Fear in Youth Soccer
by Cindy Wyatt
How do I teach my players not to be afraid of getting hit by the ball and not to be intimidated by larger players? Are there ways that I can teach them to use their shin guards to deflect balls and how much can they use their arms to keep opponents away? Also, they don't follow through with kicks when they are in offense. Any drills that can help? Hello Cindy, teaching the players not to be afraid of getting hit by the ball is difficult as they need to get over that fear by themselves. Also, being intimidated by larger players is pretty normal when the players are young. Of course, some of them will be more afraid than the others, but all in all, this is not something you can practice at directly on the training. I would recommend you to just let it go as they will stop being afraid once they get older. Well, I am not really sure what you mean about using the shin guards to deflect the ball as I am never using them to control the ball on any way. Your players can use the arms to shield themselves but they are not allowed to push away players from the ball. To learn more about how to follow through with the kicks, I would recommend you to check out the soccer kick section. /Mirsad |
