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You Can Do It! (4)
Posted by sarah824
on 4/16/12 at 10:54am
Learning to Kick a Soccer Ball

The challenge: Your daughter seems to have two left feet when she tries to kick a soccer ball.

How you can help: Get kicking with her! A 4-year-old should be able to run and kick a ball, says Sklamberg. To teach the skill, hold your child's hand and together "walk, walk, walk, kick." Make the kicking motion next to her as she kicks the ball. (Your child's kicking foot is the dominant one that she leads with as she goes up and down stairs.) A 5-year-old may even be able to run and kick a ball into a net.

To teach a soccer dribble, first take some air out of the ball, since the less inflated the ball, the more slowly it will roll, says Sklamberg. Show her how to gently push the ball with the sides of her feet. Then stand behind her as she alternates feet and "step, taps, step, taps" the ball down the sidewalk. With practice, she'll be able to jog while dribbling the ball with her feet.

Did/does your child have trouble kicking a ball? Are there other sports they seem to struggle with?

Replies (1-9 of 9)

Posted by batjmom
on 4/16/12 at 12:25pm

Nope they both took right to the sports they were interested in pretty good. Somethings just took more practice. Baseball each year changed between coach pitching and a machine pitch to this year a kid pitching so adjustments need to be made all the time
Posted by bethany169
on 4/16/12 at 4:55pm

DD is only 1 but she seems to have great fine motor skills so far. We'll see when she's walking and playing in the backyard.
DS is almost 4 and just started tball but he's been playing soccer, tball, basketball, etc in the bakcyard for a while now. He does fine and has fun playing at home, and on his tball team, it's 3 and 4 year olds so he's a little on the younger side and can't throw quite as far as the older kids. But he hits pretty well and we're working on his throwing :)
Posted by soccerchik8287
on 4/16/12 at 7:17pm

My daughter has been able to kick a ball since about 19months. She learned right after she started to walk. We are a big soccer family
Posted by millermom07
on 4/16/12 at 8:46pm

All 3 of my older kids can kick a ball just fine. My 2 yr old does ok, but it's still not great. The older 3 aren't great with baseball/softball, but they try.
Posted by sarah824
on 4/17/12 at 10:34am

DS is a natural athlete. He does very well with any sport he tries. He has been this way since he was very young.

DD has almost no coordination and kicking a ball took a little more work for her.
Posted by nngmommy83
on 4/17/12 at 2:35pm

Neither of my kids have had trouble with sports so far. DD is 11 and has played on a team since she was 4. DS will start in the fall
Posted by countrymomma81
on 4/17/12 at 9:02pm

Neither of them had trouble. DD began playing soccer at 2, and DS played sports starting at 3. That's one area we have no trouble in.
Posted by PoehlerBear1983
on 4/18/12 at 8:14am

No problem with that. Both if my kids love sports
Posted by NicholasMama608
on 4/18/12 at 10:51am

My son mastered kicking a ball in physical therapy. He doesn't play sports though. He has no interest in organized activities like that.