Soccer Skills - How To Improve Your First Touch

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Many players around the world struggle to keep the ball with their first touch. This is either by poor technique or lack of awareness or where defenders are. Watch the best players around the world as they have spent many hours honing their technique on how to control the ball properly. Below are a few techniques and drills that will help you improve both your first touch and ball control.

How to control the ball

Receiving

When receiving the ball, it is better to keep the ball moving into space or away from a defender, rather than to bring the ball to a complete stop. When receiving the ball, it's important to make contact just above the middle of the ball to keep the ball along the ground. It's important to cushion the ball, this brings the ball under your control. The good footballers can always settle the ball quickly and away from defenders and into space. This gives them extra time to keep one step in front of the opposition. To be able to move the ball into space and away from defenders, it's important that you are aware of what you are going to do with the ball before you get the full stop.

Trapping

Trapping is different to receiving in the way that trapping is to bring the ball to a complete stop. Trapping is typically used when the ball is traveling too fast for you to control effectively. When trapping the ball it is important to stay relaxed and on your toes. In contrast to being tense and stiff, this allows you to adjust quickly. When trapping the ball cushioning plays an important part. When cushioning you need to take the pace off the ball, this is done by withdrawing your foot at the moment of impact.

How to practice control

The easiest and most effective way to practice control is with a partner. You and your partner can practice the different types of control by passing the ball to each other or throwing the ball to each other. If you cannot get a partner, the next best thing is a wall. A wall gives you the chance to practice the skills that you want for as long as you want. With a wall you can practise simple passing and receiving to volleys and chest control. It's important when practising ball control, that you practice with both feet. Being able to control the ball with both feet makes you unpredictable to defenders.

Control with the inside of the foot

When controlling the ball with the inside of the Foot, the supporting leg must be slightly bent and must be planted 45 to 90° in relation to the path of the ball. At the moment of contact, cushion the ball along the original path, moving the ball either into space or away from a defender.

Control with the outside of the foot

This technique is useful when you have the defender pressuring you from behind. Firstly you must get your body in between the ball and defender standing slightly sideways with your arm slightly raised, to be able to Push or hold off a defender. The supporting leg must be slightly bent at a roughly 90° angle from where the ball is coming. On the moment of contact the ball is cushioned with the outside of the foot giving the defender no chance to get the ball fairly.

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Juggling a Soccer Ball - How to Improve Your Skills

In this article we will take a look on what you can do to improve your juggling skills in soccer.

Patience - It is important to have patience while practicing on your juggling skills. You can't expect to become good at juggling in few weeks. This is something that takes time and the more effort you put in, the more you will get back. What I am trying to say is that you need to see every day as a chance to increase your juggling skills.

Practice often -I would recommend you to practice on your juggling at least 30 min per day. After few weeks or so you will notice that you juggling skills have increased by several levels.

Use a small ball - This one is great for your overall soccer skills and not only for juggling. I can admit that juggling with a small ball is not that easy as with a regular one. However, I can ensure you that after juggling with a small ball for 20 min or so you can try change to the regular one. What you will notice is that the regular ball suddenly feels clumsy and too big for your feet. It will also become easier to keep the ball in the air for longer time.

Keep you focus on the ball - While juggling, don't lose focus on the ball. Try to shut down everything around you and just concentrate on keeping the ball in air. This is not so easy to do if you are new to soccer, however after a while it will become natural.

Try to break your record - Each time you practice on your juggling skills you should try to break your record. Never get satisfied just because you have managed to keep the ball in the air for 5 min or so. Instead encourage yourself to increase your time to 6 min and so on. My point is that you should always try to improve your juggling skills.

Relax - One of the most important things in juggling is to keep your body relaxed. The more relaxed you are the better juggling skills.

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