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If you have kids who play soccer, you probably noticed that those corner kicks don’t always turn out the way your son or daughter intended. This brief article is directed at kids age 11 or older. Having grown up part of my life in Brazil, I was fortunate enough to play soccer in the streets with cheap soccer balls, using rocks or shoes or shirts for a makeshift goal and the only skill required was a desire to play the game and score. Those were fun days. I’ve learned a few things that most Brazilian soccer players learn by watching, practicing and actually playing the game. Before I go on, let me just show you, by way of an example, what's possible with 9-10 year olds who have had the right kind of training, dedication and practice: A 9-year-old's soccer skills Now, let me share with you a technique that will help your child improve his corner-kick and hopefully help score more goals for his or her team. The first thing that needs to be done is to determine your child’s kicking distance. You can easily do this by placing your child at the corner kick mark and having him do his best kick toward the goal. If the soccer ball is not quite reaching into the goalie box, then you need to have your child practice kicks until his kicking distance improves. Positive encouragement, focused repetition, number of steps back prior to hitting the ball, where to hit the ball and effort should strengthen leg muscles, ball and leg coordination and eventually improve ball travel distance. The most important thing about corner kicks is where the ball needs to end up. I’ve observed that many kids simply kick the ball and hope for the best. That’s a learned bad habit. Once your child has reached the right kicking range, he needs to find out how to “aim” the ball to generate the result intended: a great pass to a teammate who kicks or heads the ball past the goalie or a direct goal from his own corner kick. Here’s a training tactic that’s very simple to use. Stand about 2-3 parallel to the right goal post and ask your child to kick from the corner while aiming his kick precisely where you stand. At first the ball might go too much to the right, too much to the left and often behind the goalie posts. The idea behind this exercise is to develop your child’s sense of kick accuracy. Don’t worry. Practice makes perfect. After a dozen or so kicks, your child will have an idea of where he or she needs to aim the kick to get the desired results. You may need to vary your distance from the right post but try not to go farther than 4-5 feet from it. Once you feel that your child’s kicks are more “on-target”, you simply advise your player to use one of his teammates as a “target” or “mark” whenever he’s doing a corner kick. This will help the ball end up where it’s supposed to go. Try this for a few weeks to help your child improve his aim and kicking accuracy. Remember, for optimum corner kicks, first determine your child’s kicking distance, then help your child develop longer shots and leg strength to make the ball go as far as the right post. Use a physical target as a point of reference so you child you will learn how to deliver more powerful, more targeted corner kicks. Please remember that safety comes first. Many injuries can be prevented if players wear proper safety gear and follow the rules of the game. Always warm up and stretch before any games. Have fun!
Article Source: http://www.superpublisher.com
About The Author: ©2006. Rem Macson writes about a variety of topics. Soccer is one of his personal love affairs. Rem manages a soccer site, an unofficial tribute to 9-year-old Brazilian soccer wiz, Jean Carlos Chera. Visit Rem's soccer tribute site at Jean Carlos Chera Article Submission made possible by: www.articles-submit.com Courtesy of:BlogTeleCast.com
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