Posts Tagged ‘soccer drills’

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Soccer Training Tips: Instant Goalkeeping Strategies Anyone Can Use

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Soccer training tips

The importance of soccer training tips for goalkeepers can be easily made out from the fact that a goalkeeper is the only player on the field who can touch the ball with both arms and hands.

That’s why a goalie’s soccer skills put him/ her in an advantageous position from rest of the ream members. But this makes the job of training goalkeepers for soccer even more difficult.

Goalkeepers in soccer are more often than not, the first line of offence and the last line of defense, based on the playing skill. They’re always ready to employ their body to stop the ball from entering the goal or to block it. They are ready to dive in any direction to catch hold of the ball.

Goalkeepers training for soccer on various techniques specific to their role and the level of their play can be extremely demanding. This also requires you to take into consideration his mental state and train him on various skills accordingly.

Soccer Training

In terms of comparison, only a striker can match the skills and enthusiasm of a goalkeeper. Almost all goalies have essentially played as goal hungry strikers at one point or the other in their soccer careers. You’ll observe that very often, it’s the goalies and forwards that get into a direct battle on the field, no matter what the level of competition.

One of the most important soccer training tips for a goalkeeper is to stay balanced and know the center of gravity of the body. In a game setting, this will benefit by improving the goalkeeper’s activity and the inclination of the other player.

While a majority of goalkeepers are tall with big hands and long arms but even if it is not the case, they simply compensate for the lack of their physical attributes with good vertical and lateral mobility.

It is necessary of the coaches to recognize that goalkeepers need constant motivation no matter how good is there sense of self-worth. Goalkeepers should perform soccer drills that improve upon their skills specific to their role in the game once they have finished doing regular warm up exercises with the team.

Goalkeepers act as the leaders of the team as they have a personality that is both dominating and controlling. Therefore, they need to be constantly supported by all their teammates in successfully doing their job by being in a representative capacity.

The ball can only be handled by the goalie in the 18 yard box. When the ball gets touched by the arm of any player other than the goalie, the opponent team gets a free kick. If it is a goalie’s teammate, it’s a penalty shoot from “the spot”.

Your next step? To take what you’ve just learned and apply the above soccer training tips as goalkeepers are definitely leaders in the 18 yard box, and should get due respect from their team. Join our youth soccer coaching community that has numerous relevant articles, newsletters, videos, and podcasts to help your broaden your knowledge on soccer coaching.

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Soccer Drills.

 

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Soccer Coaching:A Guide To Secret Tips

Friday, August 13th, 2010

Soccer coaching

You probably know that soccer coaching needs many skills in a coach. You need patience, determination, humility, and desire to learn more, the ability to lead your team etc in order to successfully coach soccer. You must also try and figure out ways to help your players to grow from one training stage to another.

A soccer coach is equivalent to a leader. I would like to share with you some vital elements in soccer training. Good coaching does not mean training young players like the professionals. It means training them according to their age. It ultimately comes down to succeeding long term both on and off the field and doing it correctly.

This article is about helping you recognize tips and techniques that will teach you to train your kids better. What follows is a list of criteria that acts as a key to coaching soccer.

It is not at all a reality that someone with a good knowledge of soccer will automatically be a good coach. He will at the most be a good soccer academician. All together, it is very important that you have enough knowledge to be a great soccer coach. If you have no knowledge of the game, it is not possible that you will be able to teach the required soccer skills.

Soccer Coaching

One vital characteristic of the coach is the skill to teach. If you have knowledge but you are not able to pass it to your players so that they benefit, it will have no use.

Simply because a team is always winning does not mean that the coach is a winner. It is probable that the team has number of great players who make the team win all the time and coaching has no role in it.

The ability to motivate players will be required from time to time if you wish to be good at coaching soccer. Talking of soccer coaching, great shape, both physical and mental is required.

There will be times when you will feel feeble and not be able to do anything to win games. For example; if you don’t have skilled players in your team. But it is not your liability. By exercising patience, your knowledge of the game, and your ability to teach by way of essential soccer drills, the soccer team that you inherited is bound to get better.

Understand that soccer is a game and everybody has hopes of winning. But being patient will help the players to grow in their skills better.

If these things do not work out, your team can hope never to win again. It may so happen that your team does not have the required focus to do well. 

Think again, good soccer coaching is more than just winning. A coach is known as someone who takes charge of the player or a team. You can become a member of our youth coaching community and enhance your knowledge on the game through lots of relevant videos, periodic newsletters, and articles available there, so subscribe today.

 

 

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Soccer coaching.

 

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Free Soccer Training Drills: Winning Tactics For Coaches

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Free soccer training drills

Let me show you how to control the ball in a manner so as to shoot or pass effectively and this skill can be perfected through the various free soccer training drills. In this article, you will know about 2 of the well-known soccer drills, Shoulder To Shoulder and Shark in the Middle.

Shoulder To Shoulder drill is meant for offensive and defensive players. The objective of this drill is to teach the offensive player to master fast shooting under pressure and the defensive players to clean the ball.

This drill utilizes 3 players in each drill group. The distance between A and B is about 10-15 yards.

B and the defensive player line up shoulder to shoulder. B and the defensive player, standing along with each other, face away from the goal on the left side of the field. As soon as the coach whistles, A throws the ball in the rear of the remaining 2 players. B and the defensive player begin to make efforts to take control of the ball. B tries to take a shot on the goal while the defensive player’s aim is to turn with the ball and dribble it above the center line.

Soccer Drills

By involving players in coaching drills like Shoulder to Shoulder, players learn to win the ball despite being under immense pressure from the opposition.

Shark in the Middle is an interesting game that can be played any time during the practice and its duration can be worked out as per the need. This is one of several free soccer training drills that aims to make the players more attentive and in control in high-pressure games.

Players assemble themselves in a large circle in the field. A player is then designated as a shark and made to stand in the middle of the circle. There is only one ball in it and given to a person who stands in the circle.

When the whistle is blown, the player who has the ball passes it to the other one along the circle. Then, the second player passes the ball to a third player of his choice and so on.

Then you blow the whistle for the second time which means that the game has started. The aim of the game is that the shark should not be allowed to touch the ball. Player may pass the ball to anyone along the circle, be it a teammate right next to him or a teammate at a distance. The players try to go for as many passes as they can.

This practice continues till the time the shark possesses the ball.

When the ball is caught, the player that caused the ball to be intercepted becomes the new shark and the first shark joins others along the circle.

Shark in the Middle is one of those football drills that call for quick thinking and the understanding of how sharks think.

To end the discussion, these free soccer training drills help players to build self-confidence to handle the ball while under pressure from an approaching opposition. If you want more information and knowledge please subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community where a lot of learning resources are available.

 

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Free soccer training drills.

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Soccer Practice Games: Learn Game Progression

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Soccer practice games

In comparison to drills, anyone who has the same bent of mind as mine will understand the importance of soccer practice games. It’s important that the kids first pay attention to acquiring the skills and polishing them so as to improve the movement along with the ball. But there are certain points that you must check when they advance in their soccer training.

What works best is that kids are randomly grouped so that they get to develop their individual styles along with having fun just like we talked about before. Initially, restrict the size of the groups to very few players which will give them enough freedom to make decisions out of their free will.

Such an arrangement also ensures that the kids have more space to move about in the field, get more touches on the ball and become more accountable for their choices since there are very few players in the group.

However, as players get accustomed to smaller groups and their skills improve, it is time to make some variations. In soccer practice games, it’s the time to initiate progressions. What this means is you tend to make the rules of the game a little more stringent, play games in larger fields, and increase the size of the group. More intricate strategies should now be introduced that not only work upon improving the player’s talents but also achieve team’s broader objectives.

Soccer Training

Pay special attention to what I mention here. Many coaches go wrong when they teach too many things too soon to their kids in the anticipation of preparing them well in advance. Please remember that shortcuts don’t work here. It won’t help you to mechanize the process here as it does in soccer drills. It must be a natural growth with time.

The objectives may not be met if you rush with things, make a lot of rules, and expose kids to a lot of knowledge soon enough. This causes problems in their natural learning and growth.

As the kids make a transition from small groups to large ones, they should instill in themselves a sense of camaraderie. It is an important transition from concentrating on your own skills to thinking about how your skills will help the team win.

In this situation along with games, it is vital to hold discussions also. Know that the players now understand the various techniques of soccer. So it would be a capital mistake to undermine their assessment skills in soccer exercises.

When you give them an opportunity to take decisions and respect them, they feel happy and more responsible.

The games should now challenge their thoughts about how to win matches. When the players think themselves as a team and not as individual players, you have succeeded in your job as a coach.

Now you must take this knowledge and incorporate it in your plan. Soccer practice games are essential for making the kids learn naturally and so you must be very creative in selecting them. sSubscribe to our youth soccer coaching community that has tremendous resources on youth soccer.

 

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Soccer Practice.

 

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Drills For Soccer: Learn To Head The Ball Properly

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

Drills for soccer

Does it get a little annoying when in performing drills for soccer; players fail to head the ball in a proper manner? Heading is the main skill that assists the players in learning to maneuver or control the ball while it is still up and about in the air.

Many a times during the match, it is required to pass the ball by way of throwing it above ground. In players, the ability to capture the ball with the use of their head will ensure that most of the times, they’ll have the control of the ball.

There are some soccer drills that have the single objective of developing player’s heading skills. Let’s discuss a few of those:

Before starting these drills, divide the players into groups of 2 to 3 players.

Soccer Drills

Heading volleyball: This is the best method for learning to head the ball. Two players can easily carry it out next to each other in such drills for soccer. Herein, the only difference is that players make use of their heads instead of hands to toss the ball over to the other side of the net. Though, hands can be used to serve the ball.

The points are scored by teams on the basis of the occasions on which the ball successfully crossed over the net. Badminton net can be used for performing this drill.

Juggling: This drill employs two players like in the earlier drill or just one will do. In a scenario where there’s just one player, he or she will juggle the ball with their forehead. This is the time to pull up your socks, toss the ball in air, and start practicing. It is but obvious that this drill is comparatively tougher and the player gets better at it by practicing.

With 2 players, the ball can be thrown in the air and they head it back to each other. The player who does not allow the ball to fall down is the winner.

When throwing the ball, make the players stand apart 10 feet. Hurl the ball at them randomly and ask them to head it back. Make sure that you ask them to jump when they head the ball. In this fashion, they learn faster.

Take a precaution though that they use the side of their heads and forehead to head the ball. If they do not understand this, they will have headaches and also may get injured.

To get the most out of this soccer practice, the player should get their forehead in line with the approaching ball. Then they rise and jump to hit the ball so that the ball gets a momentum.

Move ahead and include these drills for soccer in your training sessions. The sight of them using their head to hit the ball will surprise you. Our youth soccer coaching community contains many more informative articles, newsletters, videos to help you teach your players even better. Subscribe today and enjoy the rewards.

 

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Soccer Practice.

 

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Soccer Practice Games: Learn To Make Sessions Fun

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

Soccer practice games

Let’s accept it! The value of soccer practice games in training sessions is overlooked by almost all the coaches. The players become more curious about the soccer training sessions because of these practice games and there’s good amount of research to support this fact. They play a pivotal role in developing the kid’s soccer talent.

Thus, you must integrate as many soccer games as possible in your training sessions and I’ll tell you why?

Games are much more fun: Games allow the kids to have fun and enjoy their practice sessions. The players are always eager and interested in the sessions and the attendance is also healthy. However, you must bear in mind that these games should help in developing soccer skills, else they are no good.

Include only those games that are not only fun to participate but also train the kids in soccer basics.

Soccer Training

Variety: Practically, there are numerous games to select from that can be included in sessions. What’s more? You get to devise sessions based on flexible timings, kid’s availability and their individual skills, and strength. Thus, in relation to formulating motivating training sessions, games can be used as a useful tool.

More productivity: Both soccer drills and games deliver excellent results but games take relatively lesser time. Your players will be less fatigued but better exercised. At the same time, games make the players value each others participation and team spirit. The kids as a result identify with the standards and principles that every player must follow.

Make the players learn from themselves: Soccer practice games are great for self learning. Kids learn from their own experiences very well. As an example, kids learn to play under extreme situations or find ways to manage tough opponents.

They also get a good feel of the real match-like conditions in games that have been designed like that. Especially the younger players should be encouraged to develop these qualities.

Simple setup: It only requires a simple setup to allow the players enjoy these soccer exercises. Often, basic infrastructure such as medical aid, water, and refreshments is all you need. Though, it is necessary to use cones to maintain boundaries.

And then, there is absolutely no need for special fields to play these games. When the weather is not suitable for playing out, you can always shift indoors.

Make you an innovative coach: When you develop new games every week, the kids appreciate your creativity. They are assured of the fact that you can help them learn soccer in an interesting way. You also gain a lot of knowledge as developing new games requires a lot of resourcefulness.

So move forward and make the kids play a lot of soccer practice games. You will be positively shocked by the results of your efforts. For more such knowledge on kid’s soccer as well as soccer games, become a part of our youth soccer coaching community which has articles, videos, newsletters etc for youth coaches.

 

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Soccer practice games.

 

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Drills For Soccer: Killer Tips On Soccer Strategy

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Drills for soccer

You must be aware that defense is the foundation of any soccer game and the drills for soccer should also teach them to conquer the opposite team’s defense.

Some of the coaches just teach defense or offence to their players. Right kind of soccer drills teach all players defense when the ball is with the opponent and offence when it is with them.

Players need to run after the ball after they’ve lost its custody. The player who lost the ball’s custody should be leading the defense. Since he is the closest, it’s imperative that he is able to put a lot of pressure on the opponent who now has the ball. When the opponent with the ball gets under pressure, he is most likely to make a bad pass or lose the ball.

In your soccer practice, you must make it a point that other players in the team fall back when one of them is following the opponent. His entry into your goal area should be postponed as much as possible.

Soccer Drills

The most risky region is the center of the soccer field. So make you drills for soccer in a fashion that forces the rival team member with the ball to progress towards the touchline. The potential of the player to pass the ball and various directions that he can go to will be limited.

The region where highest goals are scored is the arc of concentration which is also very risky. This arc lies in the front of the goal. It kicks off from the corner post of the goal right through to the corner of the goal box and then makes its way to the touchline. Consequently, fill your training sessions with a lot of soccer exercises that teach them to work the ball around in this area as the opposition can easily score a goal here.

When its about defense, success comes by balancing. Here, the players staying close to the ball play tight. This means that they stay as close to the ball as possible. Players who are far off from the ball play lose. This puts across the fact that they deal in positions that help them cover everyone and not just a single player.

Your team will be in control when they have the ball. To achieve this, move the ball away from your opposition as soon as you can. A whole lot of coaches mistakenly allow the players to control the ball. This suggests that the player maneuvers the ball away from the opponent with touching him.

In case they miss the ball here, they will get back to the ground and the opposition would attack the goal.

So include these tricks in your drills for soccer so that your players get to understand the defensive strategies better. Become a member of our youth soccer coaching community and gain knowledge, tips, articles, newsletters, videos from the world of soccer.

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Drills for soccer.

 

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Soccer Practice - Uncover Fitness Secrets

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

Soccer practice

I’m not sure if you know this but in soccer practice, almost everyone feels that players are born with the physical capacity to play the game. Soccer performance of the players can be improved greatly by training them on many fitness mechanisms, even though the basic skill is inherent.

A soccer training schedule should be so developed that the requirements of soccer as a game are duly covered. A lot of mechanisms provide for a strong basis for the game of soccer. Some of them are steadiness, control, flexibility, rapidity, and resilience.

The prominence of each element can be adjusted to fit to your individual goals and requirements. But it must be noted that training all the components will have an energizing effect on the player’s performance.

In soccer drills, let’s take a closer look at the given fitness components in order to know their relation with the player’s performance. In the game of soccer, there are some movements that need a wide variety of actions. In soccer practice, this accounts for the main reason why flexibility training must be practiced daily.

Soccer Training

It will take some time for the rewards of improved flexibility and mobility to show. It’s always easy to maintain flexibility than developing it.

During coaching sessions, teach kids to maintain a full variety of movement which will produce top class performance on the field. As a general rule, those flexibility drills should be made a part of daily practice which include hitting the ball, jumping, and sprinting. As the game of soccer mostly requires quick thinking, increased flexibility would add up to the players skill to swiftly respond in every direction.

Goalkeepers can easily cover a lot of area on the field. So, they need a lot of variety in movements. Midfielders in possession of the ball also need to act such as jump, kick, etc. Attacking players have the advantage because they can move when they maneuver the ball among opponents.

Flexibility allows for a greater range of movement as well as prevention of injuries. In a practice session, the focus is to prevent injuries at all costs. Flexibility is vital for minimizing strains and pulls to muscles and ligaments when exhaustion begins to cause a problem in your running and playing posture. Afterwards, exercises that cool down the body using stretching bring energy back to the muscles.

When there is no flexibility in soccer coaching, the overall well-being of the player is affected. Using flexibility, you can build a lot of power by increasing the movement. Speed is another supplement to great flexibility. With agility in your hip, knee, and ankle joints, you will be able to quicken your pace during sprinting.

To conclude, keep in kind that the only way to achieve flexibility is to be regular in soccer practice sessions. This can be achieved only when there are a lot of flexibility centric games and drills in the routine.

For more resources on youth soccer, join our youth soccer coaching community that has similar resources on youth coaching.

 

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn  how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: Soccer Training Drills.

 

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Soccer Drills: 5 Simple Steps To The Basics

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

Soccer drills

Listen to what I say even if you don’t consent. Talking about soccer drills, the most important thing for the players is to have an understanding of the game for which they should be taught the basics first. This soccer training should precede the training the kids on more complex components of soccer or the correct method of playing on field.

Being a soccer coach, it’s your duty to see that the players kick off on the right note. Therefore, train the players on all indispensable soccer skills which provide for a strong foundation. Discussed below are some basics of the game that every budding player must know.

Coaching the players to dribble and shoot the ball: Shooting and dribbling are the two most basic soccer skills to master. These techniques play a critical role in making the players successful in the game. Yet, make all necessary arrangements before hand for teaching these soccer exercises.

Start with positioning several players over the soccer field and arrange all players in a straight line on either ends of field.

Next tell the players to start. Running around the field, they would try to grab the ball by their feet as they dribble and shoot the ball in the goal located at the opposite end of the field. When they practice these two soccer drills on a daily basis, they’ll be able to learn them fast.

Soccer drills

Passing the ball and following directions: These are the two skills that help players to discover and practice unity in game. In any case, soccer being a team sport should be uniformly spread among all team mates. It’ll be extremely difficult for the players to play as one team when they can’t follow simple instructions or can’t learn the skill of passing the ball amongst them.

For the purpose of teaching passing skills in the game and making them understand the guidelines, there is a really simple drill. In the beginning, make the entire team line up in a single row at one side of the field. Make a single team member stand in front of them about 5 to 10 feet away.

As soon as you tell them to start, the first player in the line will endeavor to grab the ball from remaining team mates on field. The moment you tell them to stop, the player with the ball should then pass it to the first one in row. This soccer practice will teach the players to listen as well as follow your instructions.

Handling the Ball: Since you’re the coach, teach the players the skill to manage the ball with their feet and with other parts of their body as well. Because of this the players will be more spontaneous in their play while on field. An easy way for players to do it is by practicing to stop the ball with the back or bouncing the ball using knees or the head.

These soccer drills offers the simplest way to develop great soccer players who can thereafter go on to learning actual game skills and more complex elements. You can have your hands full by joining our youth soccer coaching community which offers an unlimited amount of latest updates on soccer coaching techniques. So register today!

 

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Soccer drills.

 

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Soccer Coaching Drills - 3 Sure Fire Tips To Trapping

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

Soccer Coaching Drills

Let us suppose that 50% of the soccer coaching drills have focused on perfecting the trapping skills of their players. You won’t take it seriously. But you know what! According to a study, in addition to dribbling and passing, trapping too plays a vital role in helping teams win matches.

Trapping is the ability of the players to intercept the ball and then keep it near their body. Such soccer exercises allow players to use thighs, feet and chest in doing so.

It’s vital for your players to master the skill of trapping the ball. If the players don’t know how to trap the ball, the primary skill, they would fail to have control over the game. There are a few practices that will prove helpful in improving the trapping skills of players.

Make use of your feet: Make your players learn the primary skill of involving their feet in holding the ball. Especially with younger players in kids soccer drills, it is important to make them use the inside of their foot. This is because the inside area of the foot id wide and very useful in engaging with the ball.

Soccer Drills

Older and well-established players in soccer coaching drills should be trained to use their full foot, just the top, or instep. In cases where the ball bounces a lot, it is best to make them use their shin or ankle to tackle the ball.

Thigh Movement: A thigh is very useful in controlling the fast and bouncy approaching ball. Instruct the players to get in front of the ball, stand on one feet and rise the other thigh to stop the ball. It is important to learn that as soon as the ball meets the thigh, the knee should be dropped so that the ball drops right there and does not move away from the player.

This activity has to be practiced regularly in order to become an expert at it by first using the knee to catch the ball and then bringing the knee down to prevent it from getting away.

Use the Chest: Trapping a ball flying high in the air with the use of your chest is also equally useful, like the use of thighs. Players should be positioned in front of the ball to face it but using the energy through their chest to stop it. This will have the effect of breaking the ball’s speed and tumbling it down immediately.

But make sure that in soccer training drills, this technique should not be rigorously taught to the young players. It is natural for them to use their hands in dealing with the ball while attempting to use their chest. This can prove to be dangerous as the kids might develop a habit of using their hands while tackling the ball.

It’s time now to execute these soccer coaching drills. Ensure that the players increasingly practice these. By subscribing to our youth soccer coaching community, keep yourself updated on the latest in the field.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make training fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com - Youth Soccer Training Drills.

 

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