Drills Drills Drills!

[HolyG]

I'm trying to become a better soccer player, by increasing my ability in all 4 areas of the game (passing, shooting, dribbling, recieving)

I've created a workout plan in which I will focus on 2 of these per day. So I'll work upon an area every other day. I'll give each area at least half an hour of time when I train on it.

Anyone know any good drills to run in each area?
Thanks.

[rca2]

Here is what I did to sharpen my ball skills. The idea was to get lots of touches.

1. A bit of juggling. All parts of the body. Left and right.
2. Pass to a wall and collect the rebound. Repeat. You can aim at different spots on the wall for accuracy (targets left foot, right foot, chest, head).
3. Dribble around a field. Change direction. Change speed. Stop. Start. Make turns. Simple ones and fancy ones. Reverse direction. Practice feints. Stepovers. Left and right. You can place some cones around for defenders. Take on a cone and make a move. Or use the cones to practice keeping the ball on the foot away from the nearest defender. Remember variety is good.
4. Kick the ball up into the air and collect it with a foot or thigh when it comes down. I got so that I could kick it 20+ feet straight up and collect it when it came down. Left and right.
5. On a field with a goal and net--practice shots. It helps to have more than one ball. Left and Right. First stationary. Bending right. Bending left. Chips. Knucklers. Both posts. High and low. Then moving balls, all directions. Then I would stand with my back to the goal and toss the ball behind me, turn and close with the ball as fast as possible and one touch it in the goal. This gives you practice with bouncing balls. You can toss the ball in front of you while facing the goal, but I found it too predictable.

Fitness is something you can work on individually which also can improve your play too. Especially if you are playing competitively.

It goes without saying that having someone to practice with is much better than solo (you can go 1v1 and get much better passing and collecting training), but then working on your own is much better than doing nothing while waiting for a chance to practice with someone else.

PS: Mia Hamm has a great book. Very inspirational.

[HolyG]

Heh, thanks.

This is turning out harder than I thought. I'm still having trouble crossing the ball well and shooting well. But give it time!

[rca2]

Heh, thanks.

This is turning out harder than I thought. I'm still having trouble crossing the ball well and shooting well. But give it time!

Don't get discouraged. Everyone has that problem. On average there are 10 shots for every goal. I am 55 and still having trouble crossing the ball and shooting. Until I'm dead, there will always be room for improvement. When we see a world class player perform, we are seeing the end product of years of hard work. The secret to being a champion is not that champions never fail; they fail more than everyone else. Its just that champions never quit trying to improve. Sure some people are gifted with natural talent, but its hard work that makes champions. That was the message that I got from Mia Hamm's book.