Let’s say that at least 50% of soccer coaching drills must concentrate on improving player’s trapping skills. You won’t take it seriously. 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.

Trapping is the skill which enables a player to catch the ball and keep it close to himself. These are soccer exercises that permit the use of chest, thighs and feet while doing so.

It is imperative that your players know how to trap the ball. If they can’t trap the ball, they are sure to lose their grip over the match because this is very basic. 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. Particularly in kids soccer drills, teach the kids to use inside of their foot. The fact that the inside area of the foot is large makes it easy for the players to hold the ball.

Soccer Drills

Older and well-established players in soccer coaching drills should be trained to use their full foot, just the top, or instep. When the ball is hopping too much, tell them to employ the most favorable trick of using their shin or ankle.

Thigh Movement: To control high-speed and bouncy ball, thigh can be used very efficiently. Guide the players to come in front of the ball, take one thigh up to capture the ball and other thigh to stay grounded. Most importantly, practice dropping your knee once it connects with the ball for the ball to drop down and stay with you rather than getting away.

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. Players should be positioned in front of the ball to face it but using the energy through their chest to stop it. As a result the ball will loose its tempo almost immediately and will fall down at once.

But keep in mind that in soccer training drills, young players are given only a few modest lessons on this technique. It is natural for them to use their hands in dealing with the ball while attempting to use their chest. This can become a serious issue if they tend to become habitual of tackling the ball with hands.

It’s time now to execute these soccer coaching drills. Encourage the players to practice these to a great extent. 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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