How do you improve your kicking power?【Youth soccer】Repetition and form over muscle strength

Hello, this is Coach Kazu.

I received the following question from a reader. Below is the content of the question.

"I have a question about kicking power in the elementary school age group, especially U-10 (4th grade). What kind of practice is effective for increasing shooting power, or for making it possible to kick the ball far? On my team, there are many players who cannot kick well, but is the cause simply a lack of repetition in shooting practice or practice kicking long balls, or is it unavoidable because they have not developed muscle strength? Will they naturally be able to kick properly once they develop muscle strength in the upper grades? Until muscle strength develops, would it be more efficient to focus on practice such as inside passes?"

Thank you. Your question is specific and logical, so the key points are clear and that is very helpful.

For example, some people may feel as follows.

• In the lower and middle grades, many children cannot make the ball fly
• I do not know whether it is fine to put off practice for strong kicks until muscle strength develops
• Even when we do shooting practice, it feels like we are spending all our time picking up balls and lining up, so there is not enough repetition

As for kicking power, I myself am currently in charge of U-9 and U-8 and am thinking about this as well. In this article, I will explain the relationship between distance and muscle strength, the "repetitiveness" that is the key to acquiring technique, the reason for having even lower-grade players kick with the instep and the key factors, and ways to practice at "distances that cannot be faked."

1) The problem of muscle strength naturally exists

First, as a broad trend, the reason kicking distance does not come out around 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade is naturally also a matter of muscle strength. No matter how good the form is, if there is little power, distance will not come. I think the basic idea is that as height increases and muscles increase, kicking distance extends.

2) Even so, I have even lower-grade players kick strong balls

However, regarding the point of whether repetition practice is lacking, I have even 2nd and 3rd graders kick long balls and strong instep shots. This is because even if distance does not come, whether they can kick with correct form is important.

There may be a way of thinking that says "until muscle strength develops, focus on inside passes," but I believe that even in the lower grades, practice kicking strongly with the instep is necessary.

1) If there is a reason they cannot kick, it is the frequency of repetition

The key to improving technical actions such as shooting, passing, and control is, after all, repetitiveness. Repeated repetition is the point for improvement.

If there is a reason they cannot kick, it is conceivable that the frequency of repetition is simply low.

2) Shooting practice makes it hard to rack up repetitions

However, due to the structure of training, it is difficult for shooting practice and long kicking to rack up repetitions. You shoot, pick up the ball, and line up again. With this flow, the time not touching the ball inevitably becomes long.

3) The number of balls and goals, and how to use the return path

So, prepare the environment by increasing the number of balls and goals. Or, insert another training activity into the return path after shooting. I think it is necessary to increase the repetitiveness of the practice as a whole through such measures.

1) Organize the key points

If I list some key points, that is, key factors, for being able to kick an instep kick well, they include the following.

• The position where the standing foot steps in (beside the ball; if moving, slightly in front)
• The angle of the approach run (enter slightly diagonally)
• Use of the upper body (raise the opposite hand just before kicking and twist the body)
• Bending of the knee (bend the knee of the standing foot slightly, and draw back the kicking foot so the heel comes close to the buttocks)
• Fixing the ankle (point the toes downward)
• Follow-through (do not put the kicking foot on the ground immediately, but direct it toward the goal)

Even if distance does not come, I think you should have players practice kicking with correct form while being conscious of these key factors.

2) Which key point to convey first is where the coach's skill shows

Where the coach's skill shows is in judging the priority of which key factor to convey first depending on the individual player. If you suddenly say 5 or 6 things, children get confused.

I think it is good to first give advice on large movements such as "raise your hand, twist your body, and kick," and then move into fine details such as how to extend the ankle.

3) Like carving a sculpture, from the whole to the details

"Do not suddenly start from the details" is something that can be said about training for tactics and technique in general.

Long ago, Naoto Muramatsu, who became the first Japanese school coach at FC Barcelona, expressed in a book that "soccer coaching is like carving a sculpture." I think that is a very good expression.

In sculpture, you do not suddenly carve the fingertips in fine detail; first you create the rough overall shape. While maintaining the overall balance, you gradually increase the precision of each part. Soccer coaching is the same, and I think it is important to have the image of starting from the big design and gradually increasing the precision of the details.

Even for the instep kick, it is fine if accuracy is low at first, so have them do various kicks at the same time. By doing so, accuracy gradually improves as they grow.

① Precisely because you want to connect with short passes, you practice long kicks

It is also important to have the opposite way of thinking. For example, the idea that "precisely because you want to connect with short passes, you practice long kicks."

Precisely because there is the threat of getting in behind with a long ball, the opponent becomes wary, and short passes come alive. It is the same as teaching a child who is good at dribbling to do a one-two, which makes the opponent wary of the pass, and as a result, their specialty dribbling becomes even more effective.

② When the distance is short, mistakes are covered up

There is one important point about the practice environment. When doing inside-pass practice, if the distance is short, even if they are not kicking correctly, the pass gets through "somehow," and technical mistakes can be covered up.

To prevent this, try deliberately increasing the distance. For U-10, have them do passing practice at a boldly increased distance. When you do this, players with bad kicking form cannot play a strong pass, or the deviation becomes large, and the issues become clearly visible.

③ The same goes for 1v1. Dynamically on a wide pitch

This is the same for 1v1 practice. In a narrow area, if you beat your opponent a little and carry the ball a few steps, that counts as a win, but an actual match is much wider. By incorporating practice in which they move dynamically on a wide pitch, I think they will acquire skills that can truly be used in matches.

5. Summary

• The reason second to fourth graders cannot achieve flight distance is partly a matter of muscle strength. However, whether or not they can kick with correct form is important
• The key to acquiring technique is repetition. Shooting practice makes it hard to accumulate repetitions, so be creative with the number of balls and goals, and how you use the return path
• Even in the lower grades, practice kicking hard with the instep is necessary. Teach the key factors (standing foot, run-up, upper body, knee, ankle, follow-through) in order, starting from the large movements
• Like carving a sculpture, from the whole to the details
• Precisely because you want to connect with short passes, you practice long kicks
• Increase the distance and make the issues visible in an environment where covering up does not work

In this article, I explained the way of thinking for improving elementary school students' kicking ability. Please be creative with the distance and space in practice, and have them take on challenges in an environment where covering up does not work. Please try it at your own coaching sites too!

In addition, if you keep the practice setup, including the number of balls and goals and the return-path training, as a diagram, it will be easier to rearrange it next time.