Hey guys, Curious how much your kids practice, aside from the schedules from their teams, and their age/level. Also, I'm interested in any successful approaches to motivate them to practice. My kid is still a youngin' and I play with him at home on most days, although only when he asks and we stop whenever he wants. About once/week it turns extended, 60+ minutes. However, he does not want to practice on his own. I want to stay away from rewarding for practice; I keep telling him that soccer is the reward.
They have to do it on their own, if you force it you lose them. Mine were in the yard every day whenever they had a free second, shooting, dribbling, kicking it off the brick, behind the parents at their siblings game, we always had a ball on feet. That's how I knew they were serious, I never really had to push.
Open play in the Spring and Summer. Indoor 7x7 leagues with walls (to gain speed of mind and body) throughout the winter and of course High School soccer in some cases.
Similar to Bluechicago, when mine was young he was out in our yard a lot, almost daily, usually pulling me out to join him (twist my arm ...). His interest has always been his own -- I'm a soccer fan and certainly have had some influence, but my wife and I have tried hard not to pressure him to do any of this for anyone but himself -- and has made some of our decisions about commitment to all of this easier. It's more complicated as a high school-age kid, though. The time spent working on his own or out at the turf complex at the local college (lots of pickup games there) has dropped way off with the current girlfriend. I guess that happens, but I'm being forced to bite my tongue quite a bit.
At his age now (17), pretty much nothing outside of regular practices and games. He also works 2-3 days a week after school as well, so between that and hanging with his friends, he doesn't have a lot of free time. Once HS starts in August, that will be 5-6 days a week, so he'll be busy enough. ETA: When he was 8 or 9, he would be in the yard with a ball a lot.
Define 'practice.' My kid did practically no drills on his own until he was much older, but we did a lot of kicking the ball back and forth and soccer tennis/volleyball for fun. Plus, starting in middle school and picking up in high school he played a lot of pickup & indoor with friends from his school team. I'm not sure how much time he spent working on drills on his own. He'd practice taking shots on me, and for a while he was working on juggling.
I think it depends on the age. The younger the age the less they should be doing drills, imo, and more play. Eg a 5 yr old should not really be doing drills per se. They should just be having fun. A 15 yr old should be doing a good amount of drills. My kid is 7 and outside of his club he does pickup once a week and sometimes he and I will go to a park and work on some things or do PKs or something like that. I think kids learn a lot from other kids too.
Funny how this happens, my oldest definitely went this route, I am convinced to this day he could have been a low level pro, but girls and later "fun" ended his career early. My middle child always prioritized soccer over friends and everything else and ended up as a D1 stud. Today, in their 20's, they are both convinced they took the correct path and I am not sure I can disagree with either. They both experienced life in their own way and are now happy adults with careers, so who am I to complain (if they would only just move out now!!!)?
It helps to have siblings or close neighbors who play, my boys had both. Being a bit sentimental here, the following is an excerpt from my youngest son's toast as best man at my oldest wedding last month. Hits on a couple of themes. Both my boys played D1 and are into careers in there 20's. " to playing every halo released, destroying our garage drywall with soccer tennis, and training every summer for soccer preseasons, He has always been there. He’s been my bunk mate, competitor, arch rival, role model, best friend, and the best brother I could have asked for. Starting to have to share my time with him with her in high school took some getting used to. "
I remember when my kid was young, they'd play at recess. It helped that over half of his team all went to the same school. He'd also kick around some at home.
Unfortunately my kid has neither a sibling or close neighbors who play. It really bugs me. But I try to make up for it by taking advantage of any opportunities for him to play, and I have to sort of fill that sibling role sometimes and we play 1v1, but it gets time consuming. I wish he had a sibling. And going to the club I thought we'd connect with others who live nearby, but nope they all live in other neighborhoods.
I hear you there. We live in the city, have no yard,he has no siblings or friends who live nearby. It isn't easy.