The following is from Jeff Pill of the US Soccer National Coaching School. "Start way back with the basics;
Take off your shoe and sock. Sit on the floor, with both feet on the floor -knees inside your arms- start by
kicking the ball out of your hands (like a punt). But, just do it lightly so that the ball only goes up about 2 feet or so. Make sure that your toe is pointed and that you keep your ankle locked.
Strike the ball with the laces part of the foot. If your ball goes up without any spin or with a little top spin then you are doing it correctly. If the ball comes back towards your face then try again. Keep doing this over and over it will develop a good feel for what it is like to hit the ball with your laces.
After you have managed that try hitting the ball twice with the foot. But, make sure that there is still a proper spin ankle locked toe pointed.

When you get good control it is time to stand up.

Now, do the same thing.. kick the ball out of your hands (like a punt) but have the ball only go up in the air about 6-7 feet high. Look for the ball going up with no spin again. Keep your foot in that good position. Your knee needs to be slightly bent as well. Kick the ball straight up in the air. Again, you are just
trying to get a good feel for the ball. The ball’s spin tells you if you are doing it correctly.

Then, try to do it with a bounce between each kick. But, still only have the ball go up about 6-7 feet high. It is important that you do this with control instead of power. This is almost like juggling, but, let the ball bounce each time. Then, can you do two touches (each one going up without backspin) between each bounce?

Now progress where you are letting the ball bounce on the ground, then kick it to a friend or against some wall. Still with bare feet! Make sure that you strike the ball when it is on the way down. Hit it with your laces . Toe pointed, ankle locked. Now, the ball should have top spin and should not go higher than your head. Keep working on this for MANY times. See if you can now work on accuracy and some power. Again, you should be getting a real feel for the ball with your laces.
After you do this it is time to put your shoes back on and try from the ground again. See if there is any improvement there should be. You should have a real feel for the ball by now! One warning this takes time!!! Some players that I have worked with on this need a whole season to work things out. Practice correctly!!! It is more important to practice perfectly than to kill yourself working frantically and too hard. Take your time.
My last suggestion is to watch high level games. Watch how the real good players strike the ball. Watch them, then try to copy them!"
After they have mastered this skill have them focus on striking a still ball by
1. getting their instep thru the middle of the ball
2. follow thru with a low foot and come across in front of the other foot.
3. the support foot is up even with ball but aside from ball not right next to it.
CP: The instep is a part of the top of the foot where the inside lace holes are, usually the last 2-3 holes on the inside row.

It is important to remember the physics of the driven instep shot. We spend enless hours teaching this skill to our players at training and camp.

1. Strike the ball with the top lower few inside laces. This is a very boney part of the foot and provides the most force.

2. Strike through the center of the ball for the straight driven shot that dips at the end

2b. Strike through the inner half of the center of the ball for the bending or banana shot.

3. Support leg is even with ball but a little away from it. This distance is different for every player, but essentially it is the players length of leg from the ankle to the knee.

4. Follow the foot through the center of the ball and keep the foot low and follow through over the opposite foot.

[i]5. Exhale air from your mouth like blowing a balloon upon contact.[/i]

I LEARNED ALL OF THIS ON THE TRAININING GROUNDS OF EC VITORIA, PROFESSIONAL FIRST DIVISION CLUB IN SALVADOR, BRASIL.

Start with a 20 x 10 grid with two teams of two. One player from each team is in the middle and the other players are on opposite end lines.

In this example, the yellow player on the outside starts with the ball. The yellow player in the middle checks back to the ball and the ball is played in.
The passer can call "back", "turn" or "hold". If the call is "back" the receiving player one touches the ball back to the player on the end line. If the call is "turn", the receiving player tries to turn with the ball and dribble past the opposite end line (the outside black player is not involved at this time). If the call is "hold" the receiving player works on holding (or shielding the ball).

The objective is to get the ball over the opposite end line. If the receiving player passes the ball back to the original passing player, the player in the middle goes away and then checks to again. This activity is trying to get the players to make proper decisions and be patient with the ball as opposed to trying to turn into pressure.

If the ball is lost, or the ball is successfully played across the opposite end line, then the black outside player starts with the ball and play is reversed.

Do this for two minutes and then have the outside and inside players switch roles.

Once all players have had their turns (if there are 16 players at a training session, there would be four groups of four), we now add the second attacker.

Now, once the outside player passes the ball into play, he joins the attack so it's now a 2 v 1.



Most of the time, the ball gets played in, then the ball is played back and the initial receiving player tries to spin and get behind the defender to receive the ball. The thing that makes this tricky is the offside rule applies (the assumption is the other black player, in the diagram below is a keeper so that would be one of the two defenders for the offside even though that player isn't really playing).



The defender might try to overplay the pass in at which point the passer would call "turn" instead of "back" or "turn".

After each player has had an opportunity in each role, the next step is to do the exact same thing but now, when the first pass is made in, the opposite player from the far end line joins in defensively. This makes it a 2 v 2 situation.

The keys to emphasize here is the passer communicating early what he wants done, the receiving player not forcing play and being patient and reading the situation from the defensive players movements and playing accordingly.

This is an excellent activity to work on playing with your back to goal as well as passing, receiving and communication.

CP: defending player should never place arm on back of player receiving ball, instead arms should be around player.

Today's featured activity works on turning with the ball.

Start with a 20 x 15 grid. There are 2 yard goals in each corner and on the end line. A server starts with balls on the end line opposite the goal and two players are in the middle.



In this situation, the black player is on offense and the yellow player is on defense. The red player is the server.

The black player will go away and then check back to the ball and the server plays the ball in.

If the attacker receives the ball and plays it back between either of the near corner goals, it counts as one point.

If the player can turn and pass the ball through either of the far corners, it counts as 2 points.
If the player can turn and pass the ball through the center goal, it counts as 3 points.

If the defender wins the ball or the ball goes out of play, the attempt is over.

Each player gets 10 attempts and the player with the most points, at the end wins.

This is a great way to work on turning and defending the turn.
CP: IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO PLACE PLAYERS BEHIND THE TURNING GOALS AND THEY WILL TAKE THIER TURN IN THE GAME. ADDS A MATCHLIKE ELEMENT HAVING PLAYERS TO PASS TO THRU THE GOALS.

Today's featured activity works on passing, receiving, turning and takeovers.

In the diagram below, player 1 starts with the ball, he passes to player 2 and then follows his pass.
Player 2 then turns with the ball and dribbles toward player 3 who comes froward to meet him.
Player 2 does a takeover with player 3 and player 3 dribbles towards the original starting point and then passes to player 4.
At the end of the sequence, player 1 ends up where player 2 started. Player 2 ends up where player 3 started, player 3 ends up behind player 4 and player 4 goes to where player 1 started.

This pass, turn, dribble, takeover, dribble pass, receive sequence should be a smooth flowing activity that keeps 4 players moving, involved and working on keep aspects of the game.