Soccer training – Tackling – Soccer drill selection

General ideas about tackling

Statistics in professional soccer show a frequency of approximately 250 tackles per game. Every won or lost tackle cannot only mean the immediate victory or defeat of the whole team but also the effects on the self-confidence of the involved player are remarkable.

Every soccer coach should know that tackling has nothing to do with brutality or verbal conflicts. Every coach who thinks or teaches that way has no business to be in the education of young soccer players. Three parts belong to successful tackling: flexibility, ball control and refinement. But that does not make it necessary to train flexibility and ball control beforehand over a long period of time. The practice of tackling can train these features most effectively supplementary. “Supplementary” is here the essential word because an intensive (ball) coordination training can never be replaced.

During training the execution of tackling drills is often problematic. Even though tackling is considered an exciting part of soccer while also being essential for games, drills are always carried out slowly and without emotions. The reason behind this is often the lack of enthusiasm with which these kinds of drills are approached. That is why a coach, especially during tackling practice, should encourage and praise his players to support the competition acoustically. Without exaggerating, the drill becomes more exciting and a lack of enthusiasm has no chance.

To prevent a long wait during group drills due to long tackles, the coach should intervene actively. If appropriate and necessary, he ends the tackle by calling. Important is limiting the training area so that intensive tackling is not carried out over several fields.

Information: There are already more than 1,000 animations online at www.soccerdrills.de, as well as plenty of interesting articles by very well-known soccer experts.

If you don’t want to wait for the translations, you can take a look at Soccerdrills.de. The animations often speak for themselves.