Teaching Young Children the Basics of Football.
23rd May 2011

Learning to play football correctly can be very daunting for the young footballer. Essentially football is a very simple game, though does take a lot of practice to get the simple things perfected.

To get the best out of themselves playing football, the young player must learn the basic techniques which will stay with them throughout their football career.

Learning football starts with the language used in the game. Technical terms, such as trapping the ball, in-swinging corner or indirect free-kick are all well and good, but will confuse a young mind, therefore the language used must be as simple as the technique taught. Instructions given to young footballers must be in the terms they can understand and relate to.

Children as young as 3 or 4 years of age are unable to tie their boots up and will not fully understand some of the simplest football terms, so be sure to keep your language at their level, using simple instructions that are clearly explained.

Shooting
The main aim for a young child playing football is scoring a goal. Very young children do not have a concept or understanding of defending. The child's focus is on putting the ball in the net and feeling the thrill of scoring.

Start the child footballer by getting them to hit the ball at goal, with no defenders or goal-keeper. Getting them used to hitting a stationary ball at goal gives them confidence. Once the child has mastered hitting the net, you may increase the difficulty by widening the angle or moving the ball further away from goal. The next progression is to have the child hit a moving ball at goal, both moving towards the player or away from them. Finally the young player should be encouraged to take a run-up and strike the ball.

Doing these striking drills will take a lot of practice to perfect, and they should be built into as many training sessions as possible.

Passing the ball
Passing the ball is not something children take to naturally, and more often than not when they get the ball they tend to keep it until it is tackled from them, wanting to, and believing they will be the one who scores the goals. Your job as a junior coach is to get the kids to understand it is just as important to make the pass for the scorer as it is to score the goal.

The way to do this is to praise the good pass in training as games, just as mush if not more than the goals.

The side foot pass is the most common and important pass to learn, especially so for a beginner. The player should be encouraged to follow through as they pass the ball to a team mate. Passing the ball using the inside of the foot will be practiced during every training session.

The technique of passing the ball with the side of the foot is very simple, though needs a lot of practice to perfect.

The ball needs to be directly between the two players. The non-kicking foot should be placed beside the ball and be slightly bent. The ball should be hit in the middle with the side of the foot. the kick should follow through.

Receiving the ball
Controlling the ball is a fundamental technique to learn in football. Being able to receive the ball and then direct it to a position making the next move more simple is an important part of keeping possession. When receiving the ball, it should be controlled towards the player receiving the next pass. The technique for doing this needs a good level of coordination , not only turning the body towards a team mate, but also timing the position of the controlling foot.

The foot needs to be a few inches off the ground, and the ball should be controlled with the side of the foot. The leg and foot controlling the ball should be relaxed and not stiff, enabling the ball to be cushioned, taking the energy out of the rolling ball.

Heading the ball
Heading is an important technique to learn, as the ball is often in the air, even in games featuring very young children. If a child can learn to head the ball and do it with confidence, they will have an advantage over their opponents, as heading is a technique that is often ignored.

It is important to remember that heading practice must be done with caution and a soft ball should be used on growing heads. although heading can be practiced by children as young as 8, it should be done sparingly.

Ideally a sponge ball or a soft plastic ball should be used to introduce children to the header, and once they have perfected the technique they can go on to practice with a real ball.

The player heading the ball must keep their eyes open and focused on the ball. When the ball makes contact the neck muscles push the head in the direction the ball will travel. The top of the forehead hits the ball to send it up in the air, and slightly lower done the forehead sends the ball level or towards the ground. It's important that when heading the player makes a motion towards the ball and not allow it to just hit the head.

If you enjoyed this article why not read another:

• Coaching - Dribbling with the ball

• Coaching basic football skills

• Coaching footy out of our kids?