doing rainbows and long thrown in help PLEASE!

Can't help with throw-ins, but here's the rainbow technique:

Pull the ball with the inside of one foot onto the back of the other foot, either on the heel or just to the outside of it. Then flick it up with the foot that you just pulled the ball onto, guiding it a little bit with your other foot (you'll have to take a bit of a hop off it). If you do it correctly, the ball should go forward over one of your shoulders.

 

When doing the rainbow kick, lean forward. While running it is actually not that easy. Just step over it and let it roll up and bit then do the rainbow motion where you pull it up the side of one leg and heel it over your head. Lean forward!!

 

Raninbow---- use your stronger kicking foot to roll the ball up teh back of your leg and then hit it w/your opposite heel and it should go over your head doing it while running takes practice just get it down standing still then try the runner.

 

long throws

Throw in distance isn't so much about arm strength or chest strength, which is why the amount you bench isn't a very good indicator. The effective long throw mostly uses the muscles in your back and stomach, and the rest (the really big part) depends on technique.

As for technique, you want to be leaning back and then snapping at the waist - much like a strong header - so that you are not just using your arms, but your entire body. Once you coordinate the timing of your arms with the snapping at the waist, you should add some distance. Then, you need to practice some to get a good feel for where you need to release the ball in order to get the best distance. Too early and it will go to high, costing you distance. Too late and it goes to low. But, again, focus on the stomach and back - lots of situps. You can also add some momentum in your approach, but it's pretty nominal in my opinion. You should be able to throw at your max distance with only a step or two, so avoid long pre-throw runs.

If you're interesed in other weight training for it, consider using a heavy, medicine type ball. You don't want it too heavy so that it messes up you're form, but you should be able to add 5-10 yards in short order by throwing such a ball 10-20 times every day. When I was 12, I took an old soccer ball, cut it open, stuffed it with socks, and then taped it shut. This worked great for me.

Lastly, this may be a a situation where you have to accept that this just isn't going to be your strength. Some bodies are built differently than others. Is your friend lanky and/or have long arms? Don't get hung up on this. It's a pretty small part of the game. I had a long throw, so I took most of them for my teams, but I would just as soon preferred to be in the middle of the goal trying to finish these opportunities.

 

Like with everything else if you want to improve your throw-in you have to practice it a lot. Take a ball after practice and thow it into the goal (so you don't have to run after it. Swing your whole upper body not just your arms. As you improve go farther from the goal to see how long you can throw it. I bet if you do it 20 times after every practice, you'll soon be satisfied with your throw!

 

Don't count out the benefit of lanky arms though! Just imagine that your body is a whip with the ball at the very tip. Think about how a whip movement works, with the tip first being swung back from the base and then quickly snapped forward. You want to release the ball at the very top of the arc your arms make for maximum distance.

As with a whip, the longer your body the larger the initial pullback required to get a really strong snap. It is easier for shorter fellas to make a great throw-in because they don't require as much control in the pull-back and snap forward. However, a taller player doesn't have to worry about the quickness of the snap nearly as much as a short player to get the same distance.

With practice in making one slow motion in the pull back, then rippling that wave up to the top of your arms very quickly, you should be able to launch that ball quite a bit farther than any shorter player would ever hope to achieve.

 

have you considered the flip throw? if you can do a front handspring you should be able to throw the ball anywhere from 40-60 yds depending on release.

learn to do a handspring before you try it with a ball or you might hurt yurself.

 

Re: Re: doing rainbows and long thrown in help PLEASE!

this is flashy, and fun for showing off, but i question it's value for most players. as noted, you can hurt yourself, and it is not easy to do at all, let alone to master to the point that you'd want to do it in a game. if successful, it accomplishes what i was talking about in my earlier post of getting your entire body into the throw. you end up using the speed of your handspring to throw the ball. BUT, for the most part, you end up throwing the ball in blind (as the moment before the throw you are upside down facing away from the field). i have a long throw anyway so it made this decision easy for me, but i'd rather be facing the field and looking at my teammates and opponents even if it cost me 10-20 yards on my throw. again, if you're going to try this, please be careful.

 

for your throw-ins you also use your triceps alot so if you like lifting you might want to focus specifically on this area.

also on the rainbows....i can't ever get them to go over my head either(at least not on purpose) so i learned how to throw them around the side of me, it works alot better for me. it's good for juggling too