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Improve Your Moves - Skills & Drills
If you’ve learned anything on this site, it’s that your success as a soccer player depends on much more than how well you can kick the ball. The fate of the game rests on strategy, teamwork, and decision-making. That being said, there are several skills and techniques that’s you’ll want to have developed, if not perfected, so that you can tap into them when you need to.
Here's a few quick moves and skills by some of the game's greatest players. But don't forget to visit our soccer drills directory.
Below, take a look at some classic moves and fundamentals of the game.
Shoulder Feints
Dip the shoulder to one side and go in the opposite direction. Step into the direction you are faking with your shoulder and take off with the ball in the other direction, almost with a spinning motion. It's a shoulder fake to the right, then you dribble off or turn with the ball to the left . Do the reverse to go the other way: Fake to the left (lean) and dribble off by turning to the right.
If you're backs to the defender, you can also fake with your shoulder. Before turning, when you have a defender on your back, throw in a feint as if you are going to go in one direction, when you really intend to go the other way. Feint to the side by dipping your shoulder.
As a midfielder, however, you might want to have your body half turned already, and open to the field. This turn coupled with the fake with your shoulder is useful if you are marked tightly and coming back to the ball with a defender right on top of you and need to spin away. Perhaps better for a forward or winger coming back to the ball.
Spinning with the Inside of the Foot
Use the inside of your foot to spin around with the ball. Use the inside of your foot for control and pull the ball around to open up into the new direction you want to go in. That way, you are immediately open to the entire field and can make a pass with the inside of your foot on your next step. Watch someone like Xavi for Barcelona, who's an expert at this inside of the foot turn.
Checking Back to Receive the Ball
There's an art to checking back to receive the ball. It's subtle but it's an art. The best players make it look like nothing, but the truth is it is something they have perfected after years of playing. Part of checking back to the ball is finding space. The best players create their own space but dragging the defender who's marking them away from the space they want to check into. It could just be a little five-yard jog away from where they want the ball. And then darting back to receive the ball.
The Dummy Turn
If the ball is played at the right pace and you think the defender is too close to you, you can let the ball run through your legs and turn and beat your opponent to the ball. Also, if you know your teammate is behind you and open, you can let the ball run through your legs and go through to your teammate, and they then can play the ball to back to you - much like a give and go.
This is very effective for forwards to learn. The ball can be played to the forward who's checking back, who lets it run through his or her legs or just lets the ball go by them and quickly turns to get the ball back from the deeper forward who is posting up.
When the two forwards are lined up, one should always be closer to the midfield. The forwards should try to work in tandem and stay ten or fifteen yards from one another, one stretching the defense the other closer to the midfield. The forwards can rotate and switch these positions through the course of the game, but often the taller forward posts up high to win head balls, while the other forward tries to win the knock downs or anticipate a flick (off of a goal kick or punt, for instance).
Forwards can also clip the ball into the other forward’s path and work a give and go. Instead of a dummy and letting the ball go past them completely, they can get a touch on the ball or flick the ball on to the forward, using the pace of the ball to spin the ball into the other forward, perhaps around a defender. Watch how this is done by Juventus and Trezeguet, he does the dummy run and then turns to receive the ball perfectly.
Communicate
Listen to your teammates, especially if they say turn or time or man on – take their advice. They can make things a lot easier for you. It’s really important to communicate on the field and let your teammates know when they have time or when there is pressure coming. It’s a good habit to get into. If you play the ball pass along a message. Give your teammate some direction, as in – man on, you’ve got time, go at them, get stuck in, push up, and so forth.
And ask for the ball. This might seem like a simple common sense thing, but many players don't call for or ask for the ball, so they don't get as much. If you ask for the ball and show you want to play, you're more apt to get the ball. So, seek the ball out and call for it. Try to get into the game and don't end up on the edges of the game, not touching the ball for long stretches.
Learn more at Strategy, Patterns, Crossing, and Juggling
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