Action shots on Canon A610

I lost the manual that came with my camera and I cannot get good action
shots for the life of me. Could someone kindly tell me how to use the
settings on this camera to take soccer pictures outside today, probably
sunny. I would really appreciate it. I have experimented with the
different settings, but not with much success. Sometimes it seems that the
shutter delays taking the picture after I have pressed the button, so maybe
some settings have been changed that are preventing the action shots from
coming out clear, or exactly like when I clicked the button, if that makes
sense.

Thanks in advance for some friendly advice.

On the older A60 there is a "fast shutter" setting on the dial, I think it
is supposed to be a person skiing, but only on one ski. This would be a good
start.

On the shutter priority setting (Tv) try and set speeds of 1/250 second or
better if there is enough light.

To overcome shutter lag, press the shutter half down, this will set exposure
and focus, and from there the lag is very much smaller.

Good advice.

1/250 to 1/500 will work just fine for you in Tv mode. Set you ISO to
400. 800 if it's hazy.

If it is sunny (ie cloudless), you might also want to adjust your
contract down a bit. If either team has much white on them (esp
something shiny), then you also might want to set you exposure comp to
-2/3 or so. (Not critical if you don't know how to do it, but it helps
once you get a copy of the manual).

Using the Tv modes instead of the pre-set modes is nowhere as scary as
most people think.

Have fun.