Left Foot?

To get good with your weak foot you must make up for lost time and lost touches. That's right, how do you think you got so good with your right? By touching the ball in passing, dribbling, shoooting and juggling situations over and over and over. You must do the same now with your left, and I have a system that worked not just for me, but also for the kids that I coach.

*Edit* I just realized after posting that you have no idea whether you are getting credible advice here or not. I played two years of college ball then six years of semi-pro and had a successful tryout with an a-league team. I now coach for a living and am the technical trainer for teams from two of the three major travel programs in my area. No horn blowing I swear, just want to let you know that I know what I'm talking about. Also of note, I am myself a right footed player, but I played most of my six years of semi-pro at outside left, and was generally thought by most of my opponents to be left footed until I would cut inside and score with my right. Damarcus Beasly is a friend of mine, and we laugh at our comparable stories because he is also a naturally right footed player who taught himself to excel with his left to the point where everyone assumes he's a lefty.

First you must start simple, and not go out trying to learn how to hit a 30 yard laser into the upper 90 of your choice. Start with these simple exercises, and do them at a two to one ratio - left foot two, right foot one - as much as possible. Do one or two of these everyday if possible, ten minutes will do if nothing else.

1. Find a rebound wall that you can bang against without pissing off your parents or drawing the attention of the police. Strike the ball two touch, one touch to control, the other to pass, from about 7 big steps away. Work both the inside curve and the laces in equal amounts. Remember that body position when you strike any ball is key - lean over the ball as you strike, and follow through. After 100 passes or so, switch to one touch and try to keep the ball alive as long as possible using your right only occasionally - remember your body position and don't lean back.

2. Juggling - juggle with both feet but force yourself to use that two to one ratio I mentioned above. Try to strike the ball with no spin. This can be accomplished by hitting out of the air when it is a little higher off the ground - somewhere between knee and waist height. This will teach you balance and proper striking posture and how to lock your ankle. Don't lean back, and curl the toes of your striking foot under to lock the ankle firmly in place. These are skills you will have to have once you practice shooting on goal. Count your total touches and try to reach a minimum of 1000 touches before you quit - not 1000 in a row, just 1000 total. The measure of your success will of course be how many touches you can keep it up for, but don't quit on the 1000 touches until they are done..... again it's repetition and muscle memory we are looking for.

3. Free Kick practice - finally you get to shoot on goal. Get as many balls as possible for this one because you want to spend as little time as possible chasing the ball. Don't use a partner as you will need to be concentrating on only the ball and what you are doing. Start on your strong side, for righties this is the left side of goal. Spread the balls out all over the area just outside of the box. Your first target is to hit the center of the goal, finish all the balls and then reset them on the other side to finish with the left - same target. Take your time and go slowly - there is no need to kill the ball yet. Finish that set and go back to the right, now your target is to hit side netting inside the back post. When done, switch to the left foot and repeat with same back post, side netting target. Last set, go back to the right and now aim for the near post, trying to squeeze the ball inside of it as closely as possible - of course you want to then repeat with the left foot from the other side. Ultimately what you want is to hit 60 balls with each foot. That is 20 repetitions at each target, with each foot. Always start with your strong foot and shoot naturally, then when you repeat with the left, you can slow down and try to mimic everything you did with your right.

The next exercise is to repeat the same instructions as above, but with a moving ball. Simply touch the ball forward once and strike as you would in a game.

The last piece of advice i'll give you here is to make the angle of your runnup to the ball much bigger on your weak foot than on your strong. If you approach the ball normally at a 45 degree angle with your right, you are going to have more success initially taking one more step sideways - not back - with your left footed strikes. Don't ask me why, it just works.

Also remember that your plant foot, the one not striking the ball, is very important. It must land next to the ball - not too far behind it or the ball will fly over the goal - and it must be pointed where the ball is to go.

You are likely to have a lot of hook on the ball when you start, just remember to bend the knee of that standing leg. The hook comes largely from standing too straight on that leg when you hit it.

Good luck

 

When you are warming up or just standing around passing use only your left foot. Its all about muscle memory. Repetition is the key.

 

Goyourdevils: First of all I can't believe DMB is a natural righty...
Also, thank you for all the great training advice. That all sounds very helpful. Much like what the first poster's problems were, my right foot(bad foot) is not consistent and I am not very comfortable using it in games. I have been practicing only my right foot the last year and a half, without much progress. The 2 to 1 ratio idea seems to make a lot of sense. Thanks again

 

ok, this is great advice given by goyoureddevils. Another thing is, when you start out, do not try to kill the ball, just strike it calmy high off the laces of your left foot. Do you watch golf? Because if you do, you would notice that Tiger Woods only uses 80% of his driving power, this is why he can drive with accuracy while keeping most of his power. Once your plant foot is about 6 inches away from the ball, while parrallel to your plant foot, you have good foundation. Once you have good foundation, the rest becomes simple because it flows naturally. Oh, btw, I happen to know a retired belgian league defender, and he used his left foot sooo much, he could not use his right anymore unless he was forced, his muscle memory allowed him to almost change what his dominant foot is with a lot of practice. So, i encourage you to do the same.