A coach

I work for the SFA "Scottish football association" and i coach children of different levels and ages and also coach some adults also.

Anyone would like to ask anything feel free.

so what would be the oldest team you coach.is it true that football academys have players as young as 13 or 14 doing weight training

Oldest "team" not really worked with an older team. Worked with people who are older "say about 30s and 40s" who are in jail.

Academys your gonna have to explain what you mean?

ok going off scottish football.i was told sheff united under 13,14,15 etc start using weights to improve there strength.would they really though

In the area of scotland i work in i havnt heard of anything like this at all so im going to say no to answer your question.

Weight training at a young age is not a clever idea as your body is still developing.

hey G_Man

any ideas for shooting drills that i could use for 7-9 year olds

started a thread but it was going nowhere

Forget the word "drills" that is a tool.

Easiest shooting practice to start is using targets. Place markers in a goal and get the kids to aim the ball where the markers are. Place the markers near the posts as that is where you would want kids to shoot.

Next one you could do is lay off and shoot. Stand yourself on the edge of the box facing away from the goal. The kid would pass the ball to you and they would either shout left or right. whatever they shout you lay the ball off to that side and then they shoot.

There is 2 practices for you.

sorry to be a pain but do you have say just one more as i have already used them the first time doing shooting.

It would depend on the ability and what your team of players are like.

they are a bit of a mix tbh some real stand outs that can strike the ball really well but others who struggle.

The others who struggle you can stick with the basic pass and shoot until they feel they are improving. Again they are only young so lots of time to improve.

You can do like volleying where a player passes to you and you can either pick up ball or chip ball and the player would watch ball and either half volley or volley. Start with half volley then progress and also when doing this stick with the markers also because at a young age its all about success success success. Every child wants to go after training and feel happy.

cheers might give that a shot

No problem.

It's ok to work on light weights at 13 really. Most footballers won't be pushing all out to build huge muscles, just to tone and strengthen themselves. No different to playing in the parks, doing press/chin ups, using monkey bars or jumping walls.

Whats a light weight tho? Been no explanation. And been told no level of the player

A light weight is self explanatory - a weight that is very comfortable and used in high reps for stamina and power rather than bulk.
I did not mention level of player as it is irrelevant, it was the age I commented on.