Soccer Practice Games: How To Introduce Game Progression

In comparison to drills, anyone who has the same bent of mind as mine will understand the importance of soccer practice games. Firstly, it’s imperative that kids are more focused on acquiring the skills and working upon them to better their movement with the ball. However, as they progress with their soccer training, there are a few things that you must observe.

As has been discussed earlier, it is a great idea to divide the players into groups so that they can enjoy the game as well as develop their own styles. Firstly, make sure the number of players in a group is less so that kids can have the freedom to take decision strictly on their own.

This way your kids find a lot of open space to move in the field, get to touch the ball many more times, and feel responsible for their decisions as the number of players in quite less in the group.

However, as players get accustomed to smaller groups and their skills improve, it is time to make some variations. Bring in progressions in soccer practice games at this point in time. This means that more players should be added, game rules should become stricter, and make the kids practice in larger fields. You should also introduce more complex strategies that focus on not just player's skills but also the larger team objectives.

Here, I’d like to mention something that needs particular attention. Almost all coaches take the wrong path of teaching everything in a very short time span in the hope of having trained players ahead of time. Understand that there are no shortcuts. You just cannot mechanize the process like in soccer drills. It must be a natural growth with time.

The designs may not work well if you expose students to competition, teach them new things early in their training, and lay a lot of emphasis on rules. This hampers their natural learning and growth.

When the players move from one level of training to another, they should develop team spirit and realize the goals behind the games. It is important to understand how to put the team’s interests first than yours and using your skills to make the team win.

In this situation along with games, it is vital to hold discussions also. Understand that the players have now matured themselves in the game. Therefore, it is not right to underestimate their skills in soccer exercises.

When you invite them to share their views, they feel good about it and become more responsible.

The games should now challenge their thoughts about how to win matches. When they start thinking like team players while playing games, you would have done your job well.

Your next step! To take what you've just learned and implement in your plan. Soccer practice games are essential for making the kids learn naturally and so you must be very creative in selecting them. Subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community that has tremendous resources on youth soccer.