The first class is always an assessment day. Whenever a new kid comes in for their first lesson, I assess them in both defense and attacking drills and see which ones they do best in. By the time the kid comes back for their second class, I will have already assessed if he/she is a stronger attacker or defender. I focus more on developing their strengths first so they are solid in one part of the game and then I move on to their weaknesses. However, both attacking and defending will contain agility drills. Agility is one of the most important aspects of being a good soccer player. It benefits both attackers and defenders greatly. Being able to quickly turn directions in a moments notice and stay balanced is extremely important and that is why I am going to focus on this for both attackers and defenders.
Defending:
- I will start by teaching the kid the correct stance when trying to defend someone
- I will have them practice moving back and forth while in the stance
- I will teach them when to commit and go for the tackle and when to hold back
- Once they start getting the hang of all 3 things listed above, I will slowly dribble at them and they will try to defend me
- Once they start consistently getting the ball off of me when I slowly dribble at them, I will up the speed a bit and add some basic skills to make it harder for them
- I will slowly advance each drill as the kid improves in them
Attacking:
- Since having a good shot is a very important aspect of attacking, I will first examine their shot on goal without saying anything
- I will teach them the correct way to shoot step-by-step
- Getting the hang of the correct technique to shoot will take a while, so we will spend multiple classes working on shot technique and how to get power behind a shot
- After he/she starts consistently hitting powerful shots on goal, I will teach them how to add height to their shot
- We will spend the next 2-3 classes focusing on getting height on the shot. We don’t need as much time for this because once the power is there, the height is relatively easy to get
- After the shots start to look good, I will focus on dribbling and skill moves for the kid
- I will teach them what part of the foot to use when dribbling the ball and some basic skills for them to use
- I will have them practice dribbling in a small boxed area until they are able to change directions with the ball and keep it close to them while dribbling and using moves
- I will then make basic dribbling drills that I will slowly advance as they get better at dribbling
Agility drills:
- For the agility drills, every drill will involve an agility ladder and poles
- There are many different drills you can do with the same ladder and poles, so I will start off basic and teach them how to properly weave through the poles and do the ladder
- I will eventually start timing the kid to see if later on if they can beat their own record
- I will slowly make the drills a bit more complex and urge them to go faster even if they feel they can’t
- About 10 minutes are spent on agility every class