Has it ever occurred to you that head can be very effectively used in passing on the ball when it is still in the air? This does not hurt the player in any way if is it practiced correctly in the youth soccer drills.
You should deflate the ball in case of teaching this skill to your players for the first time. It requires you to shrink the ball’s size by letting some air out of it, thus making it supple. Before I get down to the details of kids soccer drills on heading, let me share with you the basics of this skill that players need to be taught first.
When the ball is in air, teach the players to move along with it so that their body is directly in front of it when they face the ball. The players must keep their eyes fixed the ball all the way through, till the time it comes into contact with their forehead.
Your players must recognize the importance of continuously looking at the ball whether it coming to them to going away from them. They can be seriously hurt of they don’t keep their eyes open. Teach them in youth soccer practice to use the top-front part of their forehead to strike the ball and not with the temples or top of the head.
A large number of youth soccer drills call attention to the movement involved in correctly handling the ball. Out of many, here are two drills that your players can perform.
Sitting and Knees: This drill in youth soccer coaching requires 2 players and a ball. One player needs to sit on the ground with the legs stretched out in the front. The second player should stand in front of the 1st one and throw the ball at a very low level towards him or her. The strategy behind this is that the person who hits the ball has to come forward to do it because the ball id thrown short.
Keep doing this activity with a player positioned with both knees on the ground. Here, the player will have to lunge forward to strike the ball. This drill is useful in teaching the players to use their head in guiding the ball.
Head out of Hands: To work with this drill, you need to have cones and a ball for each player. This drill requires the players to hold the ball with their hands and the throw it off by heading it. They should be taught to move their head to the ball and not move the ball to their head.
When the cones are used, the kids learn to head the ball to a particular location. The players learn the techniques to head the ball accurately and using their head.
So now you know, using youth soccer drills, the players will learn to safely head the ball in a game without hurting themselves. Our youth soccer coaching community has tons of valuable information on youth soccer and you can take advantage of it by enrolling for it.
Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Practice.
Â
