Proper Soccer Kick Technique

June 18th, 2010 by soccer

Teach Your Soccer Players The Right Way To Kick

Soccer Kick TechniqueAs players develop, they often take what they’ve learned at an early age and carry it forward in their soccer development. Surprisingly, a lot of great players have never been taught the correct way to actually kick a ball!

The basic instep kick is the first type of kick that should be introduced to young players. It’s performed by kicking the ball with the laced portion of the foot. The kick is kept low by placing the nonkicking foot near the ball with the toes about even with the front of the ball. This position places the body over the ball during the kick and is needed for accuracy as well as for keeping the actual kicked ball low.

So let’s break it down. Kicking a ball should be done with precision. When teaching a proper kick, there are a series of rules that apply. Use these soccer training rules to teach your youth players the correct way to kick now so they have a great foundation on which to grow as they move forward in their soccer career.

RULE 1 – Keep your eye on the ball

Look at the target, then look at the ball and keep your eye on it while kicking and during the follow-through. The best way to do this is to keep the head down until the ball gets to the target. Young players have a tendency to want to look up immediately after kicking the ball to see how well they’ve done. Try to get your players out of the habit of looking up prematurely.

RULE 2 – Follow through the kick

Kicks are governed by the laws of physics. Following through is necessary to give the ball accuracy and speed. The accuracy is attained because the ball will follow the path of the foot aimed at the target and so the foot should contact the ball for a longer accelerating period of time. The follow through allows the kicker to kick with less than top power but still have good speed. Teach your kids that a kick does not end after the ball has left the foot and that the follow through is very important!

RULE 3 – Kick in a straight line

The kicked ball will follow the line that it has at that instant. In other words, the kicked ball will follow the tangent path the moment that the foot and ball part contact. It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment of this release time, but a straight-line kick is the best kick. Correct players that kick in an arched fashion either from side to side or from down to up.

RULE 4 – Compensate for the ball spin

Spinning balls tend to curve. In scientific terms, whenever a moving ball spins, it creates a lowered air pressure on the opposite side of the kick. It’s going to curve towards that low pressure direction unless the wind can compensate. For long kicks, the player must learn to compensate for this spin. Of course, you don’t want to get into physics lessons during soccer practice with youth players, but they should know that a kick that’s made at the center of the ball will not cause a spin to the left or the right.

RULE 5 – Place the nonkicking foot forward

If a player wants to keep a kick low, he should always place the nonkicking foot toes at the front position of the ball.

When teaching your kids, don’t go overboard on teaching them “rules” of kicking. Often they’ll learn the correct way to kick by trial and error. Hopefully with a little knowledge and coaching soccer drills, you can help your players learn to kick faster which will speed up their soccer growth and ultimately help your team win.


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Learn Proper Soccer Tackling

June 17th, 2010 by soccer

Turn Your Youth Soccer Players Into Top-Notch Tacklers

soccer tacklingTaking the ball from an offensive player is called tackling and it’s one of the most important soccer skills a young player can learn.

The goal of tackling is for the tackler to gain possession of the ball or disrupt an opponent’s progress by kicking the ball away from him. To simply kick the ball away from the dribbler does not gain possession for the tackler. Good tackling is all about timing. Timing is something that’s difficult in soccer coaching and this is something youth players catch on to gradually.


Your players should step in whenever the attacker temporarily loses control of the ball. Players should not be afraid to attempt to take the ball when they have a good opportunity, such as when the dribbler pushes the ball too far ahead or when a player does not receive a pass well.


Diving in, or throwing the leg, as it’s known, is a poor way to try to gain possession and a good dribbler can easily go around a defender that does this. Also, soccer rules require the tackler to contact the ball before the opponent. Even if a player’s objective is to go for the ball, by diving in the player is risking making contact with an opponent which could result in a foul.


When setting up to make a tackle, the defender should approach the dribbler from the side and go for the ball first. If the defender follows this technique, the attacker can’t push the ball between the defender’s legs. Defenders should also be prepared, after a tackle that doesn’t go well, to get up off of the ground or quickly recover to defend again. A youth player should realize that a player he’s marking is his responsibility and shouldn’t rely on teammates to cover for his mistakes.

Your players can use two types of tackles depending on the situation they’re in. These include the block tackle and the poke tackle. Your players will want to use a block tackle when an opponent is dribbling directly at them. This block is the most common type of tackle in soccer and this technique is the foundation of skillful defending. When block tackling, players should close the distance between themselves and the defenders, assume a slightly crouched position in order to easily react to the dribbler’s next move, and make the tackle by positioning the foot sideways making contact with the inside surface of the foot.


Poke tackling is best used when players are approaching an opponent from the side or slightly behind. This type of tackle is simply to dispossess the dribbler of the ball rather than try to gain possession of it. When poke tackling, players should move near the dribbler and then with the toes use a short kick near the center of the ball to knock it away from an opponent.


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The Best Seven Soccer Dribbling Tips

May 29th, 2010 by soccer

I have recommended this package done by Mirsad.
It is well done. If you want to learn key soccer moves
then check it out. Click on the image to see for yourself.

Intro to Soccer Dribbling
One thing you need to keep in mind about soccer dribbling is to never play solo just to show people how skillful you are. Dribbling is only justified when you can’t find a free teammate that you can pass the ball to. However, if you can find an unmarked teammate within a striking distance, then passing the ball to him should always be your number one option.

1. Maintain your center of gravity
The center of gravity is extremely important for your dribbling skills. To give you an idea of how the center of gravity works, you could draw an imaginary line form your torso to the ground. The center of your gravity would be located between your feet. If you were too close your feet and stand, your center of gravity would lie beyond your feet and you will fall and lose equilibrium. But if you were to spread your feet and squat a little, you would be able to maintain your center of gravity. Maradona was a master at combining his center of gravity together with his dribbling skills which made him almost impossible to stop.

2. Study your opponents
It’s important for you to study your opponents before you actually play the game. If you have never faced a player before, I recommend you to spy at him during the warm up in order to identify his weak sides.

3. Avoid performing the same move too often
When you are playing a game, never try out the same dribbling moves more than 2 times on the same defender. If you use the same dribbling techniques over and over again, your opponents will soon or later figure out how to stop you.

4. Always look in the direction that you moving
Don’t look at the ball when you are dribbling, instead look at your opponent and the direction that you are going. Lots of young players as well as experienced players are known to make this mistake.

5. Keep the ball close to your feet
Keep the ball close to your feet while you are dribbling. If the ball is far away from your feet, your opponent will surely be able to clear the ball away from you.

6. Use your both feet
If you really want to be good at dribbling, I recommend you to learn how to dribble by using your both feet.

7. Don’t be too predictable
If you were extremely predictable, then you would not achieve anything with your dribbling, even if you have great dribbling skills.

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Here Are Four Crucial Soccer Skills You Need To Own

May 28th, 2010 by soccer

soccer training skillsWhat are the most important soccer training skills? Well this all depends on how skilled you are but you need to keep in mind that there is always something you can improve in your game.
Passing – This is the most vital part of all soccer skills and without knowing how to pass the ball you will not either know how to play soccer. Learning how to pass the ball doesn’t require any long time. However, to learn how to master it will take you many hours of practice. One thing you can do to improve your passing skills is to kick the ball against a wall. This will not only improve your passing skills, you will also increase your receiving and trapping skills.

Essential Soccer techniques

Receiving – if you don’t know how to receive a ball your performance on the field will be pretty poor. Your teammates will not either pass the ball to you if they realize that you don’t how to receive it. However, learning to receive a soccer ball is not that difficult as learning rocker science :-) The most important thing while practicing on your receiving skills is to have your feet relaxed and focus on the ball. One thing that will help you improve your receiving skills is to receive the ball while being on your toes. If you don’t believe in this, you may try it out by yourself and I can ensure you that it will be much easier to receive the ball with accuracy and precision.

Shooting – Without knowing how to shoot you can be pretty sure that your scoring abilities will be pretty poor. What you may don’t know is that you don’t need to have the most powerful shoot in your team to score many goals. The important thing is to hit the goal. I mean what is the point of shooting hard if you can’t hit the goal? One thing you can do to improve your shooting skills is to aim at posts every time you shoot. Try also to shoot on the ground because goalkeeper generally need more time to dive after low shoots. Practice on your both feet to increase your chances of scoring.

Heading – This skill is pretty important whether you are playing in defense or in offense. However, good heading players tend to score much more goals on corner and free kicks than the players with poor heading abilities. You should not either be afraid of heading the ball. Keep in mind that if you don’t head the ball with determination and power the ball will strike you instead. So, always remember to attack the ball and never stand still on your spot and wait for the ball to strike you.

I have recommended this package done by Mirsad.
It is well done. If you want to learn key soccer moves
then check it out. Click on the image to see for yourself.

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Three Essential Soccer Techniques You Must Master

May 27th, 2010 by soccer

Although it may seem to a beginning player that soccer requires a wide and diverse range of abilities, all you really need for a superior game is three basic soccer skills. However, mastering these skills requires intense and regular soccer training, both alone and with a team. Here are the three primary skills required by soccer and easy ways to perfect them in your own backyard.

1. Ball control
This means being able to take and keep control of the ball in a variety of situations, including while running and while under pressure from an opponent. One of the best ways to master ball control is to work against a wall. Kicking the ball against the wall and responding to its rebounding will allow beginning and intermediate players to get used to the way the ball responds to their foot movements. More advanced players can preselect different techniques, for example blocking the ball only with the inside of their foot, to master using techniques from a variety of angles.

2. One on one plays
Whether you are an offensive or defensive player, your interactions with the opposing team will be the key to your success on the soccer field. For defensive players, the most important one on one moves are blocking the other team’s offensive plays and taking possession of the ball. For offensive players, this means being able to get the ball past opponents, usually either by faking or by finding weakness in their techniques.

Although one on one plays may seem difficult to master on a solo basis, they really boil down to dribbling skills, which are easy to practice alone. You can practice dribbling the ball in a straight line or set up a more complicated course with cones or other obstacles. You can practice fakes by making the ball appear to be going in one direction before quickly moving in another.

3. Handling the ball
One skill that all successful soccer players have in common is the ability to accurately and forcefully kick the ball. This means knowing the three main kicking techniques, which are the push pass, the curve, and the instep drive. Another key part of handling the ball is knowing how to head the ball. Again, practice makes perfect. The best way to practice ball handling skills is to use a large number of balls and work on one technique at a time. Having to chase after a ball every time you kick it can keep you from perfecting your technique, so have an arsenal of soccer balls on hand for this exercise.

Once you have mastered these three main skills, the rest is just details. The key to learning the fundamentals of soccer is regular practice, both as a team and on your own. Practicing your game at home will allow your team to focus on team building and working as a coordinated unit at practice. With no special equipment and no coaching required, there is nothing standing between you and the soccer success you deserve.

I have recommended this package done by Mirsad.
It is well done. If you want to learn key soccer moves
then check it out. Click on the image to see for yourself.

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