Tricks on Becoming a Better Football Player
Ball Management
Your first touch and ball control may be the most basic technique, and it is essential regardless of your position on the field. Your success in the game depends on your capacity to receive the ball and distribute it as efficiently as you can (preferably with both feet).
Futsal or 5-a-side games are ideal ways to practice this at first because you’ll get many touches on the ball in these small-sided games, and you need to have good communication and ball control because of the constrained space to prevent losing the ball right away.
When you’ve advanced to 11-a-side, depending on the tactics your team uses, you might be hit with 50-yard shots every 10 minutes, and you’ll be required to handle the ball with your right foot, left foot, chest, or whatever another body part you can (don’t use your hand).
Awareness
You’ll develop this skill by playing regular, competitive Football matches with and against quality players. It is a technique that is far more difficult to quantify and coach.
Passing
No matter what position you play—and yes, if you’re a goalkeeper, that counts for you, too—this is a skill you’ll need to cultivate and improve. Ederson, the goalkeeper for Manchester City, for instance, is a tremendous asset to his team not only because of his shot-stopping prowess and ability as a traditional goalkeeper but also because his ball-handling and passing abilities enable him to function effectively as an 11th outfield player, allowing him to contribute to goals for his team rather than prevent goals for the opposition.
While passing seems like the simplest of skills, most people are unaware of the complexity of the art due to several factors, including:
Keep your head up and watch where you’re passing while staying aware of where the ball is.
Select the proper pass.
Apply the proper weight to the pass while giving a split-second thought to your teammate’s distance and movement.
After the ball has left your foot, decide where to move.
Dribbling
No matter your position on the field or the type of player you are, running with the ball quickly will improve your performance. The following five easy drills can help you get better at dribbling:
Positioning
Understanding your responsibilities and what is expected of you when you are out of possession is essential to your performance in the game. The average time any player holds the ball throughout a 90-minute game is in the range of 60-90 seconds. To be a successful team player, you must master this talent because your positioning is essential to the team’s overall structure and strategy.
Using both feet to have fun
There is a very excellent reason why it is increasingly challenging to identify a football player’s weaker foot in the modern era.
Having complete confidence and control of the ball with both feet will considerably improve your overall abilities as a footballer, providing you with better balance, allowing you to play all over the field, and generally making you more unpredictable and challenging to play against. How often have we seen athletes in a great position to score cut inside to their more muscular feet and lose the opportunity because they lacked the confidence or shooting skill to do so?
Train, train, and then put what you learn into practice.
There is no getting around the truth that you will need to practice repeatedly. The difference between professional football players and regular people is their level of commitment, which is almost always required. You will need to practice and train on things outside of your comfort zone, such as working on your weaker foot, developing your leg strength, and repeatedly performing the same drill until it becomes automatic. No matter how much we’d prefer to concentrate solely on our dribbling abilities, this will only go us so far.
How often should I work out?
Every day, aim to get better at what you do as often and as often as possible, whether on the practice field or in your backyard, honing a trick. To put this into perspective, you may read Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers: The Story of Success,” which contends that mastering a subject or skill requires 10,000 hours of practice. There is no secret or technique to achieving your potential; while talent and ability will undoubtedly be helpful, you will still need to put in the time and work.