Hello. Does anyone have any tricks to timing the ball and getting ready for unpredictable bounces as you are about to receive a cross. In games, pretty much every chance that i get in a game comes from a one time shot either from a long cross or from a quick pass with a guy on me. I have realized that i really suck at connecting with these types of shots. When it is not moving, or rolling forward i have such good accuracy, but if it is coming sideways towards me or sometimes back towards me, my accuracy goes totally haywire. My timing on these shots absolutely sucks. I was wondering how you guys practice timing your one timers and finish crosses. What I am mostly looking for is practices that I can do alone. If anyone has any tips or drills or especially practices that i can do alone, to help me with this skill, they would be greatly appreciated. Also, I need to learn to head the ball properly in the same types of situations. Any help with either of these skills would help a lot. Thank you guys in advance.
Best thing you can do is call up a friend and ask him/her to go practice with you. And then practice so that one hits a cross and the other one is near goal and tries to head or kick it in the goal. I've done this with my friends and it's really fun. Then switch sides - so both of you can practice crossing and finishing. I can't imagine how you could practise those things on your own. Apart from heading which you can do by bouncing the ball from a wall and heading it sharply back at the wall. Really try to find someone to come to you on the field - you might be surprised who may be willing to train with you if you ask, like I was with a friend of mine! I asked him and I had one of the funnest evenings of the summer - we laughed ourselves to tears - mostly due to my friend slamming the ball over the goal from 1 meter!
And some tips on the correct technique: When heading in "game type situations" always try to use the forhead (sharpness and no pain). And don't just hit with your head - swing and snap your whole body like a bow. And when heading in an angle (to score from a cross), turn the head sharply at the point of contact. First practice putting power behind the ball with your body movement while standing and then try to do the same in the air, which is 10 times more difficult. Again it's good to have a friend to throw you the ball. Try different setups - from a closer range your friend throws the ball and you try to head it as strong as you can at him or from a further distance lob the ball towards him while jumping. To kick a ball coming from the side you need perfect timing. It's comes only with practice, once you have it, you will feel and know when and how you have to hit the ball. The most common mistake is that a player doesn't adjust his kick to the ball's movement. When a ball is coming from a cross on the right and you want to score, beginners would hit the ball sraight and the ball would go wildly off the mark to the left because the ball was going that way in the first place. In a sense you have to kick it a little bit to the right if you want it to go straight because the inertia is driving the ball to the left. the same thing with headers. Try to keep that in mind next time you take a kick like that, maybe it'll help. You must always know how the ball is going to bounce of your foot when it bouncing stangly or has swerve. When you kick it concentrate really hard on trying to aim the ball where you want it to go not just hitting it with max power. Somtimes you just need to put your foot in the right place at the right angle and the ball with bounce in the goal! Like today at practice I scored from a low cross by touching the ball slightly with the inside of my foot so that the direction of flight changed just by a few degrees and that was enough to put the ball in the side netting in the far side of the goal.
After a long warmup and stretch. Use a handball court wall, and keep one timeing the ball into a target area. Side volley hit the top of the ball to keep it ftom going over the target. Keep moving your feet and start your motion earlier then you think otherwise the ball will hand cuff you. Have a nice level leg swing into the ball. So your hitting area is bigger. Get it with your shin if not your foot. Turn your hip into the shot. Do hip flexers to get more flexibility which means eventually you can side volley head high shots. That will also make your side motion faster. Work using both legs on side volleys. You can side volley bouching balls or you can half volley. On half volleys try to get the bounce as it touches the ground. The ball will go flying of your laces if you get it as it touches the ground. That is a wicked shot because it dips so it won't go over goal. you have to be very close to the ball on this shot. Actually, headers are easier then volleys because your eye's are closer to the ball then your leg. A lot of German coaches want the player to head everything. So they work on diving heads and so should you. Momentum of the dive gives the shot power. You need a server on a grass to practice those. Most important about heading is protecting you space to head with your elbows and forearm, plus you need balls. Because you can't make every header with your forehead. Sometimes you have to stick your head in a mess of bodies and get it with your ear. Richie
when hitting a one time ball, there's no need to absolutely murder the ball, and simple side foot will work... keep your eye on the ball, and stay on your toes so you can adjust to the ball. but i must emphasis keeping ur eyes on the ball, how are ur feet gonna know where to go if ur not folowing the ball?
hip flexor is like a tendon/ligament that runs over your hips. To stretch you put one foot forward, and sort of lunge. Try to put your knee from the leg that's behind closest to the ground as possible (but don't touch it to the ground). Hold for 15 secs... and then switch. do it 3 times
this is very solid advice. placement is generally far more important than power in this type of situation, and easing up should give you a little more ability to adjust to any bad bounces. good luck.
Things 2 players can do to help flexability Hips - A player lays on his back, bends one leg over the other leg and tries to touch the ground. B player presses against the bent knee and the shoulder opposite the location of the knee. For instance, the right shoulder and the right knee are pressed. A tries to turn the hips back. Adductors - A player lays on his back, puts his legs straight up in the air and spreads his legs. B player presses the legs wider, generally just below the knee. A player tries to squeeze the legs together
One timers- YEah, ok, so some timing is involved, but you need to attack the ball and lean over it on contact. If you're leaning back even a little bit, the ball will pop up and you can miss the goal even if your standing 2 yards away(I've seen it happen, teammate popped it over the bar). If you're running at the ball and lean over it, it'll stay down and be fairly accurate. Heading a cross is a lot more timing, try and hit it with the side of the forehead for the most power and accuracy. Like Greenday stated, snap your body.