How to Kick a Soccer Ball: A Guide

How to Kick a Soccer Ball: A Guide

Want to put more distance and power into your soccer shot? This guide on how to kick a soccer ball will teach you all of the basics!

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It's no secret that playing soccer provides a whole host of physical and even mental health benefits to young children.

However, if you want your son or daughter to follow in the footsteps of the greatest soccer stars in the world, they need to learn how to kick a soccer ball first.

Developing the right technique from an early age is an essential part of any sport--and incredibly important when it comes to preventing injury. But kicking a soccer ball isn't as easy as players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo make it look.

But, just like your child, they had to start somewhere!

Whether you want to get your child excited about youth soccer tryouts, then you need to keep on reading this post.

In it, we'll tell you everything you need to know about how to kick a soccer ball far.

1. Set Things Up

The very first step in learning how to kick a soccer ball? It's all about your initial approach.

When you're running towards the ball, or if you're about to take a free kick, you want to set yourself up so that your stronger foot is in a position to strike the ball.

If you're left-footed, then move your body slightly to the right. This will help you to avoid kicking the soccer ball in its center, which actually creates less force than a ball that's struck on its side.

If you're dribbling and preparing to take a big kick, then try to position the ball in front of your big toe on your dominant foot. This will help you to shoot or even to pass with much more power.

As you run, focus on shortening the length in between your strides if you want to learn how to kick a soccer ball with power. The shorter your strides are, the better amount of control your dominant foot will have when it makes that final contact with the ball.

If you really want an extra push, then you can even do a tiny forward leap on your final stride to create power as you dribble down the field.

Before you kick, make sure that the foot you're not planning on kicking the ball with is planted firmly and fully on the ground next to the ball. This set up will help to ensure that your body ever so slightly hovers over the soccer ball itself, giving you more accuracy and control.

Keep that foot that's planted on the ground pointed forward, in the direction of where you want to take your soccer shot.

2. Getting The Right Amount of Power

When you're learning how to kick a soccer ball far, you might be surprised to find out that there is actually such a thing as using too much power.

If you focus only on hammering the ball down the field as far as you can, you won't have the kind of control that you need to make a shot or connect the pass to the other player.

First, keep your body relaxed (this is why you see so many players on television jumping up and down or shaking their bodies before an epic free or corner kick.)

Extend your overall swing in relation to the distance that you need the ball to travel. If you need the ball to make it halfway down the field, then you should take a seriously long swing. For a short distance, however, only lift your leg a few inches off the ground behind you as you prepare to kick.

As you connect with the ball, focus on pointing your toes towards the ground. This helps you to hit the ball with the "sweet spot" of your foot. It also helps to keep your ankle from swinging around.

The "sweet spot" of your foot is a few centimeters below the laces of your cleats. In a sense, it's where your feet and toes meet. Avoid kicking the soccer ball with your toes as this can lead to serious pain and injury (not to mention a bad shot.)

3. Focus on the Follow Through

The final step of kicking a soccer ball is all about the follow through.

Make sure that you continue to lift your leg after you've taken your kick, and that the raised leg is pointed in the direction where you want the ball to go. Focus on creating an "arc" with your leg.

Then, place your kicking foot firmly and fully on the ground in front of you. This will help you to keep your balance and better prepare to swing back into action.

Always make it a point to run after your shot. After all, even if it doesn't go in, you still may have created the perfect set-up for a follow-up shot.

Don't miss out on an opportunity to score.

Learning How to Kick a Soccer Ball Takes Practice

We hope that this post has taught you a few of the most important steps of learning how to kick a soccer ball.

Of course, remember that practice makes perfect!

Try-outs for this season are just around the corner--so there's no time like the present for your child to start seriously practicing their soccer skills.

Interested in learning more about what sets F.C Express apart from the competition? Want to get to know the coaches your child may be working with?

If so, then we invite you to spend some time on our website. Not only will you be able to get up-to-date tryout information, you'll also understand why we're the right fit for your child.

We can't wait to see you cheering them on at their first game.

8 Soccer Drills for Kids

8 Soccer Drills for Kids

Spend some time with your kids doing what they love and help them get the practice they did. Try out these eight soccer drills for kids.

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Soccer is a sport of great speed, precision, and coordination. It's not a sport which is mastered overnight. It requires you to put in a great deal of hard work over a span of many years.

The key to becoming a great soccer player is building a base of fundamentals. Kids must learn basic dribbling, passing, and shooting fundamentals before they can move onto a more complex style of play.

How do kids learn these fundamentals? By engaging in particular drills. Here are 8 soccer drills for kids.

1. Keep Your Yard Clean

A great way for young kids to improve their kicking and passing technique is by playing Keep Your Yard Clean. This game can be played by people of any age, but is best for kids of 6 to 10 years of age.

Though you can use a playing area of any size, it's recommended that you play within a 40-yard X 40-yard square. This square will be split in half so that one team is on one side, and the other team is on the other side. To mark the parameters of the field, it's recommended that you use cones.

There will typically be 10 kids on each team, with each kid starting with a ball. After you blow the whistle, kids will kick their respective balls into their opponents' side of the field.

These balls will be kicked back and forth until you stop the game (typically after around 4 or 5 minutes). The team which has the least amount of balls on its side of the field after the whistle is blown wins the game.

2. Tug of War

One of the most fun and effective soccer drills is tug of war. This game is great for those between the ages of 8 to 14 years old, promoting passing power and accuracy.

In this game, kids are separated into two teams. Each team is required to stay behind a line of cones. Between these cones will be a specially marked soccer ball.

At the beginning of the game, every participant will have a soccer ball. Once the whistle has been blown, it is the goal of every player in the game to strike the specially marked soccer ball with their respective soccer balls. The point is to hit the specially marked ball with other balls until it rolls past the opponents' line of cones.

3. Corner Kick Game

The corner kick game is a drill which essentially involves playing a standard game of soccer. However, the difference between this drill and a standard game is that, if the ball goes out of bounds, regardless of where it goes out of bounds, it will result in a corner kick.

The corner kick is one of the most important plays in all of soccer. This drill helps kids to practice it a great deal in a real-game situation. It not only promotes technique, it endorses cardiovascular exercise as well.

4. 3v1

The 3v1 drill is a drill which helps kids to improve both their defense and shot accuracy. To set the game up, you must establish a 3-yard X 3-yard box. It's a good idea to establish this box with cones.

Once the cones have been set up, place a ball in the middle of the cones. No player is allowed to go inside the parameters of said cones.

There will be 3 offensive players, and 1 defensive player. The offensive players will pass the ball back and forth, kicking the ball toward the center ball in an attempt to hit it. All the while, the defensive player must try to stop the ball which is being passed.

5. Knockout

Knockout is a drill which promotes ball protection and defense. In this game, a large circle is established. After this circle is established, each player will go inside of it with a ball of his or her own.

Once the whistle is blown, each player will try to knock every other player's ball out of the circle, all the while protecting his or her own ball. The participant with the last remaining ball in the circle is the winner.

6. The Shooting Game

The shooting game is one of the best forms of soccer practice for kids. This game involves two different teams, both of whom are separated by a line of cones. In the middle of these two lines of cones is a goal.

This game begins with a goalkeeper from one team in goal and a shooter from the opposite team taking a shot. Regardless of whether this shot is made, blocked, or missed, the shooter will assume the position of goalkeeper. Then, a player from the opposite side will take a shot.

This process will play out back and forth until the officiator decides to end the game.

7. Killer Whale

One of the more classic soccer drills is killer whale. This is a game in which 12 to 16 players go inside of a circle of cones and attempt to keep their respective soccer balls within said cones.

While 10, 12, or 14 players will have soccer balls to protect, 2 players will be the "killer whales," and attempt to knock those balls out of the cones. This is one of the best soccer drills for 6 yr olds, promoting ball security and defense.

8. Spread Out

Something a lot of kids have trouble with in soccer is spreading out from each other on the field. To help teach this concept, you need to consider playing spread out.

In this drill, you will separate players into two teams. Players on each team will throw the ball to each other, catching it in their hands. When a player has caught the ball, he or she can not move until he or she has thrown it to a teammate.

The opposite team will try to steal the ball. The last team which has the ball at the end of the game is the winner.

Learn More Soccer Drills for Kids

Interested in learning more soccer drills for kids? Hoping to help your child brush up on his or her soccer skills? If so, Express FC Soccer Academy is the place to go.

We not only put on camps, we field a team as well. As one of the longest-running soccer clubs in Central Ohio, we help turn good players into great players.

Contact us today!

Five Fun Soccer Games for Kids

Five Fun Soccer Games for Kids (2018)

Let your kids have fun while perfecting their soccer skills! These five soccer games for kids will have them practicing like pros in no time!

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Do you feel like your soccer practices just aren't as much fun as they used to be?

Are you looking for soccer games for kids that will improve their technical skills while also giving a serious boost to their cardio?

On the hunt for age-appropriate games and drills that will help your young players to improve without putting their safety in jeopardy?

If so, then you've come to the right post.

Keep on reading to learn more about the five most fun soccer games for kids of any experience level and age. We can guarantee that when you start putting these drills into your practice routine, your players will be all smiles.

You'll also see some serious results in your next game.

1. Cone Collection

One of the most fun soccer games for kids is what we like to call "Cone Collection." Divide your team into groups of four, and give each of the children their own soccer ball.

Then, set up cones in a straight line, spacing them out evenly. Have the players get in a line, one behind the other.

Once you blow the whistle, the first child will dribble their ball from one end of the line of cones to the other. When they come to a cone, they have to circle around it with their foot, and then pick it up once they've made a circle around it.

They do this until they've made it through and collected all the cones.

On the way back, they have to set the cones back up, again dribbling around them in a circle once they've placed them back.

This continues, relay-race style until all four players have finished the circuit.

2. Chase the Donkey

Another one of the top soccer games for kids is a more athletic combination of pin the tail on the donkey and flag football. It's also an awesome way to work on conditioning your players and strengthening their cardio without them even realizing it.

You don't even need to use a soccer ball at all if you want to focus purely on conditioning and improving stamina.

Choose one player to tuck a bandanna into the back of their shorts, and have them run through the other players without letting them pull out the "tail." If you want to add a soccer ball to the mix, then the "donkey's" objective can be to score a goal without having their tail pulled out.

The person who pulls out the tail then becomes the next "donkey."

3. Stop and Control

Are you looking for kids soccer games that help to develop ball control and encourage kids to master the idea of "trapping and passing" instead of just lobbing the ball down the field?

If so, then stop and control sounds like the perfect game for your team.

Create a small square with cones on half of the field, and arrange platers in a line with their own soccer balls. Instruct your players to dribble the ball across the field as normal.

Then, once you yell stop, also choose a body part that your players have to control the ball with. For example, you could yell out "forearm" and the kids will then have to roll the ball around on their forearm.

Not only does this help with control and listening skills. It's also a great way to break the ice when you suspect players are nervous or if you're interested in developing team-building skills.

Every once in a while, it's ok to get silly -- which is why this drill is especially fun for younger players.

4. The Gauntlet

This is one of those fun soccer games for kids that's best played between more experienced players.

The goal here is to help your players to learn how to trap and control balls that come from throws, higher kicks, or just end up at different levels of the body. After all, not every pass or shot is going to land perfectly at their feet!

Set up about four players on opposite sides, facing one another.

Give each child a soccer ball, and select one player to "run the gauntlet." As they run through, each player will kick the ball powerfully in their direction. They'll need to trap it on their stomach, with their heads, or even with their thighs.

If you want to adjust this drill, you can do the same with passing. Same goes for goalies, who are allowed to use their hands to stop the ball.

5. The Wall

You should also focus on teaching soccer games for kids that they can play anywhere, anytime, and even on their own!

Wall ball is a popular game that helps with agility and controlling powerful passes and kicks.

Instruct kids to find a nearby wall, and kick the ball towards it so that it bounces back to them. Then, they can trap it or simply kick it back again.

It's like a game of squash -- but with a soccer ball.

Looking for More Soccer Games for Kids?

Whether you're looking for soccer games for kids that improve their ability to pass, or if you just want to create more of a feeling of teamwork on the field, we hope that these soccer games for kids are able to help.

Are you interested in learning more about how to sign your child up for try-outs? Want to learn more about soccer coaching, and what it takes to become an excellent coach?

Have you been looking for helpful kids soccer games that will help you to get more out of every practice?

We can help you get what you need.

Spend some time on our website to learn more about our league and to make your kid's games better than ever.

6 Preparing youth soccer players for the for the 2018-2019 season

6 Preparing youth soccer players for the for the 2018-2019 season

When you go out to the field, all you need is a ball and some cleats.

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Did you know that proper equipment can influence soccer player performance?

There are many options for parents when it comes to the best soccer equipement for their kids, but the most important part is assuring they receive the highest-quality training and leadership.

At the end of the day, it is important that they feel prepared and confident for an exciting new soccer season.

There are so many benefits to enrolling your child in soccer, from improving their fitness level to helping them develop a better self-image.

Moreover, soccer can help develop social skills and a sense of teamwork that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

The values that are instilled in your kids through sports can make them better in school, and grow up to be more prepared for the real world.

In Central Ohio, there is no better option than Express FC Soccer Academy. We specializing in providing players of all levels with the skills they need to be successful in soccer.

Moreover, our experienced, licensed coaches are prepared to help your child succeed to their fullest ability through team development.

This soccer season, come see the express difference. We will make you and your child feel at home in our family-orientated atmosphere.

Check out our tryout information to get involved, and ensure your child has the best gear, cleats and coaching to be successful this soccer season.