3 Soccer Drills to Become a Better Defender

Becoming a better soccer player and defender starts with the proper training. Follow along with IMG Academy soccer coach, Mel Mahler, and several student-athletes as they guide you through three soccer drills that will help you become a better defender. Your soccer training drills will cover: - Press & Cue - Closing Speed - Defensive Positioning
Subscribe to IMG Academy on KZbin: kzbin.info...
IMG Academy is the world leader in athletic and personal development. Based in Bradenton, Florida, IMG implements a cutting-edge training methodology that has helped propel countless athletes of all ages and abilities to maximizing their inherent potential. www.imgacademy.com/
· Boarding School: www.imgacademy.com/boarding-s...
· Sports Camps: www.imgacademy.com/sport-camps
· Adult Programs: www.imgacademy.com/adult-camps
· Pro/Collegiate Athlete Training: www.imgacademy.com/adult-camps
· Team Training: www.imgacademy.com/team-training
· Group Hosting: www.imgacademy.com/group-hosting
· Events: www.imgacademy.com/events
· IMG Institute/Corporate Retreats: www.imgacademy.com/corporate-...
· Legacy Hotel at IMG Academy: www.imglegacyhotel.com/
IMG Academy on Instagram: / imgacademy
IMG Academy on Facebook: / imgacademy
IMG Academy on TikTok: @IMGAcademy

[@KidsAndCardsAndSoccer]

Don't throw stones. I'm a U10 rec coach. Defense gets very little attention and coaches know very little. At this age and at this level so much is determined by speed, aggression and a little bit of ball control. The video is great. Thanks for posting!

[@barberyfam]

This comment really helps thank you

[@949surferdude]

Hi what does that mean don't throw stones? Any tips for teaching basic defense for a six years old player?

[@saucemagic]

@@949surferdude If I may add my opinion. At that age I think its more important they develop an interest in the sport. For example, a scrimmage is a better learning experience than skills initially. It's hard to teach skills if they don't want to learn. Those come after they develop a love of the sport. As he mentioned above, the best skills to learn are ball control, passing, speed, and aggressiveness. Teach them to pass and most important communicate with teammates.

[@dougconley]

I coach rec league U19 and even at that age players can't get out of the habit of swiping at the ball no matter how much I drill them. I'm gonna try these drills next season. Good defense is always my major concern every season.

[@ava.shorts274]

It’s part of what drive me out of soccer this season I’m going back next season because u realize how much I miss it but I used to be center back and I would play every game then entire game I was THE player but around u12 we got another coach who was the assistant coach and my other coach moved so we got another coach after that and I liked the first coach but not the new one anyways I stayed THE player for a while but being a defender I got no attention and only did forward drills so I slowly started being below average in my skills because I wasn’t getting the help I needed and I started barely being played in games I got moved out of center back almost every game and no one ever really focused on me

[@brettlowden6752]

This is a great video...all about closing down the space and trying to force mistakes

[@sum1G]

This is nice. Thanks coach.

[@bestsoccertricks]

Great tips... Thanks for the video ;)

[@SebInTheGame]

I used this to coach my team today. Thank you very good for 9yr old boys to teach them not to overcommit and play more smart 👍

[@Sparrow035]

I’m about to send this to the Varsity head coach I work for! And Implement it with my jv!

[@nileshvaheesan3214]

Does img offer international students soccer camps?

[@vsubhuti]

Thanks perfect defensive coaching. People underestimate defenders

[@Downey-2000]

They undervalue defenders .

[@78Showboat]

Love it

[@rshareef1]

I use this drill at u11 - it works. I read the other comments knocking this - they make sense too. Soccer in US is just not set up with the emphasis on passing, positioning, intercepting. Other Countries/clubs have methods, systems, no pay to play. US soccer doesn’t have that, or is just developing.. so US has to teach individual tackling.

[@deecee4377]

This gold

[@Barneybish]

Thank you I have a game tonight it's my first year playing soccer hoping to do well tonight this is the best most helpful video yet

[@hemlockridgemtb4958]

How’d you do??

[@hemlockridgemtb4958]

I’ve got mine in a couple of weeks

[@miguelhoyos8402]

What body weight on the front footwork?

[@fico9585]

1'44". It is the position to wait for the player, it is too passive, no to recover the ball. All depends if the opposit player is faster than me, if not, I do not need it and must change other position in order to get the ball

[@sananjrsananjr6094]

Can I play in this acedamy a pro football

[@zacbarnaby3933]

football!

[@alfiend331]

Am I the only one who notices that he keeps calling the player with the ball the defender? 1:42 "Reach out & touch the defender." 2:44 "The key to defending is to slow the defender down."

[@managercharlos31]

He meant attacker.

[@rangersasc]

He's clueless and you need someone that can actually play doing demos :) Academy's in America look very poor

[@JonezBBQ]

@@rangersasc how is he clueless he just made a very minor very simple mistake 💀 as if you couldn’t tell what he meant

[@audibleadventures9004]

@@rangersasc check your ego, lifes to short

[@thedeewolf]

@@rangersasc I was thinking the same tbh 😂 but I didn't want to be too blunt!!!

[@danngregory5912]

😊😊😊😊

[@JonezBBQ]

Nice video. Maybe my team of rejects could benefit from these drills

[@matthewcarey3148]

Ha! I just came home from an AYSO practice. This drill would work fine with IMG kids, but my team couldn’t listen to all this talking, or follow more than a single instruction at a time. Good luck coach!

[@andrewbodine5663]

God, I hope you are not coaching our youth. If so, this is disgusting...

[@Barca3193]

Consider to stop coaching dude..

[@darkfoxjj]

People lacking a sense of humor lack intelligence imo.

[@JonezBBQ]

@@andrewbodine5663 It's called a joke brother.

[@fico9585]

When return the girl to her initial position, she never put back to the other player, she always watch the player

[@alaminaminu2666]

I want to join😭

[@fico9585]

4'05" The girl in black need to protect the ball and the body position with the left arm, never the arm down!

[@mrgbyoutubing7536]

We need good players demonstrating these drills.

[@danngregory5912]

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤

[@junkwon4839]

I feel like this is good for principles but this will never help a good player become a great player.

[@Barca3193]

Tell me you know nothing about football without telling me you know nothing about football

[@juliosantiago7765]

I have been a soccer coach for a long time. I currently coach a U18 premier team div 4. I'm not sure exactly what this teaches. A player could never reach the age of the players on the video not knowing all of this stuff. Sorry.

[@andresvillavicencio506]

he is teaching one (minor) of many elements, body position, for example. and different coaches have different ways of training/teaching. Im surprised you are a trainer!

[@jahfly]

This video demonstrates principles of defense to be taught at any age.

[@BornAgainFitness]

You'd be surprised at what kids aren't coached or simply forget.

[@juliosantiago7765]

@@andresvillavicencio506 Any person who has played a few soccer games would know this. You really don't need to be a coach. Of course you can teach many ways, but common sense for this age would be at the very basic level: through passing or pivoting. I'm surprised you make comments!

[@nick1177]

For the record div 4 isn't premiere. At that point it's glorified rec and you can definitely hit u15/16 rec not knowing this.

[@MaxGravitas]

Typical frenetic American style coach, obsessed with player positioning over technical quality

[@christianmenjivar548]

explain? i want to understand what you mean

[@JohnMichaelHammond]

You concluded this based on a 6 minute video? This is a defensive drill. Body positioning is crucial for defense. You have no idea how this coach teaches technical quality, but you still decided to post this comment.