"Want to get Coach V really upset?"

Nothing gets me more upset than hearing the phrase I often do from many.

"Kicking has little to do with soccer. It is not important to teach it."

I will explain with a brief story.

Years ago I watched a coach who believed you needed to only focus on the overall game, tactics and teamwork. He ran drill after drill, always focused on making sure that each drill was game environment simulated. 
He never focused on teaching his U-14 team proper kicking form. In fact he made an effort to "preach" soccer is not kicking.

One day I watched him running a wall pass drill.
Most of his players were struggling with making proper passes. They lacked accuracy or the proper weight (speed). Many struggled with simply passing the ball over 15 yards.

He kept repeating over and over, "If you don't make a good pass, you will never be able to make this drill work. If we have to do this all day until we get it right, we will."

Then I noticed two players that were getting all the praise. Their passes were quality passes and had great speed and accuracy. They were able to pass with any part of their foot without breaking stride and hit just about any target.
The difference?
These two players had been through a two day kicking clinic taught by one of my good friends. They were taught the basics of kicking form and had been drilled over and over on how to make the proper basic kicks. The difference was so strong that it was shocking.

I truly felt bad for these kids, but this practice goes on every day in youth soccer.

Understand this point and understand it well.
Make it your foundation for coaching and teaching soccer players.

1) Start with the basics.
All advanced plays, drills and games are based on one thing.
Proper kicking form as a foundation, not an afterthought.

2) Return to these basics often.
So often we assume that players remember. They don't. Their bodies will return to bad habits and old muscle memory.

3) Look for the ROOT cause of problems.
If you're running a drill and it's not working, there is a good chance that a bad kick is being made.

4) Understand that the game of soccer is ALL KICKING.
A shot on goal is a kick.
A clearance is a kick.
A pass is a kick.
A dribble is a small kick.
Remove all kicking from the game and it would be pretty boring to watch.
It would be throw-ins and headers.

Teach proper kicking form and at some point in their soccer careers, your players will look back and understand they owe a great deal to you.