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Strength Training For Soccer - A Tailored Soccer Fitness Program
Soccer-Specific Fitness Program by Your Very Own Sports Trainer: 20% off with Coupon SCCR1
Attack the Ball
Have a friend or teammate pass the ball to you with a lot of pace at maybe 10 or 15 yards away. Have him or her play the ball on the ground, then as hard as he or she can over hit the ball. Try to control the ball out in front of you. You are exaggerating the pace of the pass to practice your control.
Go to the ball and control the ball out in front of you with your first touch. Then dribble off at speed at various angles.
It's first a controlling touch out in front of you a few yards away – out of your feet. Move to the ball and then dribble off. Make this all one movement--do not stop and start.
Then try to do this in the air. Have your teammate play you a ball in the air, this time from a further distance of 30 or 40 yards. Get to the ball before it hits the ground. Control it out in front of you, into the space, and dribble off for ten yards or so.
Use your first touch to get the ball on the ground. When you have mastered this, you can try to control the ball in the air out in front of you, as if you are juggling. Then bring the ball down after a few juggles, maybe juggling the ball over a defender’s head, for example.
Practice opening yourself to the field at different angles. Make angled runs or diagonal runs and have your teammate play the ball into you. Control the ball out in front of you for a few feet. Don't kill the ball right in front of you so you have to stop, but control it out in front of you (away from your body) and open yourself to as much of the field as possible. This could just be turning your shoulder so you face the whole field and not just one side.
Don't Let the Ball Bounce
Similar to the previous section, try to always get a touch on the ball before it bounces. Whether from a goalkeeper’s punt and heading the ball to a teammate, or as a forward and flicking the ball on to a teammate, or controlling the ball and bringing it down, rush to the ball to get a touch. Don't wait for the ball to come to you.
All of this, of course, depends upon how much time and space you have and if there are defenders near you, but try to go to the ball and get a controlling touch on it before it bounces if you can.
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