Many youth soccer coaches spend a lot of time teaching their players quite advanced skills.
These include: how to move quickly from defence to attack, how to defend in zones, how to score from set pieces... some even try to explain the intricacies of the offside rule!
But some also "put the cart before the horse" and neglect to ensure that their players' basic skills are up to scratch first.
Result? A lot of needless frustration and a lot of wasted time for coaches and their players.
Spending time going back over the basics is always a good investment, especially if you focus on your players' first touch of the ball.
Without a good, safe, first touch, your players will struggle to keep the ball. They'll also find it hard to pass accurately, receive passes or shoot and they certainly won't be able to defend in zones or score from set pieces.
First touch: common mistakes and how to put them right
Good anticipation and alertness are pre-conditions of having a good first touch so watch your players during games: are they alert at all times and reacting to what's going on around them?
If your children look more like spectators than players, try reducing the size of your training groups. Playing games in teams of three or four (or even two) requires much more involvement than playing in large teams where it's easy to hide.
You can even force movement in training games by giving a free kick to the other team if a player fails to move after they pass. But be careful – this condition makes playing soccer hard work (you try it!) and it's really not appropriate for very young players.
It's also important for a good first touch that your players play with their heads up so they know where the passing options are before they receive a pass. You can help them to do this by warming up with games that require them to look before they pass the ball. Colours Passing is a good example.
Do your players choose the wrong surface to control the ball?
A good first touch is impossible if the wrong part of the body is used to receive a pass so give your players plenty of practice using different parts of their body with games like Inside Out:
Put half of your players are in a fairly large, circular playing area. The other half spread themselves out along the outside of the circle. The players on the outside each hold a ball.
The players on the inside run to an outside player who serves a ball at them. The inside players control the ball with the correct body part, pass the ball back to the outside player, turn and run to another player on the outside.
Switch the inside and outside players regularly.
Note: with very young players you may wish to replace the outside players with assistant coaches or even parents.
Does the ball bounce off your players?
A poor, uncontrolled first touch is often the result of failure to anticipate the play or choosing the wrong part of the body with which to receive the ball (see above) so put these things right first.
If your players are in the right place at the right time and using the right part of their body but the ball is still bouncing off them as though they are made of concrete you need to do some one-to-one work with them.
Take a player out of a training exercise and show him/her how to withdraw the receiving surface of her body at the moment of impact with the ball. Serve a ball at them at varying heights/speeds and see if they can absorb the impact. Tell the player you want to see the ball dropping to their feet regardless of how the ball is served.
Conclusion
There aren't any shortcuts in youth soccer coaching. Skills and techniques need to be learned in a logical and progressive way and the basics – like a good first touch – have to be thoroughly embedded before you move on.