- In this video, I'm
giving you 10 soccer tips
for kids and beginners.
So, if you are a younger player,
or you're just starting out,
these are gonna be perfect
to help you grow as a player,
faster, so you're
developing what you need to
develop so you can play at
the higher level later on.
That's coming up next.
What's up guys?
It's Dave here from Simply Soccer,
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Now, in this video, like I said,
I want to give 10 great soccer
tips for kids and beginners.
But, even though these
tips are more directed
towards kids and beginners,
it doesn't mean as
a more experienced player,
you can't use these tips,
or gain something from them.
That being said, let's get
right into the first one.
And tip number one is to
work on the fundamentals.
To build that foundation
of fundamental skills,
they're going to help you
develop more advanced skills
later on, but, the fact of the matter is,
even as you go up levels in football,
there is always a focus on the
fundamental skills of football.
The last thing you want to have happen is,
you get older, you go up levels,
but, your passing isn't so great
because you didn't work
on it that much as a kid.
Or, your ball control is lacking,
because you weren't focusing on
that fundamental enough as a kid.
Working on the fundamentals is
one of the best things you
can do as a young player,
as a beginner, to improve quickly,
because, everything branches
out from those fundamentals.
Other advanced skills,
other subtle nuance skills,
come from those fundamentals.
But, they're also used
the most in the game,
more than any other skill.
You know, ball control is
something you'll be using
multiple times every single game.
Passing and receiving as well,
shooting for certain players as well.
And so, you really wanna be focusing
and working on these
fundamentals very often,
I would say every single week.
Probably, at least a little bit
every single training session,
if you really want to
grow quickly as a player,
and be more effective in your matches
as you start to progress through the game.
Second tip, and this kinda
plays off that first one,
is you want to develop good habits.
There are many habits that players develop
that actually hurt them later on,
and these can include, for example,
always having their head down,
not being aware of what's around them.
Not working on things
like their confidence,
their attitude being poor,
there are many different
habits, little to big,
that you want to start
developing early on,
that are just going to
help you more and more
as you grow older and
as you move up levels.
I'll give you a very simple one,
a habit a lot of players
unfortunately develop,
is they get very frustrated
on the field when
they start making mistakes.
And, a good habit to
start developing early,
is to learn how to get over
your mistakes pretty quickly,
and get back into the flow of the match.
This is an issue I actually had as a kid,
and had to get out of the habit of doing
as I got older, but, I still
wish I had developed it
more as a kid, for when I made a mistake,
I would be able just to
bounce back immediately.
And, this is just an
example of a good habit
you want to start developing early on,
as a beginner, or, a kid.
Number three is have fun!
And, I know, that's a simple one,
but, you know, a lot of players forget,
usually the original reason
that they got into football.
And, you know, for me, it was always
because I loved the
game, I loved playing it.
Sure, I was good at it,
and that definitely makes things more fun,
which is why improving
and using these tips
is going to be very valuable to you.
Because, it will make the game more fun,
and less frustrating.
But, have fun with the game.
You know, have training
sessions that are fun,
go for a kick-about with your mates,
you know, have fun with it.
Because, at the end of the day,
yes, you need to be serious
if you want to grow into
a better player, but,
never lose that playfulness
when it comes to football.
Never lose that fun
vibe that it comes with.
Number four is do individual
training consistently.
A lot of young players,
especially when I grew up in the states,
I'm originally from England,
but, I came over when I was three,
and, I noticed, at least in the States,
a lot of players would
just train with their team,
usually just once or twice a week,
and they wouldn't do their
own separate training.
And, if you want to become
a much better player,
especially younger, or as a beginner,
you need to be putting in
that individual training
pretty much every single day.
And again, this isn't
meant to be grueling,
just be consistent with
it, which we'll get into,
but, if you're doing that
individual training consistently,
you're going to see massive
improvements in your game.
Yes, team training's gonna be great,
but, there are things in team training
that you're going to do that you won't do
in your individual
training, and vice versa.
There are things in
your individual training
you get more of, than you
would in your team training.
So, make sure you are
developing some kind of routine
of individual training,
as it's just going to
help you grow so much faster.
Number five is, if you can afford it,
and, if you're really serious,
get into a training program.
When I was a kid, I would go to camps,
I would go to all these different things,
and of course, that was all my parents,
to be able to pay for
that when I was like,
seven, eight, nine years old,
or, even a little bit older.
But, if you can, you know,
you can buy training
courses online for example,
many people offer them.
I offer them, you can even
check out my training courses
if you go into the link down below,
and go into the Simply Soccer Academy.
But, you know, a lot of these courses
aren't that expensive,
they're usually always under
a hundred dollars.
Mine, for example, is 29 dollars.
And, if you want to get a leg up,
it's always a great thing to do.
Instead of going blindly in the dark.
Especially if you're a parent,
or, a kid who is very new to football.
You know, you want to have some guidance
on what's actually going
to help you improve.
And so, getting into a training program
is a great way to do that.
Going to things like summer camps,
or, clinics is another
great way to do that,
because, you'll get coaching
right then and there,
and then you can take what
you learned there back
into your individual training.
But, getting some kind of guidance,
whether it's from a course,
again, which I like because
it's very affordable,
whether it's at a camp,
which are more expensive,
clinics are usually more expensive,
but, if you can afford them,
and, it's something you wanna do,
definitely go for it.
It's definitely good to get that guidance,
instead of just fumbling around
in the dark without a light,
trying to figure out what to do.
These courses, the camps, the clinics,
basically, give you that light,
and move you in the direction
that you need to be going,
so that you're saving time and
not getting as stressed out.
Number six, for you beginners
and you kids who want to improve,
is to watch football often.
So many of the things I learned,
as a player, when I was younger,
was from watching professional
matches all the time.
I even remember, quite distinctly,
when I was seven years old,
I even remember the age,
I watched a professional match
before I went off to a match on my own,
and, I saw this guy do this move,
beat through the defenders and score,
and I replicated that in my game
and scored a goal doing
the exact same thing.
When you watch a lot of football,
you start to pick up on patterns.
You start to pick up on things.
Especially if you're a young player,
and you start watching football
a lot as you grow older,
you'll start to pick up on things,
like, different movements
you need to be doing,
you'll start picking up on
how to do different things,
how professionals do them,
how the best of the
best do certain things.
And, you want to start
developing those habits
of learning from those best players.
So, watch professional matches often.
Watch football often.
If you're a parent, you know,
it would be a good thing to help your kid,
or, get your kid into watching those
professional matches often,
and, maybe even analyzing those
matches with them as well.
Again, it's not a requirement,
but, I find that
improving your football IQ
is important, and this
is a great way to do it.
Especially at a young age.
And, I remember falling
in love with football
at a very young age, and
learning so much about it,
through watching the World Cup,
through watching the Premier League,
through watching all of this
different professional matches.
Number seven is to play on a team,
and do it often, if you can.
And, this is more towards beginners who,
usually, get a little
up in their head about
joining a team, because they're beginners.
You know, for kids,
most players are obviously starting out
at that beginner level,
so, usually it's not too difficult.
But, if you're a beginner,
just get yourself on a team.
It doesn't really matter
what level at this moment,
we'll work on that later,
but, get yourself on a team,
because, you need to
be playing that 11 v 11
or, whatever it is.
For kids usually it's 8 v 8, or something.
You need to be playing
in those real matches
to get that real match experience.
And, even if you're not great right away,
it's okay, through your
individual training,
your team training, and all
the stuff in this video,
that you'll hopefully be doing,
you will get better and better.
But, don't shy away from joining a team,
even if you haven't already.
You need to get that match experience,
you need to get in that team environment,
that's gonna be so valuable
for your growth as a player.
And so, you need to be on a team.
And, one thing I used to do as a kid,
I played as often as I could.
So, even if I was on a team,
I would always try and find
other teams I could play on.
If there were indoor teams,
I would try and join multiple ones.
You know, I remember when
I was in high school,
I would try and sneak onto the B team
after I played for the A team,
and my indoor team, to get more minutes.
And, whenever my high
school coach was there,
he didn't like that,
but, I was able to catch some more minutes
by doing that.
And so, you'll wanna be
playing as often as you can,
especially in that team environment.
Because, that experience is gonna be
so valuable for you later,
and you're just gonna
develop more and more,
the more matches you play in.
Number eight is actually
playing off this last one,
and it's do not be afraid to
move up levels as you get better.
You know, a lot of players will stay
on the team they're comfortable in,
even if they're the best player,
even if they're what's called
a big fish in a small pond.
When you are obviously better
than the rest of your team,
and, I don't mean to say
that so that it seems like
you're being big-headed, it's not,
it's just being honest with yourself,
you dominate the matches,
the competition is too easy for you now,
it's time to move up.
And, don't be afraid to do that,
even at a very young age.
Because, the better
players you're exposed to,
the better players you're playing against,
the better you're going to get.
And, the longer you can do that,
where you're continually
challenging yourself,
the better you're gonna
get throughout the years.
So, if you find that,
okay, you've grown past this team,
even if you're seven,
eight, or, even younger kid,
and you found okay, look,
I've been doing individual training,
none of these other kids have,
I've been getting better and better,
and for you parents, if
you recognize this as well,
I'm not saying immediately
take him out of the team,
but start searching for more
elite teams in the area,
or, wherever else,
because, that's going
to be hugely beneficial.
You know, my game dramatically jumped when
I moved club teams, and they
were twice to three times as
good as the club team I was on previously,
and I got twice to three times as good,
because, I was around better players
in every training session.
Because, I was playing
against better teams,
nationally ranked teams,
all this kinda stuff,
so, if you have outgrown
the team you are on now,
never be afraid of moving up levels,
or looking for a new
team that's more suited
to your level as a player.
Number nine is to work
on your confidence early,
and for parents, you know,
a great skill to help your kids work on,
is their confidence.
Instilling them with that self-belief,
because, I can tell you, I've
met many skillful players,
and I've had this problem too, before,
that just, were inconsistent
in their performances
as they got older because they
started doubting themselves,
because they didn't have the confidence.
But, when you're a confident
player, you play better.
There's just no way getting around it,
you become a better player
if you are confident
in your ability, you are
confident in your ability
to bounce back when you make mistakes,
you're confident that
your form will come back
if you're going through a rough patch.
You're confident that you can
keep the momentum going when
you're in a good patch of form.
So, developing that confidence
early on is so important,
because, that's again,
another foundational skill,
I believe, that just helps
you grow as a player.
So, for parents, for kids, for beginners,
anyone who's listening to this,
develop that confidence early on,
as much as you can.
It's a skill like anything else,
it's something that's learned,
its something that can be taught,
it's something that you
gain through experience.
But, to actually have awareness around
growing your confidence is
going to be so valuable,
and, is going to help you in
other areas of life as well.
I do have a free course
on confidence building,
seven-day confidence building,
if you are interested,
also in the Simply Soccer Academy.
You can check that out,
again, completely free,
no strings attached,
that will help you with
soccer-specific confidence.
So, check that out, if that interests you.
Finally, the last tip I wanna give,
and there are so many
other tips I could give,
but, I wanted to give this as well.
It's work on specific drills.
Deliberate practice.
And, to start getting into the practice
of deliberate training early on.
And, what that means is,
you're not just training willy-nilly,
you're not just training
in a way that's general.
You're focusing on very specific things.
You're training in a very deliberate way.
Using almost, like, the 80-20 rule.
What are the things that are
gonna bring you the most results?
Now, for me, one of the
ways I like to do this,
is to focus specifically on my position.
Sure, I'll do general stuff,
like work on my fundamental skills.
And then, I'll work on things I know
are gonna help me stand
out in my position.
Now, for many of you,
you might be very young,
to the point where you don't
know what your position is yet,
so, if that's the case, its okay.
Same for you beginners.
But, if you do, if you know
for example, I am a striker,
I'm a great goal-scorer,
I'm gonna be a striker for
the foreseeable future,
or, I'm a mid-fielder,
or, I'm even a goalie.
What specific drills for those positions
can you use to help you stand out?
Because, I can tell you there are
a million and one players
that are good at everything,
but, don't have that x factor,
that don't have that thing
that helps them stand out in matches.
What can you do to develop those things
that separate you from the pack?
Could you be an amazing goal-scorer,
who works on their runs all the time,
so they're always finding
space in the box to score?
Has incredible finishing and composure,
because you deliberately
work on those things.
So, what specific drills,
specific training,
can you do to elevate
your game to the point
where you're standing out?
This is more of an advanced idea,
and isn't necessarily one that is,
I think, required at such a young age,
but, it's a good thing to think about.
Especially if you know what
kind of player you are already,
or, what kind of player
you want to become.
Alright guys, I know
this was a longer video,
I wanted to get those all out there,
and, you know, these are just tips.
You can research each one
of these more in depth,
but, I truly believe
for all you beginners,
for all you kids,
even those of you who
are more experienced,
that all of these tips are
going to help elevate your game,
to help you in so many
different ways as you get older,
as you become a better player,
and if you implement all of these,
and you stick with them,
I promise you,
you will see massive results
over time as you do it.
So, get on it.
Make sure you do it.
Thanks again so much
for watching this video,
please make sure you like it,
and you share it with any
other kid or beginner player
who you think can benefit from it.
Like I mentioned,
you can check out the links down below,
especially the Simply
Soccer Academy to check out
what we have going on there.
You know, we have a lot
of great stuff on there
to help you continue to learn as a player.
I will put two other videos
up on the screen now,
so you can continue to
watch these free videos
to learn and improve, and,
to become a better player.
And, I will see you in the next video.
