Training the Right Way!

You need to do the right things at this young age group in order to get the right end product and move towards becoming an elite player. – Dave Chesler, U.S. Soccer Director of Coaching Education

Developing youth soccer players (both rec and select) – Our goal at GFT is to teach skills, instill confidence, and educate players on how to become better soccer players. Each age group requires different training methods. It is vital that the players are working on the right things and are shown how to pass, receive, dribble and shoot correctly. We have a curriculum that our trainers follow to ensure that the development happens at timed stages. If a player starts private skills between ages 8-11 they should be technically sound after 2 years of private training. Ages 6 & 7 are also a good time to start private skills but most don’t have the psychosocioemotional maturity to focus the whole hour of training. Starting at this age is great but the player will usually take longer than 2 years to become technically sound, although they will be ahead of the majority of their peers. Ages 12+ should focus on receiving, passing (e.g., bending/chipping), 2v1, 4v2, and decision-making drills. TRAINING RELEASE

Investment Returns

Two years of repetition and consistent training through proper, individualized skills should have a young player fundamentally sound.

We want parents to know the following: (a) what your child should be working on, (b) how long it takes to complete the current stage of skills, and (c) what the next skill set will entail and when it should begin. If you see passion and athletic ability at a young age (e.g., ages 7-11) you should invest your time and money in private soccer skills. At age 15 your child could already have scholarship offers. There are over 1600 boys and 1600 girls soccer programs. Texas is one of the U.S. soccer hotbeds with the #1 largest youth international tournament, top college programs, and 2 MLS teams.

NEXT: Private Individual Technical

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See Also: TRAINING LOCATIONS