New to soccer: need advice

[Strieder]

Hey all, I'm a 19 year old college student and ive decided to learn to play soccer, well enough at least to play recreationally or on an intramural team and be able to do well. I didnt play sports throughout my life (sadly), and I was out of shape until about 17 years old. Currently in the best shape of my life, only real problem being somewhat low stamina due to asthma and lack of endurance training..I plan on jogging a lot over the summer to work through that.

Any advice would be great. My girlfriendp plays soccer, and she has taught me a lot. I can pass relatively well, but I cant shoot at all. I try to hit the ball with my laces and it doesnt go anywhere, I just dont understand the concept of hitting it with my laces, and it gets really frustrating.

Thanks all! Really hope to be in playing form for intramural teams at school next year =)

[Ikari]

Only thing I can suggest is find a rec league you can join and just start playing. You've already got your passing skills down so you can always start off playing defense/midfield and work forward as your shooting improves.

[SoccerLuva]

Ah, yes, shooting with the laces. That one was hard for me too. My coach told me that you should try to lean over the ball when you shoot or else it will go up over the goal. And when you shoot, it's important to follow through with your kick to give it more power and speed. If you just pull your foot away after the first contact with the ball, it won't go anywhere.

Try doing it in slow motion to get the whole positioning of your feet down. Your non-kicking foot's heel should be even with the part of the ball that's closest to your body. Really, practice makes perfect!

And running's probably one of the most if not THE most important thing in soccer. You going to be constantly moving in a game. So that's good that you're going to start training in that area. Just keep at it...:)

[crazyManUfan19]

Ah, yes, shooting with the laces. That one was hard for me too. My coach told me that you should try to lean over the ball when you shoot or else it will go up over the goal. And when you shoot, it's important to follow through with your kick to give it more power and speed. If you just pull your foot away after the first contact with the ball, it won't go anywhere.

Try doing it in slow motion to get the whole positioning of your feet down. Your non-kicking foot's heel should be even with the part of the ball that's closest to your body. Really, practice makes perfect!

And running's probably one of the most if not THE most important thing in soccer. You going to be constantly moving in a game. So that's good that you're going to start training in that area. Just keep at it...:)

that helped me a lot too, if u go in slow motion and position your self how you should be when you shoot, then u will eventually get it, other than that all i can add is keep practicing

[Ranger04x40]

Hey all, I'm a 19 year old college student and ive decided to learn to play soccer, well enough at least to play recreationally or on an intramural team and be able to do well. I didnt play sports throughout my life (sadly), and I was out of shape until about 17 years old. Currently in the best shape of my life, only real problem being somewhat low stamina due to asthma and lack of endurance training..I plan on jogging a lot over the summer to work through that.

Any advice would be great. My girlfriendp plays soccer, and she has taught me a lot. I can pass relatively well, but I cant shoot at all. I try to hit the ball with my laces and it doesnt go anywhere, I just dont understand the concept of hitting it with my laces, and it gets really frustrating.

Thanks all! Really hope to be in playing form for intramural teams at school next year =)

DEJA VU!!!!! :eek:

Man Im 21 now and I was in your position exacly when I was 19!! I couldnt kick a soccer ball to save my life. My family was crazy about soccer and I hated it because they would make me play and I sucked at it. But one day when I was 19 me and my friends started to play in a parking lot and I fell in love. I have been playing pretty much everyday from then on. Now Im also in the best shape of my life!! I play with some people on a college team and they cant believe I started that old and im better than some of them who have been playing their whole life, the funny thing too is I used to hate playing soccer with my family and now I smoke every single one of them (they hate me for that ;) ). Just keep at it and youll pick it up fast.

PS- im still learning my power shot.

[mrfocus]

Hey,

I haven't done any competitive sports for 4 years, so I'm in your position too. I'm not out of shape, I'm just not very in shape. I've been going to this park that's about 5 minutes from my house for abour three weeks now, and I seem to have trouble kicking the ball harder than a normal long pass, as if to shoot at the net. I figured out pretty quickly (just from kicking the ball too hard when juggling) that where your laces are gives you a lot of power on your shot, but after reading what SoccerLuva said, basically, (I'm right footed) my left heel should be level with where I contact the ball with my right foot, and my right foot should be pointed down, as too hit it with my laces, and I should keep a follow through motion, so that I get even more power out of it?

I seem to have trouble hitting the ball correctly for hard shots, so I was actually going to start a thread wondering about that.
While were at it, do you have any other tips for shooting, passing, crossing, etc. as I might not have the right technique (just think that I have no idea how to hit a soccer ball).

Thanks a bunch.

mrfocus

[bbsbt]

Hey,

I haven't done any competitive sports for 4 years, so I'm in your position too. I'm not out of shape, I'm just not very in shape. I've been going to this park that's about 5 minutes from my house for abour three weeks now, and I seem to have trouble kicking the ball harder than a normal long pass, as if to shoot at the net. I figured out pretty quickly (just from kicking the ball too hard when juggling) that where your laces are gives you a lot of power on your shot, but after reading what SoccerLuva said, basically, (I'm right footed) my left heel should be level with where I contact the ball with my right foot, and my right foot should be pointed down, as too hit it with my laces, and I should keep a follow through motion, so that I get even more power out of it?

I seem to have trouble hitting the ball correctly for hard shots, so I was actually going to start a thread wondering about that.
While were at it, do you have any other tips for shooting, passing, crossing, etc. as I might not have the right technique (just think that I have no idea how to hit a soccer ball).

Thanks a bunch.

mrfocus
Actually, the main reason for kicking the ball with the shoelace part of the foot is to gain directional ball control, not power. You will gain more power by kicking the ball with your toes... but you will lose considerable control.
And since ball control is more important than power in soccer, this is why you never see players kicking it with their toes.

You may want to visit this site: kicking techniques (http://www.expertfootball.com/training/techniques.php)

[servotron]

If you do some searching in this forum, over the last 12 months there have been several excellent threads on shooting technique both for beginners and experts. It's worth a look-see.

[bungadiri]

Hey all, I'm a 19 year old college student and ive decided to learn to play soccer, well enough at least to play recreationally or on an intramural team and be able to do well. I didnt play sports throughout my life (sadly), and I was out of shape until about 17 years old. Currently in the best shape of my life, only real problem being somewhat low stamina due to asthma and lack of endurance training..I plan on jogging a lot over the summer to work through that.

Any advice would be great. My girlfriendp plays soccer, and she has taught me a lot. I can pass relatively well, but I cant shoot at all. I try to hit the ball with my laces and it doesnt go anywhere, I just dont understand the concept of hitting it with my laces, and it gets really frustrating.

Thanks all! Really hope to be in playing form for intramural teams at school next year =)
Technique will come with touches on the ball. And I'd say what's more important than shooting is learning how to receive the ball and so would recommend you concentrate on that first.

Also, where you can accelerate your progress toward being useful to any team you play on (and having more fun, thereby) is by watching games and paying attention to how players move without the ball. The more you learn about spacing and getting yourself into a position that supports what your teammates are trying to to do, the better off you'll be. It will also help you accommodate your (relatively) slow technical speed, because you'll be able to make better, faster decisions and find space for yourself to work in. (My kid's coach used to tell the players that soccer was a game of decisions and if you learn to make good ones, you can be a good soccer player even is your technique is not the best on the team.)

[Strieder]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Ill be practicing a lot over the summer. I guess Ill just have to take it slowly to learn the technique, it gets frustrating, but Ill get it.

Also, I have been watching games as often as possible (dont have digital cable, so there arent too many on..cant wait till the world cup :D), and that has helped learning the game as well.

Thanks guys =)

[mak9]

I just dont understand the concept of hitting it with my laces, and it gets really frustrating.

if you are right-footed

lean to your left and shoot the ball with your laces at an ANGLE, like 45 degrees and have your ankles locked

Not locked:

|__

Locked:

|
\

[BenfromUSA]

like someone said earlier, for striking the ball, technique is most important.

just get the mechanics down... find a wall and practice against it (a tennis court net is what i use for shooting practice :D ) , start slow at first and make sure you are doing it properly, if you do that consistently it will be second nature for you to strike the ball with your laces... and the power will come naturally. and make sure you use other surfaces of your foot against the wall as well.

for soccer fitness i like to do interval training where you jog, sprint, jog, sprint etc. just go around a soccer field or a park when you do that.

[servotron]

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166548


Click on that link and look for Astabooty's post where he did all the searching for you. There's links to many many good threads about proper shooting and long-kicking technique.

[Strieder]

Cool, will check that out now.

Thanks

[loden]

there's two ways to shoot with laces;

1-close range technique that comes from literally just swinging your leg and whacking the ball.....
2-long range drive that comes from locking your knee and ankle and shooting by quickly shifting your center of gravity with your hips.

[spejic]

Actually, you can be successful at playing soccer and have great fun doing it without knowing how to shoot at all. You can even be a good goal scorer without knowing how to shoot - I know in my rec league, way more goals are scored on tap-ins, headers, and broken plays than 20-yard strikes. As others have said, the most important things are receiving the ball and passing it, and even if you think you know how to do these now, let me tell you it is a different thing totally when you are in a game and someone is breathing down your neck.

The best way to learn soccer is to play soccer, so when you have the basics of play, positioning, and fitness down you should try to get into games as quickly as possible.

[BenfromUSA]

the guy above me is right, knowing how to strike the ball 'correctly' is only neccessary if your playing at a high level.

[servotron]

spejic, I agree with you to a point, but if you get to any level higher than beginner rec league you're going to get really predictable really quickly. As soon as the opposing defense realizes that you will never shoot from further than 10 yards from goal, your options are all of the sudden going to get very limited.

Part of being an effective player is having options. If your only option is to dribble through, around, or pass it off, your marker is going to play you differently, and probably more effectively taking you out of the game.

Personally I have a hard accurate shot, but more often than not I don't use it unless I have to, because it's worth more to my team to use the shot in conjunction with the element of surprise and utilize passing/vision instead of having the defense know I'm going for the 20 yard volley blast every time I see the ball.

Summary: Effective attacking football all about balance, and in order to acheive balance, you have to know how to shoot effectively.

[spejic]

spejic, I agree with you to a point, but if you get to any level higher than beginner rec league you're going to get really predictable really quickly.If you are a forward, which I don't think the person specified.

[servotron]

If you are a forward, which I don't think the person specified.

True dat. I'm a forward or attacking mid 99% of the time so I just assume everyone else is as well :cool:


The same advice could apply to any player, but instead of "shot" it could be "long clearance" :)