Blog for soccer coaches

When analyzing goals in soccer, it is clear that small details usually made the difference. A defender was not tight enough on an opponent. A tackle was made a fraction too early or a fraction too late. The wall was just a couple of inches too far to the left or too far to the right, or a short player was mistakenly marking a much taller player when defending a corner kick.

Top Finishing and Crossing Drills

Developing finishing and crossing skills is an important aspect of soccer that can greatly contribute to your players' overall growth and enjoyment of the game. By working on these skills, your team can become more well-rounded and confident on the field.

6 Youth Soccer Drills To Work On Defense

A strong defense is the backbone of any successful soccer team, and it all starts with proper training at practice. Teaching players the fundamentals of defense not only instills essential soccer skills, but can also foster a sense of teamwork as they work as a cohesive unit to defend their goal.

5 Favorite Small Sided Soccer Games

Small-sided games create a fast-paced and intense environment where players are forced to think quickly and make split-second decisions. Whether working on improving their attacking strategies or defensive tactics, small-sided games provide a fun and engaging platform for soccer players to improve their skills and decision making.

Free Online Soccer Drawing Tool

SoccerDrive.com is proud to announce our new online soccer drawing tool! Coaches can now easily draw activities, games, drills, tactics and practice plans on any device! SoccerDrive.com members can save their drawings in their account for future use and share them with their team.

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5 Fun 1 v 1 Soccer Activities and games

One of the best ways to naturally bring out the competitive nature in your soccer players during practice is by adding in 1 v 1 activities, small-sided games, and races. The human spirit is instantly ignited when there is a goal to score, a race to win or an opponent to beat. Below we give you 5 simple, yet competitive soccer activities to ramp up your practices and help players work...

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How to Engage Your Soccer Team During Covid19

We are in unprecedented times. The spread of the coronavirus has slowed life, confined many to their homes, and had a very real impact on the spring for everyone involved in youth sports. While safety is paramount, and sports is and should be taking a backseat to keeping our families and communities well, all coaches want to find way to keep their players touching the ball, staying active, and...

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Best Soccer Activities And Games of 2019

As 2019 comes to a close, SoccerDrive.com wanted to take time to reflect on our most popular pieces of content based on member interaction. In the recap below, we will list our most popular blog posts, soccer activities, small-sided games, and practice sessions. Based on the lists below, it is clear that coaches have been implementing more dynamic activities, small-sided games,...

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6 Simple Soccer Activities To Develop First Touch

Below are 6 simple, yet highly effective soccer exercises to develop and improve your first touch when receiving a pass. A good first touch will help you settle the soccer ball so you can make an accurate pass, shot, or begin to dribble to open space. 

10 year Major League Soccer veteran Bobby Burling walks us through these 6 activities with a variety of key points...

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A good youth soccer coach talking to his team

Quick, off the top of your head, what do you feel are the main qualities that make a youth coach successful?

Is it a passion for the sport? Friendliness? Ability to teach techniques? Ability to communicate with players? Approachability? Your quality of practice plans? Your knowledge of good soccer drills? What do you feel are YOUR top three qualities as a coach? In this article,...

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5 great warm up ideas for youth soccer practice

One of the challenges for youth soccer coaches is to make sure their players are always excited to come to practice.

Training sessions that start that start with small sided games and activities which are fun but also enforce fundamentals like dribbling, passing and receiving, awareness, and ball control can help the focus and energy of the entire team.It is also helpful to have a...

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Static vs. Dynamic Soccer Activities in Practice Plans

A Look at using Static vs. Dynamic Soccer Drills in Youth Soccer Practices.

To start, please watch this short 1 minute video from a recent United States Soccer Federation (USSF) ‘B’ license. For background, this is a Stage 2 activity (meaning, done after the warm up), and the topic is Crossing And Finishing In A 4-4-2 Formation. While watching, ask yourself what you like about the...

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5 great soccer dribbling drills to sharpen your footwork with Bobby Burling

10 Year Major League Soccer Veteran, Bobby Burling demonstrates 5 dribbling drills that will sharpen up your dribbling skills and footwork.

All you need is a ball and you will be able to work on these skills anywhere you want! As a player, improving your dribbling skills is one of the most important things you can do to improve your game. Proper dribbling techniques can help you create...

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Youth Soccer Players Sitting on the Bench

Recreational play is the most important foundation of youth soccer in this country because it is the place where everyone, regardless of ability, size, or income, can play.

Every single high-level player in this country started in recreational soccer and, if they had had negative experiences in it, most likely would have quit playing before they had the chance to become as talented as...

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Soccer Coach Interacting with their team

In the world of youth sports, there are all sorts of coaching experiences ranging from rookies to 10+ year veterans.

However, regardless of seniority, knowledge, or skill, all coaches are trying to achieve the same thing: to make their players better, and to enjoy soccer. One of the wonderful things about coaching (as well as teaching) is that there is no set path on how to achieve...

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U8 soccer players involved in a fun game

The soccer drills chosen to include in this list are ones the kids will love and be excited about. It is critical that coaches at this level make practices fun and exciting and therefore we put together a list of 7 soccer drills that U8 soccer coaches can include in their practice plans.

These drills are explained in detail and supported with diagrams and animations.  The drills...

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Youth Soccer Players at Tryouts

This article is helpful for coaches that are getting organized for their youth soccer tryouts.  We will cover setting up evaluation criteria, age appropriate soccer drills, communication, and how to select the team.

A lot of the resources we mention are available by following the links in this post. For example, soccer drills for particular age groups can be viewed.  ...

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Positive soccer parents and their son holding a soccer ball with their heads

Here are a few ways you, as a parent, can be a positve force on your child's team and therefore contribute to their success.  Parents have a much larger influence on youth teams than most people realize, both good and bad.  

It is not always easy but I promise if you commit to being a positive force it will be reflected in your child’s performance and ultimately your...

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Online Coaching Tools for Youth Soccer Coaches

The internet can provide a wealth of information and resources for youth soccer coaches.  

There are thousands of drills posted online as diagrams and videos.  SoccerDrive.com alone has over 400 (and growing) animated soccer drills and tactics.  Not only is our goal to provide great content that is useful to youth soccer coaches, but to give them tools that will help...

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Youth Soccer Dribbling Drill

The Whole-Part-Whole practice philosophy (or Play-Practice-Play) is a method that is growing in popularity.  

The more traditional practice approach is an incremental method in which the players start with a basic skill or tactic and gradually increase the complexity throughout the practice.  The idea being that if you start simple and end more complex then everyone has made...

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Girls Soccer Team Celebrating Success

A healthy and open relationship between players, coaches, and parents is critical for the success of any youth soccer team!

The focus of youth soccer is not only to watch children learn and grow in both the sport and life, but also for our kids to have fun and enjoy themselves. Coaches and organizations strive to improve the skills children will need on the soccer field as well as...

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