To the SoccerHelp Pro's,

Hi guys, first, I hope all of you have had a great holiday and second thanks to A lot of your training exercises and some of my own fun I added to it, my girls finished 8-1-1 (shhh, not that we keep tract of wins and losses at 8 yr olds....) anyway I have managed, for the winter, to get a gymnasium to keep my girls practicing we start in about 3 weeks and I have been putting together some more intense stuff along with our fun stuff. My problem is in a gym the ball moves faster and bounces more. The girls have to wear sneakers and not cleats which have a different feel to the ball. Do you have any suggestions on how or what I can do to compensate for these differences? I have been to the gym just to see how the ball reacts and its a big change so if the gods at the soccer help desk have any answers I am listening.

Thank you, Coach Jim

Hi Jim,

First, read all the info at "Indoor soccer" on Premium (there's a lot).

1. Use "painter's tape" to mark goals on the walls and marks on the floor(if you need to). It is easy to remove and doesn't leave glue. You can get it at Home Depot or Lowe's in a bright blue color.
2. Play a lot of Soccerhelp games such as "Dribble Across A Square" and "Dribble Around Cone and Pass Relay Race". Do a lot of dribbling and "touch" games and exercises.
3. Take a little air out of the balls to slow them down. Some coaches use a smaller than normal ball, but there might be disadvantages to this.
4. If your objective is to prepare for outdoor, I suggest not playing off the walls -- keep it as realistic to outdoor as possible.
5. Keep it FUN.

Please share with me any ideas, tips or good experiences you have.

David
SoccerHelp

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