I have to share this!!!

At one of my sons weekly sessions, one of the coaches set up a dribbling drill. Everything was good, lots of reps and touches but he then got them to use only their ‘strong foot’ and then only their ‘weak foot’. 

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Every kid had a left and a right foot, why are we telling them at 4-7 that they have a weak foot!?

• Language becomes identity
  “Weaker foot” sounds broken; “use your left/right” is much better. At 4–8, those labels last longer than the drill.​

• Both feet need reps, not labels
  Kids need contact from different angles, speeds and surfaces. If every rep is on one side, we’re choosing to leave the other behind.

• Two usable feet = calmer kid
  If they can pass, dribble or shoot with either foot, they don’t always have to drag it across their body into trouble.

• Confidence lives in what they can do
  Clean strikes off both sides build belief. The objective isn’t to rank their feet, but to let the less‑used one catch up in fun, low‑pressure ways

A Premier League academy scout explained ball striking to me in a way that stuck. In his world, striking is the thing that “turns ideas into actions”. So the pass or shot only works if the weight and direction are right.

If you join the dots here, convincing a child they have a weaker foot is limiting the options they have when in possession of the ball, thus limiting the impact they can have on the game.

Sticking with the theme of striking a ball, here are a few videos I like about how you can get ideas over to kids as well as help with striking itself… 👇️

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