Confidence boosting tips for wingers
There's no better sight in soccer than wingers who can run and take on the opposition single-handed. But it is a rare sight in youth soccer. To give your wingers the confidence to run at midfielders and beat them, use these soccer coaching tips.
Confidence is a key coaching tip here. You can bet that in training if you encourage your wingers to get through on goal, they will beat the defender most times. But in a match, it is harder to get players trying this.
Confidence
To build your players' confidence, you must have patience and help your youngsters in matches.
A winger who holds onto the ball and beats players is a high-risk, high-reward strategy - you have to take risks to create goal scoring opportunities and the sooner you understand that, the sooner you will be able to put unsuccessful attempts into perspective.
If you criticise your wingers for losing the ball, they will be less inclined to try it next time, and your criticism will rub off on their team-mates who will be quick to add their own criticism. Not a great way to boost team spirit.
Soccer coaching sessions are ideal for boosting a player's confidence:
A winger doesn't always need to dribble to beat a player, they should have a range of skills they can use. Once techniques such as the one-two or stepover are acquired, set up 1v1 games sessions to work on these soccer skills.
Skills to look for in training sessions
- Comfortable with the ball and able to keep it under close control.
- Playing with their head up so they can see their options.
- Slowing down as they approach the defender.
- Using body feints to unbalance the defender.
- Able to change direction once the defender is unbalanced.
- Exploding past the defender with their head up.
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Click here for a soccer drill to help wingers develop their one-two soccer skills.
Soccer coaching tips
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