How To Improve Your Football Skills In 5 Simple Steps
They say that practice makes perfect, and these words have never been truer when it comes to shining bright on the soccer field. Many aspiring soccer players, irrelevant of age or level, often wonder what’s the best way to brush up on their soccer skills; with many seeking personal soccer coaches and others joining teams and leagues in the hopes to get scouted. Even if it’s your first time playing soccer, this is an excellent guide for those wondering how to play.
No Two Soccer Players Are The Same
Let’s face it; there’s always going to be a football player on your team with better soccer drills and skills than you. If you’re good with speed, your fellow teammate may have a better skill at short passing or ball striking. The key here is to understand your weaker points on the soccer field and focus your efforts on excelling in those areas that need some brushing up.
The 3 P’s
Whatever your football goals are, there are many ways to practice one’s skills and perfect your soccer moves. Before we delve into the how-to’s of practicing your soccer techniques and football drills, there’s 3 main P’s that every football player should follow. If you can get into the habit of following these 3 main rules, everything else falls into place. Even those who are seeking soccer for beginner training should keep these rules in mind. So, what are they?
Practice
This one’s pretty obvious, but not so many soccer players understand what it entails to really practice. Off-field practice is just as important as on-field soccer practice! Sure, going to soccer practice 2 or 3 times a week is a good start but, perfecting your soccer moves at home is a must if you want to see better results.
Perseverance
This goes hand in hand with practice. Putting 30 minutes a day aside for your soccer skills practice makes a world of difference. Persevere in sticking to a schedule and do it, too. If you live in an apartment or a dorm, there’s always a nearby park or field that you can go and strut your football drills.
Patience
Yes, we will tell you the most cliched saying of all time, but we can’t help it because it’s true- Rome wasn’t built in a day. If you need to practice your passing or dribble, it’s not going to happen magically. You need to work on it and understand where you’re going wrong. That’s why new-age technology such as the Playform app can give you insights in real-time, helping you decipher where exactly you’re going wrong. But we will get to that later.
Ok, now that the rules are out the way, let’s jump into the best steps you can take to improve your soccer skills.
Step 1
One of the main ways to improve your soccer skills is by practicing your juggling. This really dives into the ball control arena. Also, you don’t need to be on a football field to work on your juggling skills. If you want to take this a step further, download the Playform app and analyze your juggling skills with real-time measurements. This way, you’ll know exactly where you are going wrong.
TIPS- While Playform offers the best soccer training based on your weak points, it’s always good to generally aim to juggle a little longer than usual. Add two minutes every time you juggle; you’ll be surprised how this helps with your ball control and mental skills.
Step 2
Another great technical skill is to improve your first touch. This is best played against a wall of some sort. Stand 2-feet away and kick the ball as hard as you can. Also, be sure to position yourself to receive the ball after it bounces off the wall. Control it, and kick it back again.
TIPS- Once you perfect this soccer skill, you can move back so that your distance from the wall is farther. The goal is to kick the ball just as hard, even when the distance is longer.
Step 3
Physical strength is super important, and that’s why boosting your endurance while practicing goes a long way. This is why interval training is also excellent as it builds your cardiovascular strength. There are many ways to improve physical strength on the football field, and again, you don’t need to be on a football field to practice; a jog around your neighborhood can also suffice. Here are some ideas to keep your heart rate pumping and your physical strength on point;
Make use of the wonders of interval training. Changing speed and direction is absolutely important because, after all, this mimics what you really do on the field, right? Include high and low intensities such as sprinting to jogging.
Get your compound exercise game on! Lunges, push-ups, squats, and balance all contribute to your core strength. To get a more concise and personalized plan, download the Playform app here.
Lastly, if you want to improve your soccer skills and drills or dribbling skills, this simple yet powerful exercise will help your foot coordination. What is it? Jump rope! This can be done from the comfort of your living room even, and it’s truly a magical way to improve your football drills. Be sure to alternate between single-footed and two-footed jumps. Also, use this during interval training and increase your speed and time for significant results.
Step 4
Passing skills are super important, and this is an area that most soccer players, amateur and new alike, need to practice on consistently. Working on the ability to perfect this skill will take you on another level in the soccer world. Passing accurately with both feet is no easy feat, but if it is incorporated into your soccer training regimen, it will surely help your overall performance. Can you send a ball straight to your soccer mate? Can you send a pass with good weight? Can you strike the ball accurately into the net? All these questions and areas need TLC, and the best way to format your training is to check out how you score during these soccer drills on the Playform app.
TIPS- It’s great to get feedback from teammates and soccer coaches. Listen to what others are saying about your ball skills and take everything into consideration when getting your soccer train game on. Sometimes we don’t see our faults first-hand, so constructive criticism is actually pretty helpful.
Step 5
Sometimes having an extra pair of eyes works wonders. This is why many people opt to get a personal football coach to help leverage their physical training and soccer techniques. If you want to improve your soccer drills and skills and train every day, the best bet would be to download a soccer training app like Playform. Playform is literally the virtual soccer coach that gives you feedback based on your soccer skills. Also, it provides vital training elements in a personalized manner; the app uses AI intelligence to decipher the best soccer training routines that will work on your weak points. Now, there’s no more guessing about what soccer skills you lack or don’t; everything is done for you in just a tap of a button.