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soccer drills for absolute beginner

SamSam Registered User regular
edited August 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
im planning on starting to play, but i know i need to develop some ball control. does anyone know any drills i could do alone to get somewhat started?

Sam on

Posts

  • RaneadosRaneados police apologist you shouldn't have been there, obviouslyRegistered User regular
    edited August 2010
    absolute beginner?

    find a field

    run around, kicking the ball, try not to look at the ball
    stops, turns, quick turns, 180s, reverses, short+easy control, longer kicks

    remember to never let it get too far

    learn how much power your foot gives

    learn where it is without seeing it

    this will help you IMMENSELY with the rest of your soccer playing

    Raneados on
  • lifeincognitolifeincognito Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    The above sounds like solid advice. I would suggest you just jog and dribble with the ball for as long as you can stand. Oh, and for the love of Pete don't forget to use both feet.

    Bonus: Find a friend and just pass the ball around while talking or something.

    lifeincognito on
    losers weepers. jawas keepers.
  • RaneadosRaneados police apologist you shouldn't have been there, obviouslyRegistered User regular
    edited August 2010
    yeah honestly a great bit of soccer advice is to dribble it everywhere

    yeah you'll look pretty stupid

    but spend a month dribbling the ball EVERYWHERE
    every time you go anywhere, dribble it

    and I do mean everywhere. Go to the bathroom 20 feet away? you better be dribbling

    in a month you'll have amazing control

    Raneados on
  • GrennGrenn Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    If your ball control skills are none existent, then any amount of training and practice is going to be very helpful to you, of course.

    However, if you turn up to your first game and try and dribble the ball around the pitch like Lionel Messi you are going to get tackled and give away the ball constantly, and this is going to be very disheartening for you and the rest of your team.

    Learn to receive a pass, control the ball, and pass to other players.

    This is so much more important than learning to dribble or shoot for the beginner player. If you can play your first few games and pass solidly without letting the opposition intercept your passes, then you are golden. As a new player, people aren't going to expect you to be able to run down the wing and belt one in the top corner - but they are going to expect you to at least be able to pass the ball without giving it away.

    Once you have a good grasp of how to move the ball around quickly and be a solid part of a team, then you can start to look at making little runs, putting little through balls and crosses in there for the strikers, and perhaps even shooting yourself.

    All the flashy stuff will come with time, confidence and experience, but getting the foundations in there first is vital.

    Good luck!

    Grenn on
  • ShiflettShiflett Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    The best way to play football is to "pass and move" basically if you can pass the ball and then move into space to recieve the ball back you'll do well.

    So the most important things are ball control, passing and above all else fitness.

    Good ways to practice ball control are either with another person passing the ball to each other, or if need be you can always kick the ball into a wall and practice controling it and passing it back to the wall.

    At first you may find things a little confusing when you hear people shouting things on the field e.g. "up the line" or "goal side" however it's all pretty self explanatory. Just go and have fun, it's a fantastic sport and you'll pick it up quickly enough :)

    Shiflett on
  • cmsamocmsamo Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    Most important thing in being able to play 'soccer' is having a good touch and being able to control and pass a ball.

    Basic and cheap training:

    (1) Find a wall
    (2) Kick ball against wall
    (3) Get used to controlling the ball as it flies back at you.

    Kick the ball harder, softer, with spin, without spin, and learn how to use your foot to trap the ball and bring it close.

    Or, if you have cash to invest

    (1) Find a field
    (2) Buy a "skills net" (something like this)
    (3) Practice kicking the ball at the net and get used to the ball and the way it bounces on turf.

    When passing, focus on hitting through the ball with the right part of your foot (the instep) and focus on passing accuracy. Aim for a point, and make sure you hit that point. As you get better, try increasing the power of your passes.

    Be aware that astroturf (i.e. artificial field) makes the ball behave a lot different. The ball will generally be bouncier, and will come at you faster on artificial ground.

    Once you can control and pass a ball, you can move on to running with the ball.

    cmsamo on
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  • Eat it You Nasty Pig.Eat it You Nasty Pig. tell homeland security 'we are the bomb'Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    You basically need to learn to kick the ball accurately, and dribble somewhat competently. Those two skills are related, of course. You will need to dribble; you don't need to be Pele, but you need to be confident in your ability to move the ball five or six yards without getting out of control.

    The kicking against the wall drill is good. Any wall will work, really. Striking the ball with the inside of your foot, practice until you can 'locate' your kicks reasonable well (within a couple feet of where you want the ball to go.) Start from ten feet or so away, and move back in increments of five feet or so once you start feeling comfortable. Don't worry about trying to lift the ball with accuracy at this point; actually, try and avoid it as much as possible.

    You can also use this to practice controlling incoming passes. You should ideally be able to get your rebounds under control with one touch, and have them headed back at the wall on your second.

    Dribbling is pretty easy. If you have an open field, just jog around it while dribbling. Don't strike the ball too hard or try to run too quickly at first. It's important to maintain control, which means keeping the ball close enough to kick it away quickly. If you're consistently dribbling with the ball five or six feet ahead of you, you're going to turn it over.

    Once you're comfortable just running with the ball, it's time to practice stops and turns. Set up five or six objects (cones, shirts, whatever you have) in a line, spaced five strides or so apart. Now weave between them as you dribble. When you get past the last one, turn the ball as quickly as possible and go back the other way. Then, do it faster. Your goal should be to get through these at a quick jog without having to look down at your feet very often.

    That is 95% of what kids up to U-13 or so spend their time in practice doing, and 95% of what you need not to look like a fool at a pickup game.

    You'll have to feel out pickup games. Some take it decently serious and expect people maintain something approaching positions, and others just sort of free-for-all it. The wing positions are simpler to play, as your role mostly involves advancing the ball and either clearing it up the wings (defense/middie) or centering it in the box (forwards.)

    Some people who fancy themselves soccer people will sometimes yell out strange things; numbers, geometric shapes, etc. When I played in high school, for example, it was trendy to yell "square" or "circle." Don't be fooled. This stuff just means "I'm open, pass it to me."

    Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
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  • 2and2is52and2is5 Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    If you do manage to get a shot off, remember this one thing:

    Stay over the ball. If you lean back the ball is going to sail over the crossbar.

    I've been playing soccer since I was six and I still miss most of my shots high.

    2and2is5 on
  • cmsamocmsamo Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    Some people who fancy themselves soccer people will sometimes yell out strange things; numbers, geometric shapes, etc. When I played in high school, for example, it was trendy to yell "square" or "circle." Don't be fooled. This stuff just means "I'm open, pass it to me."

    Good players will talk on the pitch. Communication is more important than individual skill in a good standard soccer team. It's not showing off to shout these things, they are vital if you want to be a good player.

    In the UK at least, in 25 years of playing, I've come across:

    'Square' - generally means there is a pass open alongside you.
    'Away' - means a team mate wants you to clear the ball because an attacker is on you
    'Line' - a teammate wants you to try and play the ball down the touchline.
    'Time' - generally means you have time to take a touch of the ball to control it and look up
    'First time' - generally means 'play it quickly you are about to get tackled'
    'Hold' - Means hold the ball and wait for play to move up
    'Stand up / stand him up' - means don't dive in to a tackle, hold your player up, don't let him past
    'Channel' - means play it into space down the side of the pitch for the forward to run on to.
    'Set' - means a team mate is near and clear for a shot, and wants you to roll the ball to them, and set up the shooting chance.

    These of course can be used together, so for example in UK football you'll hear a team shout to a defender "away, first time" which means ether knock it out of play or away from goal asap because you are about to be tackled.

    There are hundreds of variations and will depend on teams and countries you play in,.

    cmsamo on
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  • PhivesPhives Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    If at all possible I would recommend finding a buddy to play with you. It will make it much easier to practice passing to a moving target and also working on receiving real passes. The kickback/wall idea is good if you don't have someone to play with but it really can't replace having to bring down and control an actual pass.

    Phives on
  • mightyjongyomightyjongyo Sour Crrm East Bay, CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited August 2010
    If you want to work on your fine control, a drill I did when I played soccer was to get some cones and set them up in a line, then practice dribbling between them:

    . \ . / . \ . / . \

    the dots are cones, the slashes are the direction you're taking the ball. Basically, alternating between hitting the ball with your left foot, then right foot, but not so hard that you're kicking it past your feet/beyond your control.

    As far as passing and ball control when it's coming towards you, practicing with someone else is the best way - preferably with someone who passes well themselves, so they can give you advice on how to improve.

    You can also have someone toss balls at your head and you can head them back if you want to practice headers. But practicing dribbling and passing are the essentials.

    mightyjongyo on
  • ArikadoArikado Southern CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited August 2010
    You will also want to practice bringing down the ball with your chest and your foot. It becomes quite essential when you want to keep possession and not lose a high pass.

    Arikado on
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  • zeenyzeeny Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    Buy a ball.
    Then cmsamo had it exactly right.
    (1) Find a wall
    (2) Kick ball against wall
    (3) Get used to controlling the ball as it flies back at you.

    If you're good at sports in general you'd pick up enough to play comfortably with friends in no time.

    I don't know a single person who hasn't started playing as a child ever get good at football, but I'm fairly certain they exist.

    zeeny on
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