Start kids with the building blocks
Basic foot skills, including ability to get away from opponent, are crucial
Ihave the philosophy that we throw the kids onto the field far too quickly and scream and cheer when they kick the ball forward and score goals, when in reality the focus should be on developing basic foot skills.
The more players I coach, the more I am astounded that at 10 and 11 years of age they are not capable of basic moves. These moves, however, need to be broken down and taught, and it is often the difference between the players that advance through the ranks and those who do not.
The logic in having the primary emphasis on scoring and winning has always escaped me. In school, we teach children letters, and then how they make up words, the words, into sentences, sentences into paragraphs and finally paragraphs into essays. There seems to be a logical progression.
In soccer in North America, with our win-first mentality, it is no surprise that these basic tools are lacking; we are expecting six-year-olds to write soccer essays, when they still haven’t learned the basic skills.
With this in mind, every player that my program girlscan works with focuses on teaching basic foot skills, and giving players the tools to be comfortable with the ball at their feet — and consequently, the ability to keep possession of the ball within their team.
To this end, the first thing that we do with a group — some as young as five years of age — is to teach them “escape moves.” As I believe that it is important to teach kids the “why” behind the moves, we always ask them, what does “escape” mean?
By the time they are finished with the first session, all of the players understand that “to escape” means to “get away.” It is always important to break down to their level what they are trying to accomplish in learning the moves.
There are a few different concepts to emphasize when teaching escape moves.
1. 180-degree turn
I always tell the players to imagine that the move they make is going in a straight line. They are dribbling toward me (the pretend defender), and once they dribble toward me, they will do their move and then their back will be to me. They can also do an escape move with the defender at their side; they still will turn 180 degrees.
2. Body between the ball and the defender
If the defender is at their side, have the players recognize that they should always have their body between the ball and the defender. If they don’t, it is easy for the defender to just kick it away.
3. Accelerate
I always like to demonstrate to the players what happens if you don’t change your speed, or accelerate, to get away from the defender. The whole point of an escape move is to “get away.” Therefore, if players don’t change their speed, no matter how perfect their move is, they will have a hard time getting away from their defender.
With these three points, the players have the basic foundation to get away from pressure and keep the ball.
Now, my favourite escape moves to teach:
1. The pullback
The pullback is the easiest and most basic escape move to teach. The player is dribbling forward, and they put their foot on top of the ball to stop it. Once they do this, they roll the ball, with the sole of their foot behind them, so they are facing the other direction, and then continue to dribble the other way.
2. The fake shot
As players get older, they will find a few moves that they use regularly. One of my personal favourites is the fake shot. One of my teammates from the provincial team 15 years ago still calls me “Windmill” for my flying arm that would circle around as I would pretend to kick the ball, before turning and going the other direction.