How to Play Soccer...
Just4Kicks is all about technical skill and we measure success by milestones at the individual basic skill level. So how to play soccer is the core of a soccer players skill. If a player neglects the development and mastery of the basic skills he/she is headed for disappointment. How to play soccer is how to pass, shoot, shield, dribble, and defend. These are essential basic skills that at times are neglected or underestimated when playing on a team. At times because we are new coaches or volunteer parents just trying to make the season a "good one" we measure success by how many goals and wins we got. However, our system of score and stats as a measure of success handicaps young players for many crucial years. Teams and leagues need to have organizational expectations that are technical in nature vs. championships and trophies. Strategic coaching plans that are result oriented versus technical are based on achievement vs. development. A state cup win is not the best milestone to measure overall local leagues performance and coaching. This is setting them up for failure! Milestones need to be something like this: "Under 6- understanding of basic rules (no hands), Understanding why chasing and taking the ball away from their team is wrong. Understanding and confident control of inside foot dribbling." This is a technical approach re-enforcing "how to play soccer" vs "how to win a soccer game"... Will this yield this years season championship? Maybe...not sure but it will give the league/team cohesion, consistency, and individual success. Individual success is what youth soccer is all about..these are the years they need to learn, understand, and master the basic skills.A quick story that will shed some light as to the importance of this. My first year in high school Soccer tryouts were pretty cut throat. The coach was good and understood the game very well. All the players new each other because of traveling teams. We were from different Bay Area teams and have played each other at least once before. There was one team that had won many cups and had an impeccable record for being undefeated. The problem is the coach of that team was a master of tactics. That team won not because of technical mastery (how to play soccer) but tactical methodology (how to win the game). You may be thinking GREAT the coach new what he was doing...well great for bragging rights but not for development. At the tryouts only one of his players made the team....(one out of seven) Why? Well individually they were not great. They did not even fully understand the basic skills of passing and shooting. All those years of winning and trophies was a neglectful system that handicapped the players developmentally. There are so many great players with great potential who are seated in the sidelines because "tactfully" they don't meet the coaches needs. All this to say that here you will not find a whole lot on tactics. Just4Kicks focuses on the young developing players and first time players. It's all about How to play Soccer and Most importantly FANS BEFORE PLAYERS! Technical Milestones by age group:
3-4 y/o
No Hands! - Children this age should be able to comprehend and understand why we don't use hands in Soccer.
Touch Mastery- It's all about touching the ball far and near here and there...(with the feet of course) At this age every child needs a ball and within a half hour session they should be touching the ball at least 40-50 times.
Extra- if you can get them to understand that in soccer it's ok to take the ball away from someone..than you get brownie points. I always ask them the rules in preschool. and relate it back to the soccer field. In soccer taking the ball away is part of the rules versus in preschool where it's not ok to take a toy away from someone...
FUN!!! This is most likely their first encounter with soccer...it needs to be imaginative, FUN, but still technical... a good practice is a perfect balance between the three.
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4-5 y/o
Dribbling - Children this age should be able to comprehend the overall game and be able to comfortably dribble with inside feet. They should be touching ball at least 60 times
Defending- At this age they should be able to grasp that taking the ball away from the other team is part of the rules. they should be able to understand to take the ball away they need to get in front of them (first step of defending) also called getting goal side.
Match Play- they can tell you how many teams,goals, and balls soccer is played with. Understand they don't chase or take a ball away from their team. Although, Bunch ball may be more frequent than not they are able to play real soccer and control the ball from going out of bounds fairly well.
EXTRA- passing is introduced and understood but only few really grasp and use passing as a tool during real soccer. Getting them to keep spread out and passing is advanced and not recommended as a goal at this age.
FUN!!! ...it needs to be imaginative, FUN, but still technical... a good practice is a perfect balance between the three.
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5-6 y/o
Dribbling - Children at this age should begin to master dribbling with inside feet. Shielding is introduced and understood. Instep dribbling is introduced and practiced kids should be touching the ball at least 70 times a session.
Defending- Getting goal side is understood and practiced during game as the first step of defense. Correct defensive posture and movement is introduced and practiced.
Passing- Kids at this age should understand and apply correct passing. Although may not fully grasp the power of passing during game. working on "Touch" will help them develop passing mastery.
Match Play- At this age playing the game is important to apply the techniques. They should not be taking the ball away from each other but may still chase their team and ball.
Shooting- Correct shooting technique is introduced and part of this is instep dribbling practice. If they can get comfortable with dribbling with the instep, shooting will be easier to teach. C+P+S steps in shooting is introduced. Milestone for shooting is not kicking with the toe.
EXTRA- If you can get them to communicate and use phrases like- "I am open" and "my ball" your doing a great job!
FUN!!! ...it needs to FUN, but still technical... a good practice is a perfect balance between the two.
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7-12 y/o
Dribbling - Children at this age should be touching the ball as much as possible. Inside, outside, instep, linear, and multi-directional. use fun and challenging skill drills to distract them from keeping all the attention at their feet. forcing them to look up and be aware of their surroundings is a milestone and encouraged.
Defending- Getting goal side is understood and practiced during game as the first step of defense. Correct defensive posture and movement is introduced and practiced. Small sided games are key to understanding space and breaking offensive links. talking is a requirement at this age.
Passing- Kids at this age should comprehend a wall pass and be able to execute it during game play. Communication is key and required at this age.
Match Play- At this age playing the game is key and everything should be based on playing with ball effectively maximizing practice time to better ball control. Communication will clear a lot of mistakes and misunderstandings so encourage it.
Shooting- Correct shooting technique is introduced and part of this is instep dribbling practice. C+P+S steps in shooting is introduced and practiced every week. Milestone for shooting is being able to Control...Place...Shoot....Using instep! as they get better practice place..shoot than straight to first touch shooting (the ball will hardly be still during a game so practicing shooting with a a ball that is still is not helping any..shooting should be practiced with a moving ball..)
EXTRA- Leadership becomes evident at this age...encourage it and create opportunities to develop leadership and group speaking opportunities. This will translate on field. Kids at this age like to be challenged and motivation is a little more necessary. You must be engaging and personify energy!
FUN!!! ...it needs to FUN, but still technical... a good practice is a perfect balance between the two.
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