In this guide I will present some general tips that you can use during your teams practice in order to increase your authority and influence.

However, in order to become a successful coach you will need many years of experience and education. But, you need to start somewhere and these tips should help you with the basics.

Be prepared

As a soccer coach you need to be prepared both for your practice and the game as well. Never show up to a practice without being prepared.

It will not only look unprofessional, you will also lose respect among the players and their parents will criticize you.

You need to have a plan of what you want to accomplish during the practice. One good strategy is to prepare 3-4 drills and try to visualize how they should be performed.

The reason is that you need to know how the drills should be performed and the players will expect that from you. Don’t either show up to the games without having a start-line ready on paper.

Keep in mind also that every player should get equal time on the field no matter how good or poorly skilled that player is.

This is pretty crucial for younger players as they may get discouraged if they don’t play and even consider quitting playing soccer.

Fun Practices

If your practices starts to become boring, the players will usually avoid showing up on them. In order to keep your practice fun you could include different drills at every session. Don’t involve too much fitness training as players hate this.

Keep in mind to involve as much ball training as possible as young players rarely need to work on their fitness abilities. Instead, keep it fun and you will be fine.

Simple Coaching

Avoid teaching your players different tactics until they are 12 years or so.

A soccer player should be allowed to develop his skills up to age 12. If you involve tactics too early, your players may get confused and even quit playing soccer as they found the tactics being too difficult to understand.

Don’t Yell

This one is the most important advice of all tips mentioned in this guide. Simply, don’t yell at your players as they will get discouraged and it will also impact on their performance.

Instead, take your player aside and explain to him what he should do in order to play better or how a drill should be performed correctly. Keep in mind also that the players will look up to you and you don’t want to get them disappointed on your coaching style.

Parents Should Be in Line

Don’t allow the parents to stand at the side and scream at their children. Instead, tell them that you are the one that decides how the children’s should play and tell the parents gently to move away from the field.

It can be really frustrating if the parent refuses to keep his mouth closed. In that case, you should consider a substitute as the impact of that parent may also affect the performance of the whole team.