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Indoor Soccer Training

By Parker & Walsh Leave a Comment

indoor soccer trainingWith winter in full swing, our attention has turned from outdoor to indoor soccer.

This article will outline a training approach that will allow you to be effective when playing indoor soccer, and the best part is that these skills will translate into making you an effective outdoor player as well.

(If you’re simply looking for any exercises you can do inside, like at home, read this article.)

Indoor vs. Outdoor Soccer Training: How does Indoor Differ?

The major differences between indoor and outdoor soccer suggest some differences in the ideal training regimen.

Indoors, the field is of course smaller and the surface is also faster. You have fewer teammates on the field and are also shooting at a smaller goal.

So that does this mean for training and improvement?

For one, you have more time on the ball in a smaller space, so by merely playing lots of indoor soccer, you’ll get a lot of touches in, which can do wonders for your technical skills. By playing indoor, you’ll also improve your stamina and endurance.

But there are a few other key skills that get amplified in the indoor environment. By improving these skills, you’ll increase your level of play indoors, and also see gains when you return to the full-size game outdoors in the spring.

Drills and Exercises for Improving at Indoor Soccer

Shooting: Indoor soccer is an exciting proposition for a forward who loves to score goals. Due to the smaller size of the field, you’re almost always in shooting range, but at the same time the smaller goal demands pinpoint accuracy if you wish to evade the goalkeeper.

Practice shooting at a target (which could be the corner of a real goal or just a spot on the wall) using multiple surfaces and both feet so you’re better able to take advantage in an indoor game.

Make sure to practice hitting a moving ball, like in a game situation. (You can roll it forward with your sole, play it off a wall or rebounder for you to shoot, or recruit a teammate to play a ball for you to shoot.)

Read how to practice shooting at home for more tips

1v1 Dribbling and Defending: In the indoor game, tighter spaces and smaller numbers on the field mean more time with the ball at your feet, and more direct confrontations with opposing players.

Working on your 1v1 dribbling by perfecting some moves and working on your acceleration and change of pace will help you take advantage of those moments when you find yourself with the ball and a chance to attack your opponent directly.

Conversely, working on your 1v1 defending is important for ensuring that you stay strong in those situations when you are being run at by an opponent, which happens much more frequently in indoor soccer.

Defending is a team concept, of course, but in indoor soccer every player must be strong in individual duels, because there is no way to hide a player who is not.

First Touch: Due to the tight spaces, constant duels, and fast-paced transitions, a good first touch is crucial for any successful indoor player. Practice receiving the ball with all surfaces, with both feet, and quickly getting ready for your next move.

You want to be able to receive a ball and play a pass with your second touch. You also want to be in position to play a one-touch pass if appropriate, so make sure to stay on your toes and keep your head up to see your passing options. If there’s space to dribble into and attack, you also want to be able to take your first touch at speed into that space.

All in all, indoor soccer forces you to think and play faster, and a great first touch is one of the best ways to make sure you’re making the most of each opportunity on the ball.

 

Filed Under: Individual Soccer Training Tagged With: 1v1, Indoor Soccer, Shooting

Soccer Fundamentals Explained: The Best Skills to Have and How to Improve Them

By Parker & Walsh Leave a Comment

soccer fundamental skills

There are a variety of skills that everyone needs to master in order to be successful playing soccer. You likely have heard coaches or other people in the game calling these skills the “soccer fundamentals” which are particularly important.

Some of these skills are fairly obvious. For example, even if you’re a beginner I’m sure you know the importance of knowing how to pass the ball.

But what exactly makes something a fundamental skill, and more importantly, what can you do as a player to learn these fundamentals most effectively?

For Beginners: What Are these Fundamentals Anyway?

There’s no soccer coaching body that publishes an agreed-upon list of a set number of “fundamentals.” If you search online or read a stack of soccer coaching books, you’ll find a widely varying number of them, as well as some discrepancies as to what gets counted as a fundamental.

But there are commonalities that you’ll see almost everywhere. These are the key skills that all players need to master no matter the level they are at or the positions which they are playing.

We briefly describe each soccer fundamental here, with some links into other articles that go into more detail on each skill. I will say that fundamentals are much different for goalkeepers; this article is talking about field players.

Fundamental #1: Passing

What’s the quickest way to get the ball from Point A to Point B on the field? Some may think it’s by dribbling, but passing the ball is the fastest and most efficient way to move it across the field.

This helps get more teammates involved at key positions on the field, break down the defense, and ultimately get the ball in dangerous attacking positions.

In other situations, passing can actually be more of a defensive move, allowing you to relieve pressure from the opponent and catch your breath while preparing to gear up for your next move up the field.

At a most basic level, any time your team is in possession of the ball and passing it around, the opposing team is chasing and getting tired, which gives you the advantage.

Any great team is able to pass the ball at a high level (even if they ultimately decide to favor other parts of the game in their tactics), and thus any great player needs to be proficient in passing.

This is why we consider passing among the most important of fundamental skills and something that every player, regardless of position, needs to spend a lot of time refining.

Fundamental #2: Receiving/First Touch

This is the other side of passing; the player who receives the pass. You may know this skill as “trapping” but that term has fallen out of favor because it signified stopping the ball dead. Receiving, on the other hand, is getting the ball under your control in a fluid motion so you can make your next move.

We’ve included first touch in here too which is a related but slightly different idea. Your first touch is not just when you receive a pass by a teammate, but any time you gain possession of the ball, be it from a crisp pass or a awkwardly bouncing ball.

Fundamental #3: Dribbling

Although passing is a more efficient team strategy for moving the ball, any good player also needs to be confident in their ability to dribble.

By dribbling you can take players on and get past them. You can dribble to create your own shot. You can even get yourself out of a dangerous situation or tight space by moving into a better position.

In short, it’s about as fundamental a skill as you can get, and one that all players need to work on and master.

Fundamental #4: Shooting

Some may challenge the idea that shooting is something that all players need to learn how to do well, and thus question its fundamental status. After all, isn’t it just forwards who need to know how to shoot?

This is incorrect.

Midfielders regularly get up into the attacking third and need to be ready to shoot when they have the space and opportunity. Most defenders will do the same on occasion, and will also likely find themselves in the opposing team’s box on corners and other set pieces.

With this in mind, it’s still very important that defenders and midfielders learn to shoot with proper form, because they may only get one chance to do it and need to be ready to take advantage.

Fundamental #5: Defending

Similar to shooting, defending is another fundamental skill that some mistakenly think is only for defenders.

But defending happens in all areas of the field and needs to be done by all players. A forward who loses the ball needs to apply the right pressure so the team can win it back. Every player needs to have the skills to put in a strong tackle when defending.

Fundamental #6: Heading

Heading is another key skill that is necessary for all players, no matter their position. It’s a diverse skill: forwards head the ball for a shot on goal; midfielders jockey to win airballs in the center of the pitch; and defenders must head the ball out of their box and into safety.

In addition, learning proper heading form is extra important because repeated improper heading can increase the risk of concussions and even brain damage. As the safety of heading continues to be investigated, there may be changes to it, especially at the youth levels.

Drills for Learning Soccer Fundamentals

There are countless ways to improve these fundamentals. You naturally work on them in game situations, with the benefit that you will experience them in realistic situations and naturally connected to each other.

But games and scrimmages aren’t enough for working on your fundamentals. A full sided game won’t give you enough touches and repetition of any skill to make a major difference all by itself.

Instead, you need to work on these skills in isolation. If you’re on a team with a good coach, he or she should already be designing drills that work on these skills. These might include give and gos with a partner; dribbling at a cone and performing a move; or 1v1 challenges.

But in addition, it’s a great idea to work on these fundamental skills through individual training.

Best Ways to Improve Soccer Fundamentals By Yourself

For passing, you can practice with a partner if you have one, or you can pass against a wall or a soccer rebounder. Make sure you’re using both feet, and passing with all surfaces. Work on passing on the ground as well as driving and chipping balls.

Pass with the inside of your foot, the outside, and the laces. Pass one touch, and two touch while receiving the ball with multiple surfaces as well. This helps you work on two fundamental skills at once.

When you’re receiving the ball and working on a proper first touch, make sure you stay on your toes and keep your head up. You also want to work on receiving the ball across your body and receiving the ball on the short hop

Dribbling is the easiest fundamental skill to practice by yourself. You can dribble around your yard, or even around your house or apartment. As with passing and receiving, make sure you are using all surfaces including the inside, outside, and laces. Work on dribbling through a set of cones or other objects, and work on performing a move while dribbling, like feints, cuts and step-overs.

For shooting, take a look at our article on How to Practice Shooting by Yourself at Home for plenty of ideas.

These are only a few ways to get started practicing your soccer fundamentals. What other ways do you know of honing these crucial skills?

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Filed Under: Individual Soccer Training Tagged With: Defending, Dribbling, Heading, Passing, Receiving, Shooting

Where is the Best Place to Shoot the Soccer Ball?

By Parker & Walsh Leave a Comment

soccer shooting locations

Scoring goals is the most important objective for forwards.

Although it may seem simple enough, it actually requires a combination of skills including shooting with proper form, being in sync with your teammates, and taking up correct positions so that you maximize your opportunities.

But when it comes time to shoot the ball, is there a particular area of the goal that can be considered the “sweet spot”? What are the best places for soccer players to shoot?

There is no single easy answer, but rather a variety of factors to consider, along with some general principles you’ll want to keep in mind.

Proper Shooting: To the Corners!

This recommendation likely won’t come as a surprise to many who have any experience shooting (or trying to save) the ball.

A shot aimed at the corners rather than the middle of the goal has a much better chance of avoiding the keeper.

But with the corners obviously comes a greater risk of missing the target, so let’s break this down further taking into account things like height, power, and control.

Your Shooting Technique and Aiming Low

When shooting you are balancing two things: power, which you get more of by using your instep, and accuracy, which you get more of with using the inside of your foot.

Both of these have implications for the location of your shot: keeping the ball low makes it more difficult for the goalkeeper to save because it takes much more effort to get down as opposed to jumping up.

Due to this principle, it’s recommended to sacrifice some power for added control (plus it’s easy to lean back too much on an instep shot which lofts the ball) in order to keep it on the ground.

You don’t need to smash the cover off the ball, and even a modest amount of power is enough to see a well-placed low shot nestle into the corner of the net.

Observe the Goalkeeper’s Positioning

You as the shooter aren’t the only player who matters in this discussion.

The opposition goalkeeper, of course, is important too, as we’ve already mentioned. But your thinking, however, should go beyond just aiming for the corners.

Instead, your observation of the keeper is also important. You want to determine if they have left an open gap that you can take advantage of.

Have they overcompensated to one side?

Shooting across the goalkeeper’s body is also advantageous because it is a more awkward position from which to make a save and can also help with generating rebounds.

A More Scientific Shooting Location Analysis

Beyond these general points, some research has actually looked into where to shoot the ball. And their findings confirm the principles we’ve already explored.

According to one study, an overwhelming 62% of goals were scored low.

They break down as follows: Bottom Left: 22 percent; Bottom Center: 21 percent; Bottom Right: 19 percent.

(So you can see that it’s most important to factor in the goalkeeper’s position when shooting, since there’s an even breakdown between both corners and the center–not a single “sweet spot.”)

The middle of the goal, typically where the goalkeeper can most easily reach shots to save them, saw 21% of goals.

The top of the goal, then, accounted for just 17% of goals, including 8% in the top left and 5% in the top right.

A shot in the upper 90 is almost impossible to save, but these statistics demonstrate the difficulty of hitting this spot without having your shot sail over the goal or too wide.

Overall, keeping it low is your best chance at scoring.

Ultimately, you also want to make sure you are practicing and honing your shooting form, so that you are able to maximize the concepts shared in this article. Best of luck finding the net in your own matches.

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Filed Under: Individual Soccer Training Tagged With: Shooting

How to Practice Shooting by Yourself at Home

By Parker & Walsh Leave a Comment

soccer shooting

Practicing your shooting regularly is crucial to developing the right technique so you can make the most of your goal scoring opportunities.

And this isn’t just for strikers. You can even argue that it’s even more important for midfielders and defenders to practice their shooting since they might only get one opportunity in a game so they want to be sure to take advantage.

Forwards, being closer to the goal all game, have chances to score many different ways, including tap ins, goalmouth scrambles and other situations.

But the bottom line is that all players need to learn good shooting form.

Individual Shooting Drills Without a Goal or Goalie

If you don’t have access to a teammate or goal to shoot at, don’t worry. There are still ways you can work on your shooting.

These will naturally be simpler drills, but it’s not the setting that matters as much as the repetitions you put in.

First, there’s one crucial aspect to practicing your shooting: you want to mimic a game-realistic situation by striking a moving ball.

If you don’t have a goal to shoot at, try to find another appropriate target like a fence or wall with plenty of space in front of it.

Here are a few different shooting exercises that you can try:

  • Set up a target on your shooting “goal” (This could be anything from making a mark on a wall to sticking a sock in a fence.) Practice shooting to hit your target, and be sure to alternate left and right feet.

 

  • Work on different variations of dribbling before taking your shot. Take a touch with both the inside and outside of your feet.

 

  • Use your sole to roll the ball forward, then run up to strike it at your target.

 

  • Set up a series of cones (or any small objects if you don’t have any available). Take several touches dribbling in between the cones or obstacles before taking your shot. As you become more comfortable, increase your speed while maintaining close control and good form.

 

  • Face away from your “goal.” Take a touch to one side and take a first time shot. (Then alternate direction and foot.)

 

  • Work in fitness by setting up a ball and a cone or object a good distance away. Start at the ball, but sprint to the cone, touch it, and sprint back to the ball. Take a touch and shoot. If you have access to more than one ball, you can also set them up around in different spots and sprint to each one before shooting.

 

  • Another variation: set up two targets to represent the left and right post. Now you can shoot at both “corners.”

With all of these drills, you want to keep proper shooting form in mind, so work on locking your ankle, keeping your head down, and landing on your shooting foot. Also experiment with more and less power to get a better grasp on the balance between power and control.

Image by gustavotavolieri from Pixabay

Filed Under: Individual Soccer Training Tagged With: Backyard, Shooting

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