Soccer Training Information

A Few Quick Tips

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Communicate. When you move into the professional level it becomes even more important to communicate on the field. Simple directions or alerts, such as 'man on' and 'turn' or 'you have time' can make playing so much easier and become more important as the game speeds up at higher levels. Give it and get the ball. Also, you need to be prepared to receive the ball at all times, and you need to want the ball. This kind of energy, wanting to always be involved in the play puts the other team that much more on their heels. So, it is just playing simply, get the ball and play it, and ideally always looking to go forward. Try to attack the space when you have time and possession of the ball. See if you can draw a defender in and then release the ball just when they think they have you. Shielding. A simple and great exercise is to dribble in a small square and have an opponent try to take the ball from you. Use your body to shield the ball from the defender. Always keep your body between you and the defender. Tell your friend or the person who is acting as the defender to fight for the ball with a game like intensity, pushing you and playing so hard they are almost fouling you. When you can, carry the ball into the open space - all the while shielding the ball from the defender. Carrying the ball with the inside of your foot, this is the where you will get the most control, kind of dragging the ball along as the defender pushes against you. Make sure to bend your knees and have a strong sense about you that this person is not going to get the ball from you. Then, try to work on cutting the ball back and forth. Practice using all parts of both feet. Shielding the ball for a few yards with the inside of your right foot and playing it to your left and carrying it in the other direction. Next, you can use the sole of your foot to turn or switch directions. Try to use all the different surfaces of your foot without letting the defender get a touch on the ball. Switch Play. Keep the ball swinging from one side to the other to find the best ratio of numbers and the most space. The Quick Switch. Dribble to the right with your right foot and then swing a ball to the left, almost a blind pass. Same for the left, dribble to the left side of the field and swing a ball back to the right. The defender on the other side will not expect the pass, although you have to make sure that your teammate reads the play of course and is prepared for this kind of pass. Hopefully you will catch the opposing team sleeping. You are essentially selling the fact that your going to the side your dribbling towards when in fact your cut the swing the ball over to the opposite side. Get the cross in. As a rule almost, when you have a chance swing in the cross. Do this the next two or three times, and then the fourth time or when you see the opportunity, you can take that player on the dribble, beating him down the line and cut the ball back to a teammate. Cheat. The way you cheat is by playing with better and older players. Try to find the best game possible near where you live when you are training. To become a great player you should push yourself and there is no better way to do this than to play with older players. You can pick up all of their tricks; skills that they have learned over the years. This kind of mentoring process is a huge part of improving your game and often you won't even realize what subtle skills you'll pick up, just by watching and playing with better and more experienced players. So challenge yourself simply by playing with older players when you can. Slow down. Essentially this is making the easy pass to the open player. If there is an open player play them the ball. Then when they get closed down they play the ball back to you. It's like a huge game of keep away.

As a young player one of the difficult things to learn is patience. This means things like letting the ball do the work and one and two touch play. Each time you make a pass the angle chances and new things open up on the field. As a pro or college player you won't have time to dribble or think out there. Try to know what you are going to do with the ball before you get it. Eventually, playing simple soccer will become automatic when you are involved in the rhythm of the game, wanting and always asking for the ball trying to find the player in the most advantageous position. Two or three short simple passes can lead to someone who is open and in position to make that goal scoring pass.

You will also need to use your body to shield the ball, play simple give and goes with your teammates to get out of pressure, and always be aware of where you can move or how you can position yourself to help out your teammates. Using your body means dribbling with left when there is a defender on your right and dribbling and shielding the ball with your right foot when there is a defender on your on your left. It is kind of hold this for a second while I get open or in a better position where I will have more time and can see the field better. This is one of the greatest aspects of the game of soccer, where you work with your teammates to ping the ball around people and through the other team, and they can't even get a touch on the ball before you score a goal. Control. Thigh: Top of your thigh used to deaden the ball, used when the ball is hit high in the air. Try to push yourself by hitting the ball to the side when controlling the ball, as if a defender is trying to get the ball or even make a quick pass with your thigh when a ball is played to you in the air. Chest: Upper chest region to deaden the ball, it is good to control the ball to the side to steer the ball from a defender or up and out in front of you if you have space so you can make the next pass immediately. Head: At times used to control the ball to yourself, bringing your head to the ball to deaden it. Inside of the foot: Most common surface used to control the ball, large surface area. Outside of the foot: Often used when coming back to receive a ball so as to have your body between you and the defender. Controlling the ball to the side. Once again you want to make use of your body to protect the ball when receiving a pass from a teammate. Turn your body to the side, so your hips are not open to the person who is playing you the ball but to which every side you want to ball. Turn to the right if you are going to control the ball and make a pass with your right foot and the opposite for your left. This way your body is between you and the defender. Although be conscious of controlling the ball a little bit in front of you so you can make a pass or take a shot with your next step, again this is knowing what you want to do with the ball before you receive it and comes with more experience. Control the ball out in front of you. Play the ball out in front of yourself, still using your body to protect the ball, although making use of the space given to you. When you have space or when there is space, you can play the ball ahead of yourself to a degree so you can get your head up and make a play with your next few steps. This is controlling the ball into the open space. If your a defender and you receive a pass with loads of time and open space in front of you, say just after someone has switch the ball from the other side of the field you can control the ball five or six yards out in front of you so you are ready to attack the space and make your next pass. By doing this you can get your head up and see the entire field. Again, whether you control the ball to the right or to the left or straight ahead if you have time and space, playing the ball a few feet in front of you allows you a chance to play the ball quickly since your next step can be a pass or a shoot or a cut to elude a defender, and then ball is not tangled up in your feet, keep the ball out of your feet when receiving or controlling a pass. When you control the ball too close to your body you will have to take another touch to set yourself up to make a pass. This extra touch gives the defense another chance to adjust and close you down and you will miss out on a teammate making a run since you are busy still trying to control the ball. The Half Turn. When you are in the midfield you should position your body so you can connect with the forwards. You can accomplish this by not having your back to the forwards, that is usually their role, midfielders should try to be half-turned and facing one of the sidelines. This way you can view both the back line, if they are trying to make a pass to you, and the forwards to see where they are making a run. When you play on the wing or in a position along the touchline you should open yourself to the field - always in a position to see the whole field and receive the ball. Again instead of having your back facing the forwards you can turn your shoulder towards the outside touchline and this way you are open to the field. Movements: Forwards One forward should sit closer to the midfielders while the other tries to stretch the defense (almost standing next to the last player on the other team, usually the sweeper). With this alignment, the first forward can check back to the ball and then cut inside if he doesn't receive the ball. The player with the ball, let's say the right back can then play the ball inside to the first forward or to the forward who is posting up deeper into their opponents area. The post up forward can either try to receive the ball while he or she posts up or check towards the ball after the other forward makes the initial run back to the ball. The first forward then takes up the deeper position. So it is this kind of checking in and out and exchanging positions. The two forwards are aligned in a pair at the center of the field and the closest forward checks back to the ball at an angle, to the right or left, if he or she is marked then they can cut into the middle to receive the ball. So it is really two runs, checking back to the ball, and then if that isn't on, making a run back into the middle. Meanwhile the other, posting up forward, can check back to the ball. Midfielders. With quick check back runs towards the ball midfielders can get open. These can be five or ten yard runs back to the ball, to the side or into the attack. It could even just be bringing your marker into an area where you don't want the ball so you can run into the space where you want the ball. Walking away a few yards away and then darting back to the ball. Back Door Cuts. If your defender is too tight you can simply fake like your checking back to receive the ball and then make a run towards the attack. Checking back to the ball, seeing the defender is too close, inviting them to mark you too tightly so you can sneak into the space behind them, making a quick burst behind the defender. Defenders The defensive movements are mostly in support and cover positions. Similarly on offense you are moving in to position to relieve pressure and switch the ball into an open area of the field. Although defenders can often get into attack by overlapping or making delayed runs when the time is right or they have switched with another teammate. On defense you want your team to be compact and on offense you want to open up and expand. As a compact unit you can close down a certain area and win the ball and still have time to get back if the other team makes a long pass to the other side of the field. As a defender you want to always run back towards your goal - regroup and defend as a unit. It starts with one person pressuring the ball so the offensive player has to make a decision and can't get his or her head up. Then a cover person who lets the pressuring person know if her or she should try to win the ball. Next, is a organized compact unit letting those ahead of them know where players are around them and which direction they should steer them so the unit can win the ball.