How to Teach Basic and Intermediate Soccer Skills to Ages 8 and Older

Below is Part of the Detailed Review of "Soccer Success One on One Coaching" by Roger Wilkinson (the rest of the Review is on SoccerHelp), Read the full review of Soccer Success One on One

This is the Best DVD I know of for showing how to teach Basic and Intermediate Soccer Skills to players ages 8 and older and is a truly Exceptional Value. It�s a $44.90 Value for $29.95 plus Shipping and Handling and you can use the coupon on Premium to save $3.00 (just enter 3premium in the �Discount Coupons� box that�s just below the credit card info and click �Redeem�). There is so much quality information and so many good tips here (96 minutes) that every coach can benefit from this, but it is especially good for beginning and intermediate coaches. It is also excellent for parents who want to learn how to teach skills and for players. This DVD shows an excellent coach, teaching his son and explains what he's teaching, why he's teaching it and how to teach it. This is much better than going to a coaching clinic. The organization is excellent and the menu has a "Skills Selector" so you can select from 16 different skills. This DVD shows how to teach the basic skills of passing, receiving, dribbling, speed dribbling, shooting, finishing, how to pass in the air, soccer moves to beat an opponent (8 moves are demonstrated), how to turn with the ball (5 turns are demonstrated), feinting, volleying, thigh and chest control, juggling, and heading, as well as vision, body shape, and receiving and turning when a defender is on your back. It explains and demonstrates these skills in a clear, concise way that anyone can understand.

Even if you're an experienced coach you will get a lot of good ideas from this. It is very much worth the time and money. Keep a pen and paper nearby when you watch this, you will want to take notes.

This DVD has 3 advantages:

  1. It explains and demonstrates all the basic skills in a concise, clear way that anyone can understand.
  2. It shows how to teach these skills to a player
  3. The coach explains to the camera what he's teaching, why it's important and how to teach it. It is a great teaching tool for coaches and much better than going to a coaching clinic

Detailed Contents and Index of DVD:

Minute Topic
00:00 Introduction
1:10 Roger Wilkinson discusses the objectives of this video
2:10 Getting Started - Passing and Receiving the Ball. This is excellent! He starts with a teaching technique like our "Running Passes Across & Back Race." Notice the way he teaches. He uses a simple progression. He makes an excellent point about the importance of teaching proper technique from the start so players don't have to "unlearn" incorrect form. A detailed explanation of how to teach inside-of-foot passing and receiving is on SoccerHelp.
4:24 Body Shape
5:49 How to Teach "Vision" and "Decision-Making"
7:02 Receiving and Controlling -- notice how he teaches "Stay on your toes" and that he says you must tolerate mistakes.
10:23 Receiving and Playing the Ball Away from the Defender or Into Open Space To Run Onto
13:43 Feinting and Receiving - Excellent coaching tips!
17:39 Receiving the Ball In The Air
25:44 Thigh and Chest Control
28:46 Volleying
32:39 Dribbling and Moves to Beat Opponents. He encourages young players to dribble. Moves shown include:

33:27 Stepover. Excellent for travel.

35:18 Matthews Move. Excellent demonstration. For Travel.

36:35 Beardsley Move

37:50 Maradona Move (Excellent and easy to teach!)

39:40 Turning with the Ball These are the best demonstrations we've ever seen! This is important to teach.

40:07 Outside Hook. Excellent for all players.

42:02 Inside Hook. Excellent for all players.

42:40 Cruyff Turn. Excellent! Travel.

43:50 Paul Gascoigne Turn. Excellent! Travel.

45:00 Maradona Turn. This is advanced.

47:20 Receiving and Turning to Beat a Defender. Excellent explanation and demonstration - the best we've ever seen. This shows how the attacker can beat the defender when his back is to the defender. Great Coaching tips!
54:38 4 More Soccer Moves

55:00 "Blinker Move" - this is good and easy

55:42 "Fake Kick Move (Platini) - Excellent and easy

56:50 "Fake Kick/Inside Push" - Excellent and easy

57:40 "Russian" - we don't like this one

59:00 Passing On The Ground and In The Air. Inside and outside of foot passing, short passes and long passes, passes on the ground and in the air. Excellent! This section alone is worth the price.
68:43 Shooting and Finishing. Excellent! Clear and concise explanation and demonstration. A good explanation of the difference between "shooting" and "finishing".
77:50 Juggling. Juggling is great if kids do it on their own, but Rec coaches don't have time for it at practice. Juggling is nice but not a critical skill.
83:50 Running With The Ball (Speed Dribbling). Our Practice Games are a better way to teach this.
88:45 Heading The Ball. Excellent advice - - use soft, under-inflated balls and don't do it for very long. Grit the teeth, tense the neck and contact with the forehead. How to teach diving headers is also shown.
96:40 End

Read the full review of Soccer Success One on One