coachKidsSports.com

You are remembered for the rules you break. - Douglas MacArthur

On Monday I wrote about the wonders of YouTube, later that day Google buys YouTube… conincidence??? Yeah, probably.

Well, that doesn’t diminish how beneficial YouTube is to a youth league coach. I found two more short videos to help the soccer coaches out there. One is a warm up game, the other a passing drill. Without video it would take several hundred words to describe either of these drills. But through the miracle of modern science you can understand both in less than five minutes.

The first video is a warm up game called “European Handball”. Split your team in half. Each team defends a goal, which is a small pylon with a soccer ball on top. Place the goals 30′ apart, and there is no need for any other boundries. The only other rules of note are: 1) A player can take three steps after receiving a pass. 2) If the ball hits the ground, the other team takes possession.

The second video is a great passing drill. The reason I like the drill so much is that it introduces elements of the game into the drill. It’s a two touch passing drill, the first touch is to control, the second for the return pass. The pass must go through a set of cones slightly forward of where the pass was received, so the player must control the ball and move it forward at the same time. Passing drills can be some of the most boring drills in sport. However, this one adds several elements to keep the kids interested.