Youth Soccer Passing Drills

Along with ball control, soccer passing skills are one of the most fundamental aspects of youth soccer. Whether you are breaking out of your own end of the soccer field or counterattacking at midfield, you'll want to move the ball up field quickly and efficiently. You may also encounter a smothering defense where passing skills allow your team to retain possession while you locate "holes" in their positions.

We're going to look at some soccer passing tips as well as some youth soccer passing drills to help make your youth soccer club's attack leave opponents scrambling for position.You can also find many more free soccer passing drills online at websites like Weplay.com

Passing Tips for Soccer

Passes in soccer should be kicked with strength. A soft pass is more likely to be intercepted by a defender and you may pay with a goal against. Your goal is to spread the team's defense across the field and take advantage of open spaces from which you can advance the ball. Here are a few soccer passing tips to help you:

• Strike the ball firmly with the inside part of the foot (in most cases) and aim ahead of your teammate so that they can easily get to the ball.
• Plant your non-kicking leg firmly, position you're your body behind the kick, and strike with strength through the center of the ball.
• As I mentioned earlier, use the inside of the foot for effective control and accuracy in most cases. There are times, however, that you'll need to "weave" the ball through defenders. Using the inside portion of the foot at the toe will allow you to "bend" the ball to your target if necessary.
• In some cases, you won't be in an ideal position to make a pass to your intended target with the inside of the foot and will have to use the outside part. In this instance, you'll want to strike with the outside portion of the foot nearest the toe and, again, "bend" the ball into the target area.

Youth Soccer Passing Drills

• Circle Name Call
  An easy drill for teaching youth soccer passing skills is to have your players form a circle. Using a single soccer ball, call out the name of the person you are passing to and make the pass. Before the ball arrives, the receiving player must call out the name of the next player they are passing to and so on. Be sure to keep the ball moving. This will teach young soccer players to think ahead as to where to move the ball when they are in game situations. They'll gain skills in passing, receiving, and, most importantly, ball control.
  
  
• Star Wars Drill
  A moving target game where passing partners line up opposite each other creating a channel 10 feet wide for a separate teammate to dribble the ball through. The passing partners then try to knock the ball of the player dribbling through the center of their passing lanes. It's fun and works on ball control for everyone participating.