Youth Soccer Drills:Heading Secrets Revealed
Forwarding the ball by using the head while the ball is still in the air is an effective method and most of us have never thought about it. Doing this skill in Youth soccer drills is particularly safe when it is carried out with care and caution.
You should deflate the ball in case of teaching this skill to your players for the first time. It requires you to shrink the ball’s size by letting some air out of it, thus making it supple. Including heading skill in the kids soccer drills requires you to first teach them the basics of this skill before starting with the practice.
Teach the players to move along the ball in such a way that their body comes directly in front of the ball when they get in contact with it. They should keep their eyes on the ball all the way in, and continue watching it as it strikes their forehead.
The kids must know the importance of keeping their eyes open and watch the ball coming to and going away from them. It they don’t know which way the ball is going or coming from, they risk getting hurt. Teach them in youth soccer practice to use the top-front part of their forehead to strike the ball and not with the temples or top of the head.
Most of the youth soccer drills highlight the movement required to head the ball properly. Out of many, here are two drills that your players can perform.
Sitting and Knees: When it comes to youth soccer coaching, this drill uses 2 players and 1 ball. One player should sit on the ground with the legs spread out in the front. The second player should stand right in front of the second guy and pass the ball very low towards the other player. The concept is that the ball will be thrown short so that the person towards whom it travels has to come forward to hit it.
Repeat this activity with one player positioned with both knees on the ground. Here, the player will have to lunge forward to strike the ball. This drill teaches the technique of using the head to direct the ball.
Head out of Hands: This drill requires cones and one ball for each player. This drill requires the players to hold the ball with their hands and the throw it off by heading it. They should learn to alternatively move their head to the ball and then bring the ball to their head.
The cones can help the players learn heading to a particular location. The players learn the techniques to head the ball in a direction using their head.
There you go; using youth soccer drills, the players will head the ball fearlessly thereby making them better competitors. Our youth soccer coaching community has tons of valuable information on youth soccer and you can take advantage of it by enrolling for it.
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: www.SoccerDrillsTips.com
Tags: Kids soccer drills, soccer drills, youth soccer coaching, youth soccer drills, youth soccer practice
