Is juggling the absolute best way to improve skills on your own?

Well I don't think juggling is the only way to improve your soccer skills on your own. You can practice free kicks, penalties, corner kicks, crosses, you can work with a wall. No matter that there are no guys around, this is always a good exerience.

 

Using a wall is probably the best way to practice on your own, it really helps with control and one touch. Dribbling on your own through cones or even without them is very beneficial as well. Of course you can also work on shooting on your own.

 

If you have a wall, draw a target/circle on it and shoot for it, and keep practicing at it. That drill was awesome for me. Another thing i did was tie a tire up in the goal, and moved it across the crossbar and tried to get the ball through the tire. great drills that will help you improve aim. Give it a try.


...just my 2 cents...

 

Personally, I would say yes. The first time I ever took juggling seriously was last year when I heard that my school makes you juggle a lot during tryouts. I found that juggling gives you really good balance, quick feet, stamina, coordination, a better touch, better ball control, and drastically improves your in-game focus.

My favorite juggling games:

Juggle one with each foot, then two with each foot, then three...
Ex. "left foot, right foot, left foot x2, right foot x2, left foot x3, etc."

The best way to learn to do a move is to take two juggles and tell yourself you're going to do it on the third. No matter what, always attempt it on your third touch.

Quickly move your foot around the ball while it's in the air, (not around, more like over and back under). Go both around the outside and inside. It's tough, but you'll get it eventually. When you do it consistently learn to do it with your other foot.

Juggle behind you with your heels. (Not as hard as it sounds, but still tricky)

Juggle with wierd parts like your shins, shoulders, your chest, (heels)

Stall the ball everywhere; your foot, your thigh, your back, your forehead, the bridge of your nose, the top of your head, the tip of your toe (where you would "toe-poke"), on your chest. (just below a shoulder)

Juggle with your right foot, move it up to your right thigh, to your head, to left thigh, to left foot, and back up. ( you could throw shoulders in there too.)

Take two touches and on the third pop the ball just over your head, turn 180 degrees and take two touches before poping the ball back over again. Repeat...

That's just a bit. Maybe Ill post more latter.

 

Yes and no. When I' not bogged down by mountains homework or busy going out, I usually practice juggling in my backyard. Juggling has helped me with my touch and ball control but its not the end all be all. Kicking the ball against the wall also helps with touch. Try to work on finishing. The one suggestion one poster made about making a target with a pencil sounds very good and you should try that. If you have a park near you with goals, practice taking shots from outside the 18. Dribbling with cones is also very beneficial

 

This is an awsome post! Every time someone asks what's the use of juggling, it's not used in a game, this should be shown to them. When you learn juggling, often the ball does something unexpected and you have to move very sharply and react very quickly to keep it in the air. I think this is the part that makes your game a whole lot better. When the ball is comes near you, you learn to control it almsost automatically, you react to the ball a lot faster. And you learn to control it with your first touch just as you want it on the ground and in the air...

 

Juggling is really important (people who usually ask 'whats the point of juggling?!' cant usually jugggle themselves!) but its a great way to help you build up confidence on the ball. And its a good way to improve your control. If i a ball is coming out of the air you know that if you control it on your foot a certain way the ball will stop dead and not bounce everything.

I think its important to juggle and once you've mastered it will a bigger ball you should try and use a smaller ball and see how you get on with that. Again the smaller the ball the better your control needs to be!

I do think that other types of practice are important like kicking against an empty wall. But in my opinion juggling is the best way to build up your confidence. But its also a great way to show off - lol

appleCORR

 

The best way to improve skills is to play as much as you can. But when you can't play, juggle and kick against a wall. Having great ball control is a key to being successful. If you have great control, it comes as second nature, so when the ball is coming to you, you won't have to think about controlling it. It will just happen. You can then just worry about what you are going to dp with the ball once you receive it.

 

Apple corr brought up a great point...

Juggling does make you confident in your ball control, but if you can do all of these fancy impressive tricks then that is bound to give you a ton of confidence in everything. And confidence, in my opinion, is definitly the most important mental aspect of the game.

 

try to find a raquetball court if you can and shoot with a futsal ball against the wall. shoot the ball as hard as you can and then try to control the ball with your first touch. its hard at first but if you practice often it becomes easier. this improved my first touch and my shot tremendously. i use a futsal ball b/c it provides a stiffer challenge. a regular size ball is too easy for me.

 

try juggling a tennis ball. when you switch back to a regulation ball, the thing will appear enormous, and juggling it will seem slower and easier.

 

for me, yes. it really does a world of good for u. my coach told me my game went up about 6 or 7 "levels". he asked me what i had been practicing lately, and yes, it was juggling. but its not the only way to improve skills

 

I improved my free-kick skills by kicking a football and I improved by ball handling skills by playing with a tennis ball over the past 3 years, infact I am probably better with a tennis ball now than a soccer ball.

 

I would say juggling and find a hand ball court wall to use. Both are good. You can do a lot of things using both individually and together.