One of the ironies of coaching youth soccer is that your players love taking shots at the goal during practice. In fact, in some instances you will have to force them to stop shooting and work on other skills. However, once these same players get in a game, they loose confidence in their ability to score. Even when they have a wide open shot, they fail to take the shot.
One thing you have to learn is that coaching youth soccer is not just about teaching your players the skills they need in order to be successful, you also need to teach them the attitude they need to be successful.
1. Work on Confidence
Don't let a cocky attitude fool you into thinking that all of your young players have confidence in their abilities. One big reason that youth soccer players don;t score more goals is because they are afraid to take the shot. There are several reasons for this, but all of them can be overcome with good coaching.
One reason may be that the player is afraid of the consequences of missing the shot. Make sure your players understand that even if the ball goes wide of the net, the fact that they attempted the shot was a good thing. It is better to shot and miss than to have the open shot and never get it off.
2. Work on Skills
The other area that youth soccer players lack confidence is in their ability to make the shot. Make sure you work with your team in placing the ball where the keeper can't get to it. Unless the keeper is out of position, the shot at the middle of the goal is one that a decent keeper can stop on a regular basis. However, if your players can consistently put the ball in the lower corners they will have a much better chance of scoring the goal.
3. Teach Them to Looking for Opportunities
It can be frustrating as a coach to stand on the sidelines and see open shots, but the ball handler never bothers to look around for the opening. They will take an extra dribble, or make one too many passes, and the opportunity is lost.
When your the ball handlers get near the net they need to be taught to be looking for an opening. If the opening is not there, then they can pass to a player with a better angle. Remind them that if they do not shoot, they will never score.
4. Create Game-Like Situations in Practice
In order to get your players to perform their skills in the game, they need to have plenty of game opportunities. It is not always easy to get scrimmages during the time available to your team, and it can be hard to coach specific skills during scrimmages. A better solution is to develop small sided games that are designed to focus on particular skills. The closer to real game situations you can create in practice, the better prepared your players will be when they get into real games.
Soccer is a simple game; whoever scores the most goals wins. In order to stay on the winning side, your team must be able to score. It's your job as the youth soccer coach to give them the skills and the attitude that will give them the winning edge during the game.
Jim Smoot is a licensed soccer coach and referee who has been teaching youth soccer players for 15 years. Go to his site at Learn Youth Soccer for his Free Coaching Youth Soccer mini-course to learn how to become more successful as a youth soccer coach or player.
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