one thing that really helped me when i played forward was when i played in a coed league for school. my team was horrible, i was a 13 yr old girl, and me and my sisters had the most experience playing. we had to learn to play against guys who were 3x our size and watching my sisters play now, i can say that playing in that league helped them so much. my advice is to play with people your ability against people better than you. you will learn a lot in a very short time!
you must play no matter what I'm in canada and my rep team doesn't have an indoor season, all i do is play once a week in a houseleague invironment so u know wut i do?? I go to my basement, juggle the ball 2k times a day, dribble around poles for 20 minutes, and pass the ball agains the wall 5 thousand times. All of this in 1 practice session I have 2-3 practice sessions a day, with 1 day off. Another tip is when you walk around the house, always have the ball at ur feet, even when your watching tv u should roll the ball back and forward
I second American40's advice of watching when not playing. You don't necessary have to watch classic player highlight films. Watch the WC, Champs League, the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, and other high quality matches. Then analyze them. Find out why players do what they do on the field. Watch their techniques and tactics. Tape the games on VCR and use slow-mo to study their techniques. Then you just go out there and just do it on the field. Practice practice practice. With persistence and determination, you'll be a pro in no time. Good luck!
Definately watch modern games more than classics. Football has advanced hugely. Today's average team could beat past's top team easily I believe. When you look at some of the classic best goals, you see a defender simply jogging behind the attacker who will eventually score - that would never happen today. So my advice - watch the top games of today not the classics.
wow, never knew that this thread would get this many responses. Thanks, i'm lightyears better skilled than I was when I wrote this thread. To whoever is still around BS and contributed to this thread. Thank you. Since this thread, I've recieved a letter from a college in Upstate New York (since I did very well in high school) showing their interest. Next fall i'll be attending and playing for that school. (hopefully) As for playing with kids younger than myself. I never followed through with that advice. Being that my high school doesn't have a JV team meaning everyone from Frosh to Senior is on Varsity, I felt like i'm was getting to play with guys that are my skill level and below. Playing against kids wouldn't have benefitted me at all. Being about 6'2" 180-190 now, it would've been totally ackward. Last thing, I've recently read about one of my favorite players, Diego Tristan of Deportivo La Coruna. Til this favorite day i'm encouraged by the fact that he didn't start playing football until he was only 17. Now I want to perhaps strive for greater things. That's right......Professional football after College or whenever. Just think. Two years ago, my goal was to start for my high school soccer team with limited experience. Did that. The next season, Being named Captain in my senior year. Actually scoring 7 goals. Had I played an attacking position.....I would've scored more. My path will never stop. Thanks to everyone that gave the great advise and even to the ones that gave bad advise. It's all good now and soon i'll be out tha hood now.......
Practice with a friend if possible. Work on aerial trapping, volley shooting/clearing, and heading. Those are some of the things you just can't practice properly by yourself (I know, because I dont have anyone to practice with!) If you have a goal to shoot at, (especially if it has a fence behind it) shoot like hell until you can keep a hard shot low and aimed on demand. I am not trying to get into college or the pros or anything (I'm 28, probably a little late to start) but due to my extensive practicing I've become a dangerous player up front again. My training aid is that I have 8 soccer balls that I keep in the car with me, and whenever I see a place to practice (and I have the time) I go for it! Having 8 shots beats "shoot, run, shoot, run, shoot, run"... at least in the skills area. It was good for stamina
Not just during training, but all the time. I keep a small ball, hackey sack or whatever around the house and try to keep it at my feet when I go from room to room, or just sitting watching TV, reading, whatever. Been doing it for about 35 years. My wife is very tolerant
I cannot express my gratitude enough to everyone that replied. From this point in my development on out, I promise not to disappoint anyone that took time out of their day to reply to my thread with helpful advice. The dream still lives on for me to play professional football someday. I would like to especially thank some of the older players/coaches that have replied, their wisdom was definitely needed. One more thing, I'm also looking into helping taking JoeW's advice of helping out a young recreational team in my area to heh perhaps give them the run around. LOL. These days i'm just playing in local pick up games against my buds from around the way. We're thinking of starting our own part-time club team. Again, thanks to everyone that gave their advice. I appreciate it.