Improve soccer performance, confidence on the ball and increase overall skill

Women’s US U20 National Soccer

Coming off a highly successful two-year run that ended in the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup championship in Japan, the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team will begin a new cycle with a training camp from Feb. 2-9 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Naughton, Roccaro Invited To U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team Camp

http://www.und.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/012913aab.html

Alex Morgan & Co. can bask in the glow of their WC run, but they know the U.S. must improve on the field — or get left behind

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/worldcup2011/

Messi’s post-Clasico berating of Arbeloa and Karanka

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/dt-exclusive-lionel-messi-post-clasico-berating-albiol-231101227–sow.html

Futebol Tennis; Building skills with fun

Futebol Tennis: (1 vs.1) or (2 vs. 2) or (3 vs.3)

Futebol tennis is a wonderful way to develop ball handling skills under the stress of competition while have fun. We like it because it is something players can play at home, at school, on tennis courts, in the basement etc.

Players are required to handlethe ball using restricted touches and play the ball back with accuracy and tactical reasoning. Futebol Tennis is great for developing touch and to enhance decision making skills while trying to engineer tactics to successfully out play their opponents.

Futebol tennis is played over a net with grids on either side of the net similar to tennis, volleyball, or badminton. The basic rules of the game are outlined in the link below but should be adjusted to match the skill level of the player i.e. create a success oriented environment where the players can thrive and experience a measure of achievement, yet make the rules challenging enough to keep them on the edge of their ability.

http://www.brasilianfutebol.com/futebol-tennis

Training Barfoot with the Futebol

The Barefoot Futsal Academy in Charlotte takes their training seriously.

A great way to get in touch with the ball.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qvfDpEagVsA

Working on First Touch

Juggling at a consistent height: With each touch, touch the ball to the same height, 2 to 3 feet above your head, making sure to alternate feet with each touch. It is important to use good footwork to position yourself for each touch so that you are consistently touching the ball in your sweet spot. Start with a bounce between touches to increase the success rate. The bounce will save frustration and enable you to get a feel for the exercise leading to a faster progression.

Use proper juggling form; leg hinging at the hip, knee and ankle, toes curled down creating a flat surface with your laces at a proper angle to the ball in relation to where you are trying to kick the ball. Try to touch the ball closer to the ground , avoiding raising your foot above your knee or hip to meet the ball. This drill requires good timing, coordination, rhythm and focus.

Soccer Skills: Training to Develop First Touch

Soccer Skills: Training to Develop First Touch

 

First touch; receiving and or trapping a ball while in play. 

The touch is probably the most important touch as it set the tone for the next move or pass and determines how that may play out.

Controlling a ball in tight spaces or gathering loose balls throughout the game increases the time of possession a team may have, creats space on the ball thereby keeping the defender on the defensive and allows better decision making..  Developing a good first touch will buy time on the ball as well as increase time od possession and speed of play.
 
A great way to develop a first touch while training by one’s self is by juggling. Juggling offers players the opportunity to execute quality touches in large quantities in abbreviated training sessions which will enhance performance, confidence on the ball and increases overall skill.
Using a Brasilian Futebol, we believe, is one of the best ways to refine a players feel for a ball and develop a soft touch that is essential for a good first touch.  One good drill while juggling is to knock the ball high into the air and settle it with a soft touch on your instep.  We will call this Three touch and a knock: Juggle the ball three times and then kick it 10 to 15 feet in the air, control the ball with one soft touch, trying to keep that touch below your waist, use one to two touches to adjust and compose yourself, then knock it 10 to 15 feet in the air again. Repeat this process. Work on controlling the ball with your first touch after you have “knocked” it into the air, then use the other touches to manipulate the ball so you can “knock” it accurately into the air again. Progress to a three touch rotation (Knock -control- touch – knock, repeat….).

If the ball gets away and bounces get to it quickly while still bouncing, preferably on one bounce,  to keep the juggle alive. We call this using the bounce! This exercise will help to develop “first touch”.

Juggling; Getting Started

http://www.brasilianfutebol.com/juggling-program

 

Juggling is a great way to develop ball handling skills, eye/foot coordination, quick feet and confidence on the ball.
The following is a good way to start at the most fundamental level and progress quickly. We encourage the use of hands when first starting to learn how to juggle to help speed the process and create success.

Begin with one touch at a time. Toss the ball out in front of you high enough (head height) so that it bounces thigh to waist high and with-in comfortable kicking reach. Using the instep, or the laces of your shoe, kick the ball back to yourself and catch it. Ideally you should try to kick (or we call a kick a touch) the ball back to a specific target such as your hands held approximately 10 to 15 inches from your chest. Alternate using left and right foot with each touch. Repeat this until you can kick or touch the ball back to your target consistently.

 Progress to two touches, using a bounce between touches, before catching the ball, and then three, four, five…. still using the bounce between touches, still using your laces, and always trying to alternate feet with each touch.

Progress should come quickly once five touches is reached without catching the ball. A good mid-range goal is 50 touches while allowing the ball to bounce between touches. Hands should only be used to restart the ball at this point.
Emphasize a loose and relaxed kicking form, making contact with the ball using the instep or “laces” of the shoe. Try to touch the futebol below or at knee height, not at thigh or waist height, about 6-18 inches in front of your planted foot. Call this your “sweet spot”. The kicking leg should hinge at the knee, ankle locked, and toes curled under to create a flat surface as the foot touches the ball. Try to become comfortable with the number of touches before progressing. A good exercise after having accomplished 5 or more consecutive touches is to regress to a smaller number of touches. This will increase confidence, continuity, and rhythm.
Good footwork; Moving your feet to or away from the ball is important in order to position your body so you are not reaching for the ball or crowding yourself by being too close to the ball. Try not to twist or reach across your body to touch the ball. Use footwork to square your body to the ball, distancing yourself properly so you are consistently touching the ball in your “sweet spot”. Everybody’s “sweet spot” is different, but should produce a consistent accurate result if the ball is touched properly in this area.
Progress to the next phase by eliminating the bounce between touches. Toss the ball just as before and allow to bounce. Touch the ball twice, alternating feet, before the next bounce, using good footwork to find your “sweet spot”, but more importantly, using a good first touch to set up a good second touch. Ideally the first touch should knock the ball straight up allowing it to fall into your “sweet spot”. Repeat until comfortable. Progress to three touches and a bounce, alternating feet with each touch. Continue progressing to four touches, five, six….This will be more difficult because you will have less time to react. If frustrated, regress back to one touch using the bounce, then try two touches and a bounce, three touches and a bounce or any combination you can think of or get away with. In any case, don’t be afraid to use the bounce, that’s the way the ball was designed.

Neymar; South America’s Finest

Could he really be headed to Barcelona?

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story/_/id/1284188/neymar:-south-america’s-finest-footballer-in-2012?cc=5901

 

D2 Soccer Playoffs down to four

Brackets

http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/soccer-men/d2

The Quarters

http://www.ncaa.com/news/soccer-men/article/2012-11-18/myers-double-overtime-goal-sends-saginaw-valley-first-semifinals

http://www.ncaa.com/news/soccer-men/article/2012-11-18/maneas-goal-sends-mercyhurst-past-southern-nh-semifinals

Soccer Training Idea: Windows

Part 1

Windows

Build a circle with cones. Using the center circle is a good reference and much easier. The space between each cone is a window. Five to eight yards wide is adequate for each window. Create enough windows to accommodate half of your players. With more players circle may be larger than the center circle. Build to accomidate and to incorporate 5 to 15 yard check runs.

Evenly divide your players, pair them up or create team 1 and team 2. One player or team goes into the window(s) the other is in the center of the circle.

1)      Players in windows start with the ball. One ball for each player in the windows. Players inside the circle (runners) check to a window to receive a pass from the window, trap and pass back to the window from which they received the ball. Then proceed to check to a new window, preferably on the other side of the circle. Repeat. Try to check to each window in the allotted time, 1 to 2 minutes is a long time if players are working hard. Rotate players from window to center frequently to keep the drill lively.

Ball can start on the ground having runners work on passing and trapping. Alternative is for windows to hold the ball and serve balls for a) headers, b) chest traps, c) thigh traps, d) one touch out of the air etc etc. Coach can then choose weather ball is to be settled to the ground with a good V trap and played to feet, or played back in the air after the initial trap.

2)      Runners in the center start with the ball. One ball for each runner in the middle. Runner with the ball plays to a window, check to the window he played to to receive the return pass, turn and find a new window.  Gets tricky here, heads have to be up and on a swivel to find an open window (player without a ball) and to make sure there is no ball in route. (For this reason it is best to sometimes have more windows than runners; goalies and coaches can be permanent or semi permanent windows).  This will require runners to look up and if the window he wants to play to is taken he may have to change direction to find a new window, or delay with a move till the intended window is open.

The sophistication of this drill is the alleys and channels that form and open, then close or shift. Runners in the middle will rarely have a clear path to a window as the other runners will be inadvertently opening and closing passing lanes as they move in the grid for their own purposes. Brilliant!! Give me a Guinness. So a bigger grid is better. More windows to runners creates more success, less frustration.  Runners passing to the same window do a push up on the spot. Runners hitting a player doing a pushup do 3 pushups on the spot. After about 40 pushups they will get serious.

3)      Create pairs. Pairs will work together in the grid; R1 & R2. One ball per pair of runners.  A)  R1 plays ball to a window, R2 support window to receive return pass (3rd man!!). R2 recieves pass from window and plays to another window, R1 supports window to receive 3rd man pass!!  B) same as previous except R1 and R2 must play a give & go in the grid before passing to window.

4)      Create pairs. Pairs will work together in the grid; R1 & R2. R1 starts with the ball. Object is to play ball to a window and go get it back; check runs in other words, or support runs. Possesion is the game. R1 keeps the ball as long as he can while R2 tries to dispossess or intercept. Once R2 steals the ball R1 is on defense.

Alternative exercise is to  A) have windows hold the ball and serve runners. This becomes predominately a check run drill. Lots of coaching points can be made in this drill. B) Have runners receive and turn the ball with pressure and play another window. Trick more windows than runners, less balls than windows.