themselves in the game. Instruct the players about their position on the field and make them responsible for it.

7. Do not make them scrimmage a lot. Just about 20 minutes after the session is more than enough. And a goalie is not required in scrimmaging. This will ensure that kids become good at defense.

8. Keep researching about the new games and drills. That is the best way to keep the interest of the kids alive in the training sessions.

Now its time to start putting these tips into action in your soccer practice sessions. These tips will help your kids raise their performances in a short span. Our youth soccer coaching community has a wealth of resources. Enroll for them and your team’s performance is guaranteed to improve.

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Youth Soccer Drills.

Another great health, fitness and nutrition resource is Truth About Six Pack Abs by Mike Geary. Check out Girlwithnoname’s review of this awesome eBook here:

Coach Youth Soccer: Uncover Secrets To Fun Drills

Coach Youth Soccer

Let’s accept this! To coach youth soccer, it is a challenge to be creative and come up with innovative tips and techniques to train the kids. In teaching soccer, it is a huge stress to keep innovating new tricks to make soccer drills enjoyable for kids.

Read through some tips below that you can teach youth soccer players. These help them not just focus on the game, become proficient in soccer, but also enjoy the game.

Teach the boys dribbling and shooting: This is a straight-forward drill that all the players can take part in at the same time. Make the players stand on a single goal line. Now, disperse the balls all over the ground. Then, ask the kids to go after the balls and move as if they are attacking the opponent goal post. They must also shoot the ball when they get a chance.

This exercise does a lot of good to the energy level, and confidence of the players and at the same time perks their dribbling skills. As the players do not have any resistance, they move forward without any inhibitions and this brings out their unique style.

Coaching Youth Soccer

Understanding to pass the ball: Instruct the players to make a line at a distant corner of the field. Start counting till 3 and when you finish, order them to run to you as fast as they can. While they are running towards you, they also need to steal the ball from the other player who is kicking the ball. When you say Stop, the player who was kicking the ball must pass to one of the teammates.

In order to coach youth soccer, these games help the kids display their abilities in passing and dribbling. At the same time, they learn the skill of clinching the ball from others which is also vital.

Touch and Go: It’s an exciting game that kids enjoy playing. Make the young players stand in two queues not more than 40 feet from the goal post. And in addition to this, the goalie should guard the goalpost. Place yourself somewhere between the two queues.

Pass the ball to either of the queue and with only one tap teach them to shoot or pass the ball to another. The objective should be to attack the goal. Continue practicing the game after the goalie has returned the ball.

Swap your goalies in between the practice meetings if there are more than two goalkeepers. This sport enables players to perk up their shooting skills through team effort. The goalkeeper becomes skilled at protecting the ball from converting to a goal.

Maintaining the custody of the ball: The players will learn the art to proceed with the ball without losing its possession. Take two players, one acts as the defender and the other attacker. Now let them both play their roles in the field and the one who succeeds to take over another wins a point.

These are simple techniques to coach youth soccer. Your kids can put these into practice since they entertain your kids in addition to helping them learn. If you would like more such tips and know about drills, join our youth soccer coaching community.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Soccer Drills.

Another great health, fitness and nutrition resource is Truth About Six Pack Abs by Mike Geary. Check out Girlwithnoname’s review of this awesome eBook here:

Youth Soccer The Right Way

Coach Youth Soccer

Permit me a straight question. To coach youth soccer, what are the 3 things for the coach to do? Now, before you respond to this query, it is critical to understand that the meaning of youth soccer is that the kids entertain themselves. The attention should always be making the exercises exciting so that the players have fun all the time.

So, to teach youth soccer, keep in mind the following three tips. These will allow you to guide the kids to become advanced players.

Allow the players to enjoy themselves: As mentioned earlier, youth soccer means to enjoy the game thoroughly. As a coach, prepare each of the sessions beforehand. For example, make them start with warm-up drills that prepare them for the sessions. Then move to advanced drills such as passing, dribbling, trapping the ball etc and so on.

In addition, help the kids do some creative thinking on their own. Stimulate the kids to challenge themselves and if they fail, do not be harsh to them. Chat about it after the end of the session. It is essential to take the parents into confidence if you wish to make the game enjoyable for the players.

Coaching Youth Soccer

To coach youth soccer, it is important since the kids will spend a considerable time with their parents off the field. Ask the parents to inspire the kids, keep a track of their diet, and be regular in their training sessions.

Get familiar with the age of the kids: Teaching soccer to kids is between the age of 7 to 14. At this stage, it is difficult to come up with drills that engage their attention. So, you must think proactively to consider drills that are fun for the kids. Also, communicate carefully with them as they may not understand your intent behind the exercises if you are too formal in your approach.

It is always a great trick to divide them into teams and also give them individual names. This inculcates a sense of team spirit. It is advised not to conduct a lot of trials too. A good session is one that has a mix of new and old time-tested techniques.

Write down the drills: It is a good idea to write the exercises and the results that you are expecting from them. It achieves a road-map for the efforts of the team. Recorded data is highly beneficial in depicting the performance of the players. If anything requires to be changed, you can easily do so in a written documentation.

You can also follow your objectives easily. It is obvious that some things will not work out as you expected and you can always get back.

It can be safely said that youth soccer is an enjoyable and ever changing job. With these handy tips and techniques, you can easily tackle the job.

Analyze these tips straight away. These tips on coach youth soccer are guaranteed to bring you marvelous results. Subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community where there is a wealth of resources on youth soccer.

Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Coaching Drills.

Another great health, fitness and nutrition resource is Truth About Six Pack Abs by Mike Geary. Check out Girlwithnoname’s review of this awesome eBook here:

Kids, Birthdays, Food and Parental Responsibility

http://www.girlwithnoname.com/2010/02/kids-birthdays-food-and-parental-responsibility/

Ensuring your kids are learning good dietary habits? Read the rest of this entry »

Soccer Coaching Drills : Killer Tips On Making Soccer Fun

Soccer Coaching Drills

Have you ever thought why kids get so excited about soccer coaching drills? They do not necessarily look at it like a game but a session full of excitement and energy. So it becomes a sort of challenge for a coach to make youth soccer drills so interesting that kids just cannot wait to get to the field.

This can be achieved in a variety of ways. Encourage them to contest with each other by including lot of fun drills, and games in the soccer drills. You must understand that soccer is a team-game. Therefore it is critical to introduce games that promote team spirit among the boys.

Of the finest soccer coaching strategies, training kids in an engaging soccer game is one. This not only guides players to remain focused on the game but also utilize their energy positively.

You can start with the kids doing a short round of jogging to enable them to warm their bodies up. Keep a check and see that it’s not overdone. Since kids are a power house of energy, they may easily get overboard without realizing their limit. Take small breaks in between. It will help them to revitalize and pep up themselves. You can also use this time to talk to them about the next set of exercises.

Soccer Drills

Next, involve the players in individual or group activities. As an example, make the player who arrives first juggle. He is then joined by players who keep coming in. In this manner, the entire group gets involved in the activity. Make sure to divide the players into groups for the soccer coaching drills if they get bigger.

There are other nice activities as well such as soccer golf where the players aim the soccer ball at a distant object. Another cool game is soccer volleyball where the players toss the ball at each other without letting it get to the ground. These soccer coaching exercises add interest and enjoyment to the practice sessions.

In addition, teach the players to dribble with the ball as also use different body parts except hands. Do not be aggressive. Bear in mind that the players are young and need time to grasp the concepts. A great way of making this exercise interesting is shouting out the name of a specific body part such as foot, knee, elbow etc when the player is ready to tackle the ball. Then the player must use that body part. This helps them focus accurately.

Circuit training is another interesting drill. It suits best the situations where the number of players in high. Split the players in to smaller groups and assign them a number of tasks. They should do these continuously with small breaks in-between.

Put these to the test right away. Soccer drills can be great fun if you have the imagination to create new activities every day.

Now that you know these soccer coaching drills, pass them on to the kids so that they can practice them on the field. Join our youth soccer coaching community to get access to our wealth of resources and knowledge on training kids.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com – Youth Soccer Practice Drills.

Another great health, fitness and nutrition resource is Truth About Six Pack Abs by Mike Geary. Check out Girlwithnoname’s review of this awesome eBook here: