Great Soccer Drills

I found this book to be very useful. I am a 1st time soccer coach this year and I love the fact that this book went step by step and that it divided things out according to age. I had my 1st practice last night and it was a huge success. Thank you!

This book has great drills involving the entire team so the kids don't have to stand in line waiting for their turn, getting antsy and goofing off. I'm coaching U12 boys and while I thought the first section of drills was a bit basic the rest were awesome. And looking back, the basic drills are good for warm-ups and fun, short little exercises. There's an index in the back that shows you which drills help with which skills. I highly recommend this book. I'm looking forward to putting the drills in action.

If you've never played soccer but want to coach your son or daughter's team - buy this book. About the only place it comes up short is in teaching the really little ones (Kindergarten / 1st Grade...but it still helps) but all in all it's been an invaluable tool for me. I've used it for 5 years now and have lent it to several people. A very good buy.

As a great follow-on to the original "Baffled Parent" beginner book from Bobby Clark, this one is much more than just practice games. It contains the type of wisdom you will hear in the USSF "D" and NCSAA Regional Diploma courses, so that the novice coach has more to go on than simply doing some game because it's in the book. It should help him/her to structure practices that make the players think, keep them active, and work towards a theme. It goes beyond telling them not to do the three "L"s (laps, lines, lectures) and gives them some tools so they know what they should do instead. I'm buying 150 of them for the coaches in our rec program. Also recommend the McAvoy and Luxbacher books.

Don't let the title fool you. This is a great book for coaches who want to have fun at their practices and games that teach skills. Use the games at the beginning of practice and the kids will have fun, pay attention and improve.