By : Andre Botelho
Let us suppose that 50% of the soccer coaching drills have focused on perfecting the trapping skills of their players. You'll easily reject it as a silly assumption. But No! Research shows that trapping along with passing and dribbling skills alone decide whether your team is capable of winning matches or not.
Trapping is the ability of the players to intercept the ball and then keep it near their body. Such soccer exercises allow players to use thighs, feet and chest in doing so.
You must acquaint your players with this skill of trapping the ball. If not, they will never really be in control of the game because everything else comes after trapping the ball. Below mentioned methods can be used to teach trapping skills to the players.
Use your feet: As a coach, you must teach the basic lesson of using the feet to maneuver the ball. Especially with younger players in kids soccer drills, it is important to make them use the inside of their foot. It is emphasized for the reason that inside area of the foot is big enough to catch hold of the ball.
In soccer coaching drills, players can be taught to use the instep or crown of the foot along with entire foot when the players are senior and established. When the ball is hopping too much, tell them to employ the most favorable trick of using their shin or ankle.
Thigh Movement: Speedy and bouncy ball can be controlled by simply using the thigh. Players should be taught to face of the ball, use one thigh to catch the ball and the other to stand on the ground. Most importantly, practice dropping your knee once it connects with the ball for the ball to drop down and stay with you rather than getting away.
This exercise of dropping the knee needs to be done repetitively so that the players master the art of first stopping the ball using the knee and then drop it so that the ball trickles down the feet.
Use the Chest: Similar to the role of a thigh, the chest also plays an important part in trapping the ball that is high up in the air. Make the players stand in front of the ball and then ask them to take their chests out as if to confront the ball. The ball will therefore loose its pace immediately and drop down right away to the feet.
But make sure that in soccer training drills, this technique should not be rigorously taught to the young players. It is very typical of them to use their hands while trying to stop the ball with the chest. This can become a serious issue if they tend to become habitual of tackling the ball with hands.
It's time now to execute these soccer coaching drills. Make the players practice these more and more. By subscribing to our youth soccer coaching community, keep yourself updated on the latest in the field.
Andre Botelho is known online as "The Expert Youth Soccer Coach" and his soccer coaching drills free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players' skills and make training fun in record time. Download your free youth soccer coaching ebook at: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com Youth Soccer Training Drills.