Importance of Soccer Drills

Soccer drills are important in producing a top tiered soccer team. It teach players the proper way to do anything from take a penalty to throw in. You wouldn’t sit down to a party poker match only to find out you’ve got no idea how to go all-in, would you? The same applies here – knowing the rules and knowing the right approach not only saves you time, but stops you from potentially costing your team if you get things wrong.

It is also a great way to keep a team fit, as you’re not only maintaining your skills and knowledge of soccer – you’re also helping keep the entire team fit enough to go into every match at the peak of their physical ability. This is incredibly important – allowing your body to get out of sync with certain activities, whatever position you’re playing in, can damage your ability to perform should you be called on to perform in a role you don’t normally fill.

Of course, you’ll learn and develop while on the pitch, but when it comes to training day, would you rather ensure you’re all at the top of your game, or just play soccer for an hour and go home?

A basic soccer drill is discussed here as to show how it helps in increasing your ability to blast with immense power for the ball in the field.

Soccer Runs Without the Ball

The run is easy to set up and should take 6 seconds or less to do however there is a couple of key points that the participant must be aware of.

• The run must be done at full speed
• The cuts, stops and starts must be made as explosively as possible

The player starts with six cones or markers and places them in this order

Two cones are placed 20 yds apart with a third being placed in the middle some 5 yds outside the line of the first two cones to form a triangle.

The same triangular shape is formed using the other three cones with the two triangles ending up some 5 yds apart and the apex of each triangle 15 yds apart as shown in the diagram.

The runner uses only one triangle at a time.

The run starts with a sprint to the middle cone, a quick cut and sprint to the end cone a stop and turn and another sprint back to the first cone.

After a 30-second recovery period the player executes the same type of run using the second triangle.

After the player completes six runs they should rest for five minutes in order to recover before attempting to do more.

Importance of Nutrition in Soccer

Studies have shown that having a fueling and hydration plan for competition can improve performance. In this article, we’ll explore how proper nutrition can help players meet the physiological demands of soccer, and we’ll lay out the basic and specific guidelines plus suggestions to help you create a nutritional plan that meets your personal needs.

Key concepts

1. Eating a healthy diet daily lays the foundation for an athlete’s training and performance.

2. Nutrition before, during and after exercise has been documented to reduce fatigue, improve performance, prolong endurance, decrease muscle damage and speed recovery.

3. Maintaining proper hydration and electrolyte balance is essential.

The physiological demands of soccer

1. Short, intense bursts of activity are combined with moderately intense exercise (anaerobic and aerobic) and occasional rest periods.

2. Players run an average of 10 kilometers (six miles) per game, with total physical activity ranging from 90 minutes to two hours.

3. Sweat losses (salt loss) may be as much as three liters (100 ounces) in the heat.

4. Strength is also an essential component of soccer performance.

How does nutrition interact with these physiological demands?

Intensity

Due to the prolonged and vigorous nature of the sport, carbohydrates are a soccer player’s main fuel. Good carbohydrate sources include bagels, cereals, beans, rice, pasta, bread, pretzels, fruit, juice, potatoes, beans, whole-wheat bread and tortillas. The body stores carbohydrates in the muscles as glycogen, but these stores are limited and need to be constantly replenished. Small meals and snacks throughout the day can help keep energy levels high. Glycogen depletion can lead to fatigue, both physical and mental, and performance may be compromised as players lose the fuel they need to think and make good decisions on the field. What does this mean? To conserve muscle glycogen and prevent fatigue, have a carbohydrate/sports drink before and during practice sessions and games.

1. Try to eat a well-balanced soccer diet every day.

2. Never miss a breakfast, lunch or dinner. These three are vital for your soccer performance and will be key to how well you will perform on the field. 

3. Sleep well, because your body needs to break down the food and convert it to energy. You should try to sleep at least 7.5 hours per night and not more than 8.5. The ultimate goal is to sleep for 8 hours but you should not panic if you don’t manage to fulfill that.

4. Fast food would not give you quality energy (protein, carbohydrates and fat). Eating too much fast food will make you gain too much weight and you will become slower. However, if you really like fast food try to eat it at maximum once per week.

5. Calcium is important to get strong bones. Good calcium sources are low fat products (less than 3% fat) like milk, yogurt and cheese.

6. Iron is also important as it carries oxygen through your body. Low oxygen means that you will get tired fast. You can find iron in red meat, chicken (without skin) and pork.

7. When playing soccer, you will also need zinc because it forms the building blocks of your body and helps in repairing and growing tissues. Zinc is important especially if you are injured often. You can find zinc in meat and fish.

8. Try to have water as your drink of choice. There is no better drink than water and the best thing is that you don’t have to pay for it :-).

9. Try to choose snacks with low fat and low sugar. However, snacks like peanuts or cashew nuts contain good fat and you should eat these often

10. Eat a lot of fruits because they are the best and healthiest snacks you can find. I try to eat at least 2 apples per day.

For complete nutrition and detailed diet plan, i will suggest it in my later post. But till now, follow these basic things and perform good. You should not have a reason to remain out of your team just because your diet is not proper or not regular. Athletes must eat regularly to perform well. As far as soccer is concerned, you should give keen attention to your diet.

How to Recover after Playing Soccer

Rest and recovery is an essential part of any workout routine. Your after exercise recovery routine has a big impact on your fitness gains and sports performance and allows you to train much more effectively. Unfortunately, most people don't have an after exercise recovery plan.

Why recovery is important
Recovery after exercise is essential to muscle and tissue repair and strength building. This is even more critical after a heavy weight training session. A muscle needs anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to repair and rebuild, and working it again too soon simply leads to tissue breakdown instead of building.

In soccer, a player must be completely fit for the training session and for every match. A player must be completely ready for his/her training session and must be completely recovered from his/her past training session. That is why, every time a player attend a practice session, he/she should be completely ready to participate in the training and perform better, without any muscular pain, soreness or fatigue.

Listen to Your Body for a Faster Recovery
The most important thing you can do to recovery quickly is to listen to your body. If you are feeling tired, sore or notice decreased performance you may need more recovery time or a break from training altogether. If you are feeling strong the day after a hard workout, you don't have to force yourself to go slow. If you pay attention, in most cases, your body will let you know what it needs, when it needs it. The problem for many of us is that we don't listen to those warnings or we dismiss them with our own self talk ("I can't be tired, I didn't run my best yesterday" or "No one else needs two rest days after that workout; they'll think I'm a wimp if I go slow today.").

There are as many methods of recovery as there are athletes. The following are some of the most commonly recommended by the experts.
1. Cool Down.

Cooling down simply means slowing down (not stopping completely) after exercise. Continuing to move around at a very low intensity for 5 to 10 minutes after a workout helps remove lactic acid from your muscles and may reduce muscles stiffness. warming up and cooling down are more helpful in cooler temperatures or when you have another exercise session or an event later the same day.

2. Replace Fluids.

You lose a lot of fluid during exercise and ideally, you should be replacing it during exercise, but filling up after exercise is an easy way to boost your recovery. Water supports every metabolic function and nutrient transfer in the body and having plenty of water will improve every bodily function. Adequate fluid replacement is even more important for endurance athletes who lose large amounts of water during hours of sweating.

3. Eat Properly.

After depleting your energy stores with exercise, you need to refuel if you expect your body to recover, repair tissues, get stronger and be ready for the next challenge. This is even more important if you are performing endurance exercise day after day or trying to build muscle. Ideally, you should try to eat within 60 minutes of the end of your workout and make sure you include some high-quality protein and complex carbohydrate.

4. Stretch.

After a tough workout, consider gentle stretching. This is a simple and fast way to help your muscles recover. 

5. Rest.

Time is one of the best ways to recover (or heal) from just about any illness or injury and this also works after a hard workout. Your body has an amazing capacity to take care of itself if you allow it some time. Resting and waiting after a hard workout allows the repair and recovery process to happen at a natural pace. It's not the only thing you can or should do to promote recovery, but sometimes doing nothing is the easiest thing to do.

6. Perform Active Recovery.

Easy, gentle movement improves circulation which helps promote nutrient and waste product transport throughout the body. In theory, this helps the muscles repair and refuel faster.


7. Have a Massage.

Massage feels good and improves circulation while allowing you to fully relax. You can also try self-massage and Foam Roller Exercises for Easing Tight Muscles and avoid the heavy sports massage price tag.

8. Take an Ice Bath.

Some athletes swear by ice baths, ice massage or contrast water therapy (alternating hot and cold showers) to recover faster, reduce muscle soreness and prevent injury. The theory behind this method is that by repeatedly constricting and dilating blood vessels helps remove (or flush out) waste products in the tissues. Limited research has found some benefits of contrast water therapy at reducing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

How to use contrast water therapy:
While taking your post-exercise shower, alternate 2 minutes of hot water with 30 seconds of cold water. Repeat four times with a minute of moderate temperatures between each hot-cold spray. If you happen to have a spa with hot and cold tubs available, you can take a plunge in each for the same time.

9. Get High Quality Sleep.

While you sleep, amazing things are taking place in your body. Optimal sleep is essential for anyone who exercises regularly. During sleep, your body produces Growth Hormone (GH) which is largely responsible for tissue growth and repair. 10. Avoid Over-training  One simple way to recovery faster is by designing a smart workout routine in the first place. Excessive exercise, heavy training at every session or a lack of rest days will limit your fitness gains from exercise and undermine your recovery efforts.

10. Avoid Over training.

One simple way to recovery faster is by designing a smart workout routine in the first place. Excessive exercise, heavy training at every session or a lack of rest days will limit your fitness gains from exercise and undermine your recovery efforts.

Recovery from Exercise in Soccer

The typical week of a soccer player during the competitive season includes a period for training, a taper, the competitive match and recovery from it. This weekly cycle is often disrupted by an irregular schedule of games, match day being not necessarily the same from one week to another. Players in the top professional clubs may have extra commitments such as cup and other knock-out matches, competing in continental leagues or representing their country in international matches. University players may have fixtures for their institution in mid-week and for their club at weekends. The unrelenting fixture schedule, the hassle and stress of travel increase the risk of experiencing ‘burn-out’ whereby players lose ‘form’ and enter an under-performance spiral. When matches are too frequent, there is insufficient time between them for real training to take place.

   A relentless grind of matches can place enormous strain on players and so they are unlikely to be at their best in all matches. During the Christmas–New Year period of 2005–2006, teams in the English Premier League played four games in eight days so that the season would be completed one week earlier than usual and allow the national team a longer period of preparation for the World Cup. Some national leagues in Europe contain a mid-season intermission; this period offers a respite to those who are in the first team squad. The argument for the break is that it enables players to recover from the first half of the season and its scheduling coincides with the time when climatic conditions in Europe are usually at their worst. The richest clubs in the European leagues tend to have the largest squads, allowing some scope for ‘squad rotation’ and allowing certain players to have an occasional break. In 2004 the lowly fancied Greek team without any individual stars won the European nations championship, defeating teams composed of players from among the top clubs that have arduous schedules towards the end of the domestic League season. The World Cup finals in Korea and Japan took place shortly after the completion of the 2002 domestic league season on the European continent. In a study of factors causing an apparent ‘ under performance’ of teams in this tournament, it was concluded that it was the congestion of fixtures towards the end of the professional League season followed by a short period before mid-season international tournaments that caused some players to under perform in those latter competitions.

   Certain players can now be used sparingly in a game by the coach, with substitutions based on tactical grounds so that key individuals are not exhausted at the end of the match. The rules of play allow three players to be replaced during the game, but the majority are obliged to compete for the full 90-min duration. Rule changes in the 1990s, an increased emphasis on fitness training and on a high work rate have contributed to a high tempo of match-play.The outcome is that competitive engagements take participants to the verge of exhaustion, from which they must recover quickly to be prepared for the next game. When competitive fixtures are congested, the recovery process should be optimized and some of the strategies for doing so are considered in this review.

Ensuring recovery between matches
Playing a competitive soccer game places all of the body’s major organs and systems under some measure of stress. The renal system is spared, blood flow to the kidneys being reduced during exercise and being shunted to serve the more urgent needs of active skeletal muscles and requirements for thermoregulation. The main physiological systems engaged include energy systems (liver and muscle glycogen, free fatty acids and muscle triglycerides), the musculo skeletal system, the cardiovascular, endocrine and nervous systems. Players are often near to exhaustion at the end of a game, being low in glycogen depots in their liver and skeletal muscles. They may also feel mentally drained of their ‘nervous energy’, even though subjective states are often mediated by the outcome of the match. Various factors influence the rate of recovery between games, particularly when matches are scheduled twice in one week.

Methods for hastening the recovery process include warm-down, replacement of fluid lost and restoration of energy levels. Active and passive means of intervention to accelerate the recovery process are also relevant. The immune system can be compromised by competitive stress: whether it is possible to boost the body’s resistance to infection or damage is also briefly addressed.

Advantages of Playing with Both Feet

There is one common trait that almost all successful soccer players share: the ability to play accurately and quickly with both feet.

This one skill can give players a huge advantage because it effectively doubles their opportunities to dribble, pass, receive, and shoot.

It cuts down on the time necessary to execute complicated maneuvers and generally makes a soccer player’s job just a little easier.

Success will be almost impossible without having this vital skill, so working to develop it is bound to pay off. Here are a few areas where being able to use both foot is crucial.

Dribbling
Because you will spend much of your time with the ball moving it around the field, knowing how to dribble with both feet is essential.

It makes it harder for your opponents to tackle and makes your movement more difficult to predict. You can go up against defenders confidently, able to shift the ball from foot to foot without losing control.

Passing and Receiving
If you can only pass and/or receive the ball with your dominant foot, you will constantly have to shift your weight around to accommodate this preference.

This will use up valuable time and also alert your opponents about your plans. Knowing how to pass and receive with either foot alone can improve your game immensely.

This is a skill that can be practice easily; however, it will take you a lot of time to master it completely. One thing you can do is pass the ball with your non-kicking foot to a wall and then receive it with the same foot.

Shooting
If you can only shoot with your dominant foot, you are likely already aware of what a detriment this can be.

Having to shift your feet before shooting can be disastrous to your game. Every time you shoot, the goalie will be aware and waiting to intercept the ball. This is the skill where being able to use both feet will pay off quickest and it’s easy to see why.


Being able to do this with both feet will make you quicker and more accurate, a clear advantage that can place you head and shoulders above the opposing team.

To practice shooting with your weaker foot, simply set up two cones, or even better, use a real goal and start shooting.

You may be shocked at the lack of coordination you have with your weak foot at first, but this will pass with time and hard work.

Focus on using good technique to avoid creating bad habits and don’t let frustration make the process more difficult 

than it needs to be.

Improving your non-kicking foot will require work, but it will be more than worth the effort. A one footed player is slower, less effective, and more predictable.

Keys to Learn Striking a Soccer Ball

A player’s ability to strike the soccer ball is obviously paramount in order to score goals. The areas where players have the most difficult time when learning to strike the soccer ball are…

Approach, locking the ankle and keeping the toe down. The shot a player could be hitting could be a stationary ball; a ball rolling back towards the player, a ball rolling forward or the player could be shooting off the dribble. Players have to be able to hit all the shots. I like to start teaching the kids to hit a dead ball/stationary ball and then we can move into shooting or striking a moving ball. This gives the player a chance to get their technique down.

So the main points that players need to learn when striking the soccer ball?

• Approach
• Body posture
• Plant foot
• Locking the ankle
• Striking through the middle of the ball
• Follow through
• Hitting the target
• Moving balls

1. Approach
Approaching the soccer ball is very important. The players should get all the “little steps” out in the beginning and get into their stride so they are running onto the soccer ball with nice smooth strides.
The player should have a look to see where the target is when approaching the soccer ball. Once the player knows where the target is the player can put his or her head down, approach and shoot.

Why is this important to have an even stride?
• The approach is clean.
• Good stride to meet the soccer ball w/out choppy steps.

We will cover the plant foot more in the next section so the lets stick to getting the stride right. Line up a soccer ball in front of goal, against a wall or with partners. Don’t be concerned about the target right now just the stride!


2. The Plant foot
The player now has a good stride and is meeting the soccer ball balanced and ready to strike. The Plant foot is very important because if the player does not get the foot into the right position the shot will not be good.

The plant foot determines direction. The player must get the plant foot in the right place as this helps the player to get the whole body into the shot. This will improve power!

A plant foot behind or at the wrong angle will cause the shot to have no power or the player will get under the soccer ball, which causes the shot to rise.

The most common mistake that young players make is planting the foot behind the soccer ball or to close to the soccer ball. The plant foot should land next to the soccer ball with a little space – between the foot and the soccer ball. I will tell the players I don’t mind having the foot a little ahead of the soccer ball but not behind the soccer ball.


3. Striking the ball
The challenge when striking the soccer ball is locking the ankle and keeping the toe down.

Technique:
The players must learn how to point the toe down and lock the ankle and strike the ball with the laces or instep. Run your players through instep exercises to help players get the feel for the sweet spot or instep on

the foot, through repetition and practice.
Finally, now that the players have the approach and plant foot down we can
get into striking the soccer ball.

Technique - The player pulls the leg back, locks the ankle and strikes through the middle of the soccer ball. An easy way to help players recognize they are in the right spot is if they look down and they are over the soccer ball. The
analogy I use is the player has a “big eye on their chest.” The eye must look down over the soccer ball when the player is preparing to shoot. This also means the player will shoot using the entire body not just the leg.
The knee on the plant foot should be slightly bent - the shoulders square to the target and the head still and the arms should be out for balance.

Common mistakes:
• The player unlocks the ankle and raises the toe – the coach can tell because the ball will spin – it is not a clean shot.

• The player does not swing the leg back far enough.
• The plant foot is behind the soccer ball.
4. The follow through
The player has just hit the soccer ball so the next step is the follow through.

Technique: What we want the player to do is land on the shooting foot after the shot. This means the player has now gotten the whole body into the shot and followed through the ball.

Common mistake:
• The player will hit the soccer ball and stop the follow through and land on the non-kicking foot failing to get the whole body into the shot. This leads to weak shots…

• The player will reach with the plant foot, which will cause the player to be off balance when they shoot. There will be no follow through here since the player is not leaning forward. This is generally due to approach.

These are some of the areas where coaches can observe and correct the technique and help the player self correct. A big part of coaching is getting players to realize what they did wrong and self correct. The player should beat the coach to the punch in explaining what happened. This is when you know; the player is getting the point.

5. Hitting the target
There are several reasons why players don’t hit the target or the player hits a weak shot.

• Plant foot going in the wrong direction.
• The player does not lock the ankle or hit the sweet spot. The player raises     the toe slightly just prior to shooting.
• Twisting the shoulders or hips, which changes the direction of the soccer ball.
• Getting under the soccer ball and not striking through the soccer ball causing the ball to rise.

A recap for hitting the target with a good shot.


• A quick look at the target followed by a good approach.
• Getting the plant foot down – direction.
• Drawing the leg back and locking the ankle.
• Striking through the middle of the soccer ball.
• Landing on the shooting foot.

6. A good shot

What does good look like?

A good shot has very little spin on the soccer ball and the soccer ball will dip and move. Getting the players to a point where they can hit this shot takes time. As the players grow physically and hone technique this shot will become possible with dead balls, rolling balls, and even volleys out of the air.

Continue to preach the mantra and the players will improve…

• Look at the target.
• Take a nice approach to the soccer ball.
• Get the plant foot down next to the soccer ball.
• The players need to hit the soccer ball with the instep and not the toe – toe down and ankle locked.
• Have a nice follow through so the player gets the body into the shot.
• Land on the shooting foot.

Once the players have the dead ball down they can start hitting a rolling ball.

Physical Capacity of Top Class Soccer Players

Top-class football players are characterized by moderate-to-high maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max), that is 57 to 75 ml kg/min.17 However, due to the intermittent nature of the game, fitness-specific evaluations are more appropriate to accurately describe the physical capacity of the players. In this regard, performance in the yo-yo intermittent recovery (YYIR) test better reflects the ability to perform repeated intense exercise than VO2max per Se. Indeed, YYIR performance is well correlated with the amount of high-intensity running during a match. In addition, YYIR tests provide more sensitive measures of changes in performance in sports of intermittent nature than VO2max: performance in the YYIR test level 2 of Australian football players was 37% better than for the substitutes, whereas no differences were observed in VO2max between starters and nonstarters. World-class players cover approximately 2400 m in the YYIR test level 1 and 1300 m in the YYIR test level which is 10% to 20% higher than moderate professional players. Elite European top-league division players exhibit greater sprint and repeated sprint performances compared with amateur players. For example, higher level players have both faster 6 into 40-m (20 + 20-m sprints with 180° turns separated by 20 s of passive recovery; professional 7.12 s vs. amateur 7.55 s) shuttle sprints, and single 20 + 20-m shuttle sprint (professional 6.88 s vs. amateur 7.08 s) performance than amateur players. The percent decrements during this repeated sprint test was smaller for top-class players compared with moderate professional and amateur players (3.3%, 5.1%, and 6.1%, respectively).

Physiological Adaptation to High-Intensity Training

Based on the contribution of the predominant energy system, high-intensity exercises can be divided into aerobic high-intensity and anaerobic (speed and speed endurance) training, which represents the intensities below, close to, and above VO2max, respectively. This section provides an overview of the major physiological adaptations that occur in response to aerobic high intensity and speed endurance training and their relevance for football. Aerobic high-intensity training elicits increases in cardiovascular parameters such as heart size, blood flow capacity, and artery distensibility. These changes improve the capacity of the cardiovascular system to transport oxygen, resulting in faster muscle and pulmonary VO2 kinetics and higher VO2max.Thus, a greater amount of energy can be supplied aerobically, allowing a player to both sustain intense exercise for longer duration and also recover more rapidly between high-intensity phases of the game.

   Anaerobic training involving speed-endurance drills increases the activity of
some anaerobic enzymes, such as creatine kinase, phosphofructokinase, myokinase, and glycogen phosphorylase. A higher rate of anaerobic energy turnover may improve the ability to produce power rapidly and continuously during short maximal bouts. A period of speed-endurance training increases the number of muscle membrane transport proteins involved in pH regulation, such as Na+/H+ exchange isoform 1 (NHE1) and monocarboxylate transporters (MCT1 and MCT4), and in some cases enhances muscle buffering capacity.31 These changes may reduce the inhibitory effects of H+ within the muscle cell and form part of the explanation for the improved performance during repeated intense exercises that are observed after a period of speed-endurance training. Anaerobic training also increases the expression of the Na+,K+ transport pump, which, by reducing the contraction-induced net loss of K+ from the working muscles, preserves the cell excitability and force development. This sequence of events should improve a player’s ability to sustain very intense exercise for longer duration and perform high-intensity efforts more frequently during the game.

   A large number of other muscular adaptations also occur with high-intensity
training. For example, both aerobic high-intensity and speed-endurance training up-regulate several mitochondrial oxidative proteins and increase the muscle glycogen content—the most important substrate for energy production in football. The overall effect is pronounced changes in muscle metabolism with an increased fat oxidative capacity and reduced glycogenolysis, carbohydrate oxidation, and energy expenditure at a given exercise intensity. These adaptations may be beneficial in football, where an improved capacity to use muscle triglycerides, blood free fatty acids, and glucose as substrates for oxidative metabolism could spare the limited muscle glycogen stores, thus allowing a player to exercise at a higher intensity toward the end of the game.

   Muscle capillarization is also enhanced in response to speed-endurance training.  An enriched capillary network may lead to a shorter diffusion distance between capillaries and muscle fibers, and a larger area available for diffusion. Collectively, the enhanced capillarization may favor the release of compounds from muscle interstitium and delay fatigue development during intense exercise. In support of this contention, a higher capillary density is associated with performance improvements in an approximately 3-min exhaustive bout, and related to muscle force maintenance (during and in recovery period) from short-term intense exercise.

Scoring Goals is all about Confidence

You've attended every practice, made kick after kick and honed your aim to razor-sharp accuracy.

Even so, you just don’t seem to be making the goals. What are you missing? If you are like many other soccer players, your main problem may be confidence.

Although confidence isn't taught in any practice drills, it is a trait that can be of huge use in soccer, especially when it comes to scoring goals.

Nothing in the game of soccer is as nerve wracking as shooting for goals, and it’s easy to see why.

The success of your team in this game may depend on the success of these few crucial seconds. Two full teams of soccer players and often a sizable number of spectators are watching.


Suddenly your past performance doesn't seem to matter; all you can think about is whether the ball will go in. A slight lack in confidence can lead to huge problems here.

There are a few signs that a lack of confidence may be an issue for you. First, do you find yourself over thinking every soccer move as the goal looms nearer?

Do you tend to picture the ball missing or being caught up by the goalkeeper rather than seeing it sail past him?

Do you get physical symptoms, like a stomach ache, excessive sweating, and nervous shaking as you prepare to shoot? If so, you need to work on your confidence.

While there are no practice drills that will give you confidence, there are a few exercises that can help build your mojo:

1. Practice positive visualization

When you are alone, try picturing yourself approaching the goal. See the defenders practically falling out of your way and your teammates cheering as you effortlessly make the score. By doing this often enough and picturing a variety of positive scenarios will counteract the negative thinking that may be plaguing you.

2. Examine your expectation

If you expect that every shot is a future goal, you are going to feel disappointed and let down in every single game. Even the best strikers don’t score even half of the goals they attempt and there is no reason to hold yourself to a higher standard. Learning to accept these disappointments, recover quickly and move on is an essential part of playing the game of soccer.

3. Don’t be intimidated by your opponents

Goalies and other defensive players tend to be large and imposing figures and you are going up against them every game. While they may seem imposing, they are merely soccer players just like you, with a similar level of skill. Intimidation is part of most teams’ defensive strategy, so avoid letting them be so successful in wearing down your confidence.

4. Practice your basic skills

 

Nothing will help your confidence if your skills truly are not up to par. Practice basic skills like dribbling, passing, kicking and you will feel more confident when it comes time to kick.

5. Create a supportive atmosphere on your team

If there is a lot of back biting and criticism on your team, you will have a hard time building your confidence. While you cannot control the actions of others, you can be as encouraging as possible and foster a supportive atmosphere on your team. If you are quick to judge your teammates’ failures, they may be equally critical of you, but if you give them the benefit of the doubt they are likely to repay with similar courtesy.

Conclusion
If confidence is an issue that is keeping you from scoring, you should work on it until you are comfortable.
Confidence will intimidate your opponents, inspire your teammates and ultimately win more scores. Don’t let another game be sabotaged by the power of negative thinking.

Tips for Developing Soccer Skills for Beginners

Soccer is the best sport on the planet. You can play it on your own, with a few friends or as part of a team. The fundamental skills needed can be developed through repetition, observation and visualization. With regular training and practice of a specific movement or technique, the player builds confidence and the skills become natural.

  Over time, players can master a range of soccer skills such as ball control, dribbling, passing, crossing, shooting, heading, volleying, taking throw-ins, penalties, corner kicks and free kicks, tackling, marking, juggling, receiving, shielding, clearing, and goalkeeping.

No matter how young or how new you are to play soccer, its all about passion and thrill. I too was a beginner some day, knowing not even alphabet of soccer, playing was too far then. But as i did, i never gave up. I continuously improve myself by going to pitch, playing wrong, getting dirty too much rather then to play sensibly. But it was only in the beginning, i came no where and became a great mid-fielder to prove my definite position in the team. Here are some tips for those beginners who find it hard to play and leave the game at early stage.

Tips For Developing Soccer Skills

1. Every day practice the fundamentals of soccer. Work on technique on your own. Work on all of the skills mentioned above. Do at least 30 minutes of skill practice per day. Doing little practice often is better than doing a lot of practice all at once. The key to being good at soccer is to work hard on all of the soccer fundamentals. Train your feet. Train your mind. This constant practice and improvement in your ball skills will allow you to progress faster than others.

2. Get to know how the ball feels with your feet. Roll it from side-to-side with the sole of each foot and the inside/outside of each foot. What you want to do is to begin to become very familiar with the ball. Notice what it feels like to move it in different ways with your bare feet and with your soccer boots.

3. Practice with different sized soccer balls. Kicking a mini-ball or a tennis ball will help you to have a much finer level of skill. When you come to play with a match ball it will feel much easier to control because of the skill that you now have with much smaller balls.

4. Kick the ball with your weaker foot many times. Pass the ball against a wall from different distances and with different balls over and over with your weaker foot. In the future, you will be happy that you did this practice over and over. Players who can use both feet effectively are rare and in high demand.

5. Perfect your first touch. This is where we immediately soften, cushion or deaden the ball. What we are aiming to do is to put the ball exactly where we want it with the same touch we use to bring it under control. This gives us the time and space to consider what to do next: pass, dribble or shoot. This takes lots of practice. Over time we will know what to do with the ball before it arrives. Controlling the ball is a fundamental soccer skill for all players. You can’t skip this skill.

6. Develop your ability to pass the ball to the nearest team-mate quickly. Passing is where we are swinging our foot effortlessly through the ball so that it goes in the direction that we intend. During a game, we aim to pass the ball to a teammate who is in a better position than we are. Passing is a fundamental soccer skill for all players. Pass the ball against a wall from different distances and with different balls over and over with both feet. Practice with a friend over short and long distances.

7. Work on running with the ball and dribbling. This is the ability to keep the ball under close control and to change direction. Dribbling is a fundamental soccer skill for all players and is exciting to do and see others do. The basic idea is to move the ball ahead of us in small movements and to fool the defender into thinking we are going one direction, when we really go in a different direction. Defenders will often panic when we run right at them.

8. Work on two or three tricks so that you do them without thinking in a game. There are many tricks and techniques that we can use when running at defenders, such as the step-over, nutmeg, and shoulder drop. The shoulder drop means that we dip the shoulder to one side and go in the opposite direction. There are many Brazilian tricks that you can learn. You can see how to do some of them on YouTube videos.

9. Know how to shoot with both feet. You need to take opportunities when they appear and being able to shoot with your weaker foot will mean that you convert more of these opportunities. Shooting is a fundamental soccer skill for all players. Every player needs to score a goal if they get the chance. Practice against a wall from different distances. Shooting is a balance between power and precision. Beginner soccer players tend to look at the goalkeeper when shooting on goal, which means that they tend to kick the ball straight at the keeper. If you want to get good at scoring goals, the key is to look for the space and keep the shot on target. Look around before collecting a pass, look where the goalkeeper is, look where the goal is and then aim your shot into the space that you see. Simple.

10. Understand the importance of keeping possession of the ball. Don’t give it away needlessly. Your team can’t score goals and win games if you don’t have the ball. This means that you need to know how to shield the ball. Shielding the ball is a fundamental soccer skill for all soccer players. Shielding is where you keep the ball or hold the ball up so you can pass the ball to a teammate or take a shot at goal. The way to do it is to position your body between the opposing player and the ball, or to turn away from pressure and keep the ball away from the other player, or cut back with either foot to protect the ball. Watch how the professional players do it when you watch a televised game. Practice with a friend by playing one-on-one. 11. Start simple when learning to head the ball. Just practice bouncing the ball gently on to your forehead with your hands, and then throw the ball against the wall and head it back on to the wall from different distances. Next have a friend throw the ball to you and head it back to them. Keep your eyes focused on the ball. Heading is a fundamental soccer skill for all players. Heading is good for passing, clearing the ball from danger, controlling scoring, and defending.

12. Understand the importance of gaining possession of the ball. Your team can’t score goals and win games if you don’t have the ball. This means that you need to know how to track, close down your opponent and tackle to get the ball for your team. Tackling and jockeying are fundamental soccer skills for all players. Jockeying means to position yourself in front of the opposing players and wait until they expose or release the ball far enough for you to intercept it. Position yourself so that the opposing players have to keep the ball on their weaker foot (usually the left side) which will make it easier for the tackle. When tackling, don’t dive in with a tackle unless you are absolutely sure that you will get it. Practice with a friend by playing one-on-one.

13. Develop your peripheral vision. This is a part of vision allows you to focus on your entire field of vision instead of focusing on just one spot. It enables you to notice small movements at the edge of your sight and so be more aware of your surroundings and ready to react to things other than those directly in front of you. Peripheral vision can be practiced. The soccer players that regularly see objects in their peripheral vision have improved abilities – they are able to keep control of the ball while looking up for a teammate to pass the ball to. The key to this skill is to not look directly at the ball with your eyes, but instead focus on a defined point in mid-air.

14. Practice soccer skills in your mind. Imagine yourself taking free kicks, scoring goals and beating a defender with a dribbling trick. When we rehearse these skills in our mind, our body learns them. All great athletes and sports people do this skill automatically. Soccer Psychology works. Do this often: 1. Imagine yourself doing the ball skill; 2. Let your body kick the ball as well as it can; 3. See what is happening when you do the ball skill – don’t judge yourself good or bad, just notice what is happening; 4. Repeat the three steps.

15. Increase your speed as far as possible. Speed is important in soccer. Generally, your sprinting speed (10-40 yards) is more important than speed over a longer distances. Practice sprinting over these short distances and make sure you rest between each sprint.

16. Build your strength on the ball as far as possible. This is the ability to shield and control the ball when under pressure. It has to do with skill, positioning and physical strength. Although strength on the ball means more than physical strength, doings weights for 1-2 days per week to develop muscle will help.

17. Eat the right food. Nutrition is vital for your body. After an intense training session or soccer match, eat both carbohydrates and protein within 45 minutes to ensure proper muscle development. Have healthy food ready and nearby, such as a shake with water, protein powder and fruit. Before a game, make sure you eat two to three hours beforehand.

18. Track the progress of your soccer skills development. Look at each of your skills objectively. What are you good at and not so good at? It is vital to know your strengths and weaknesses and to realize that your weaknesses can be turned into strengths with lots of practice. (Use iSoccer.org to help!)

19. Set targets for your performance during training and games. Before a soccer practice, write down some goals you would like to achieve. After the soccer practice, write down your progress on your scorecard. During a game, if you are a striker, aim to have 10 shots on goal and on target, and set up 5 chances for your team-mates. If you are a defender, aim to make 20 tackles.

20. When buying a pair of soccer boots (cleats), make sure that they are comfortable, fit well, especially in the width, and are flexible in all directions, including the sole (the bottom of the boot). There are four different types of football boots: molded studs, screw-in studs, blades and astroturf trainers. You may want more than one pair of soccer cleats for different environments and to take care of them so that they last longer.

21. Do other physical activities for cross training purposes. Cross training means combining different exercises to work various parts of the body. Playing soccer will mean that you only develop certain muscle groups and you want to develop them all. So do other sports and activities, such as take up track to develop speed and take a dance class to develop balance and fancy footwork.

22. Find a good soccer coach to learn from (and join a soccer team that matches your ability). What you are looking for is a coach who knows what he or she is talking about, values individual skill development and can show you how to do the skills.

23. Watch soccer skills DVD’s. (Or find them on YouTube!) Slow the moves down to really see what the player is doing. Copy what you see. Watching and copying other players’ skills can help you improve your technique.

24. Watch live soccer matches on television. Many soccer players find that their skills improve as they watch the professionals play at the highest level. TV viewers who know what it feels like to play the sport will train the awareness and the muscle memory in their minds and bodies. This is because they are unconsciously absorbing the skills through visualization and imagination. Although watching the World Cup is fun, the European Champions league tournament has the highest standard of soccer and is most worth watching.

25. Know the rules of soccer. There are about 17 laws of the game. It is important to know them. Especially the offside rule. You don’t want to make any embarrassing mistakes during a game do you?