

Soccer provides both psychological challenges and opportunities for development.

“Ball mastery is massive in terms of creating that love.” Psychological “It creates a bigger love for the game as well, and a greater appreciation of the connection with a football,” explains Nathan Philip, a former coach at clubs including Chelsea FC and West Ham United. This focus on individual ball mastery will assist us in our mission to help kids love soccer. Through both individual practice and by participating in fun soccer drills, they will notice their skills get better and enjoy the process of improving. When considering effective training drills for U8 soccer, we want our players to constantly practice things like passing, dribbling, and controlling the ball, and start to feel comfortable using both feet. “Whether that’s a player working with a ball and a wall away from training, whether that’s interference-based ball mastery or opposed 1v1s.” “Areas like ball mastery and being on the ball are so crucial at that age,” says PDP Co-founder Dave Wright. This requires lots of time with the ball and soccer drills that focus on individual practice. Through the course of playing U8 soccer, we want our players to explore different methods of mastering the ball, develop creativity, and become confident in possession. This will provide the foundation for learning the more complex skills and techniques that will be essential as they continue their progression in the game. We want to develop the same skill sets, equipping our players with the basics and encouraging them to improve through practice. When using The Four Corner Model to guide us, our coaching points are similar to those when coaching U6 soccer. By considering all four categories together, we can take a holistic approach to soccer coaching.

The Four Corner Model (developed by The FA) divides coaching and player development into technical and tactical, psychological, physical, and social components. 3 Min Watch Things to consider when coaching U8 soccer Soccer Training and The Four Corner Model
