Youth Soccer Coaching - How to Prevent Injuries

Injury prevention is a very important component in youth soccer coaching. The coaches must understand the famous saying as it goes that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

How To Prevent Injuries

The coaches have to use every possible way to prevent injuries. For this, they must take certain steps. For example, they must have their focus on proper skill development. What is more, before you start the training session, you must inspect the entire field in order to make sure that there are no holes, sprinkler heads, etc.

Plan It Safe

It is very important for the coaches to have a well thought out plan regarding how they have to deal with the injuries. There must also be a written response plan for emergencies that include the following points.

? Make sure that a first aid kit is available.

? Do not forget to collect the medical consent forms from all the players.

? Have emergency contacts all the times.

? You must have access to phone.

? It is always a great idea to have an assistant that is knowledgeable regarding the first aid.

Reducing The Injury Risks

Well, you cannot prevent injuries completely from occurring. It is not in your hand, but there are certain steps that you can take in order to reduce the injury risks. Incorporate the following things with the training session and it will possibly keep your players away from injuries.

? Make sure that you incorporate a conditioning program with every training session. The conditioning program should focus on building muscle strength for the young players.

? Stretching exercises are also very important. Therefore, you must have your players do some stretching exercises on a daily basis.

? You must instruct your players that all of them have to wear properly fitting shoes.

? Suggest a well-balanced diet to the young players, which could nourish their muscles.

? Whether it is a practice session or a game, you must have your players go for a warm up session.

Always remember that your task as an expert coach also includes recognizing an injury when it happens, stabilizing the same as best you can, and summoning medical assistance if required. When it comes to youth soccer coaching, it is very crucial for the coaches be well prepared beforehand for any emergencies as and when it appears.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority on the subject of youth soccer coaching. His web site, Youth Soccer Drills, provides a wealth of informative soccer articles, resources and tips for soccer coaches, parents and players.

Soccer Skill Drills: Trapping

Trapping is one of the most important elements when it comes to caching about soccer skill drills. Let me give you a brief insight into the same.

The Foot

It is very important for the coach to teach players how to use the foot to ?capture? balls descending, near or on the ground. For this, the players should get in front of the ball.

They should learn to extend the leg and foot forward of the body, anticipating the arrival of the ball. When the ball meets the foot, the coach needs to teach the players how to pull the leg back to slow the ball, or ?cushion? the ball.

The ball will carom off the foot and out of control of the player if they do not pull back their foot. If you are coaching a team of younger players, it is better to start with the inside of the foot.

An expert coach knows that this is the largest and most forgiving area of the foot and it will make the younger players learn the things more comfortably.

However, if you are coaching a team of more advance players, you can practice trapping with the instep or top of the foot and both inside and outside of the foot.

You should teach the players how to eventually advance to using the shin and ankle for higher or wildly bouncing balls.

The Thigh

The thigh has a larger size and contains higher fatty tissue. Therefore, an expert coach knows that thighs could be a very effective method for trapping both slow and fast airborne passes below the chest. Have the player get in front of and square to the incoming ball.

Teach them to stand on one foot and raise the other knee and thigh to meet the ball. Once contacted, the players should quickly drop the knee, allowing the ball to shortly ?stick? to the thigh. This practice should be continued until the ball rolls from the thigh to the feet.

When it comes to teaching trapping while coaching soccer skill drills, the theory for the chest theory is the same as the thigh, but execution is slightly different.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority on the subject of soccer skill drills. His web site, Youth Soccer Drills, provides a wealth of informative soccer articles, resources and tips for soccer coaches, parents and players.