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Improve Your Moves - Skills & Drills
If you’ve learned anything on this site, it’s that your success as a soccer player depends on much more than how well you can kick the ball. The fate of the game rests on strategy, teamwork, and decision-making. That being said, there are several skills and techniques that’s you’ll want to have developed, if not perfected, so that you can tap into them when you need to.
A few videos of soccer turns:
Shoulder Feint
Dip the shoulder to one side and go in the opposite direction. Step into the direction you are faking with your shoulder and take off with the ball in the other direction, almost with a spinning motion. It's a shoulder fake to the right, then you dribble off or turn with the ball to the left . Do the reverse to go the other way: Fake to the left (lean) and dribble off by turning to the right.
You’ll want to do this with your back towards the defender. Before turning, and when you have a defender on your back, throw in feints as if you are going to go in one direction, when you really intend to go the other way. Feint to the side by dipping your shoulder.
As a midfielder, however, you might want to have your body half turned already, and open to the field. This turn coupled with the fake with your shoulder is useful if you are marked tightly and coming back to the ball with a defender right on top of you and need to spin away.
Spinning with the Inside of the Foot
Use the inside of your foot to spin around with the ball. You’re using the inside of your foot for control and pulling the ball around to open up into the new direction you want to go in. That way, you are immediately open to the entire field and can make a pass with the inside of your foot on your next step.
The Dummy Turn
If the ball is played at the right pace and you think the defender is too close to you, you can let the ball run through your legs and turn and beat your opponent to the ball. Also, if you know your teammate is behind you and open, you can let the ball run through your legs and go through to your teammate, and they then can play the ball to back to you - much like a give and go.
This is very effective for forwards to learn. The ball can be played to the forward who's checking back, who lets it run through his or her legs or just lets the ball go by them and quickly turns to get the ball back from the deeper forward who is posting up.
When the two forwards are lined up, one should always be closer to the midfield. The forwards should try to work in tandem and stay ten or fifteen yards from one another, one stretching the defense the other closer to the midfield. The forwards can rotate and switch these positions through the course of the game, but often the taller forward posts up high to win head balls, while the other forward tries to win the knock downs or anticipate a flick (off of a goal kick or punt, for instance).
Forwards can also clip the ball into the other forward’s path and work a give and go. Instead of a dummy and letting the ball go past them completely, they can get a touch on the ball or flick the ball on to the forward, using the pace of the ball to spin the ball into the other forward, perhaps around a defender. Watch how this is done by Juventus and Trezeguet, he does the dummy run and then turns to receive the ball perfectly.
Communicate
Listen to your teammates, especially if they say turn or time or man on – take their advice. They can make things a lot easier for you. It’s really important to communicate on the field and let your teammates know when they have time or when there is pressure coming. It’s a good habit to get into, if you play the ball, pass along a message too – time, turn, man on, you’ve got time, go at them, and so forth.
More on Crossing: Get the Ball in the Box
As a winger or wide midfielder, it’s important to get the ball in the goal box. That means serving the ball across the goal mouth. Whip the ball in and put it in with pace. This makes it easier for the targeted player to redirect the ball on goal and also helps avoid getting the ball cut out or blocked by a defender.
Get accustomed to crossing the ball when you have the opportunity. You don't have to always beat the defender. The defender, who is marking you, will begin to think you are going to cross it every time, and that’s when you take the player on and go down the line to cut the ball back or take a shot yourself.
Plus, you don't need to reach the end line to cross the ball. You can and should cross the ball from any point over the half line, as long as you are trying to pick out someone directly or if you are leading a player with a cross or long pass - as that player makes a run towards goal.
Stock Ball
With this play, you’re trying to get to the end touchline and lay the ball back to a teammate. As a team, you can try to seek this kind of situation out: Get the ball wide to a midfielder who can take the defender on and cut the ball back across the goal mouth. You want to make it difficult for both the goal keeper and the defense to keep their eyes on the ball and the player they’re marking.
There are numerous options, but another could be playing the ball down the line to a forward, who has made a diagonal run, who can then turn and cut the ball back to a teammate across the goal mouth. This could be a quick early pass across the goal mouth, too.
As a rule, if you can beat your defender down the line, then go for it. But if you can bend the ball around the defender or feint and get enough space to get the cross in, go for that.
Be aware of where your forwards are so you can time the pass correctly and have the ball meet them at the right time and pace as they move towards the goal. Try to pick someone out with your pass. A stock ball is an ideal play that often leads to an assured goal.
Learn more at Strategy and Patterns and Juggling |
