Let us suppose that 50% of the soccer coaching drills have focused on perfecting the trapping skills of their players. You’ll easily reject it as a silly assumption. 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.
The ability to capture the ball and retain it for a considerable time is called trapping. In such soccer exercises, they can use their feet, chest, and thighs to do so.
It is imperative that your players know how to trap the ball. If not, they will never really be in control of the game because everything else comes after trapping the ball. Below mentioned methods can be used to teach trapping skills to the players.
Involve the Feet: Primarily, the coach must teach the players to use their feet in tackling the ball. Kids soccer drills should predominantly include practicing the kids on use of the inside of their foot. This is because the inside area of the foot id wide and very useful in engaging with the ball.
If the players are advanced and mature, teach them to use the instep or top of the foot as well as the whole foot in trapping the ball during the soccer coaching drills. Guide the players to use their shin or ankle as the best bet to hold the ball if the ball is leaping too much.
Thigh Movement: Using your thigh to control rapid and bouncy ball is an excellent approach. Instruct the players to get in front of the ball, stand on one feet and rise the other thigh to stop the ball. Practice the skill of retaining the ball with you after it meets your thigh by learning to bring down your knee so the will plunge and settle close to you.
This exercise of dropping the knee needs to be done repetitively so that the players master the art of first stopping the ball using the knee and then drop it so that the ball trickles down the feet.
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. Teach your players to tackle the ball using their chest by getting in front of the ball and take their chest out. The ball will therefore loose its pace immediately and drop down right away to the feet.
But keep in mind that in soccer training drills, young players are given only a few modest lessons on this technique. While using their chest to tackle the ball, it is common for them to use their hands. 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. Make the players practice these more and more. 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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