The Mental Focus Soccer Players Require To Excel


This may come as a surprise, but the fact of the matter is that highly skilled soccer players are impressively adept at logic and problem solving. The converse also applies. Training your brain in certain ways can improve your performance on the field.

When watching a game, you will often hear commentators referring to a player’s ability to "see the field". Soccer players like Pirlo and Iniesta have this ability. This is known as "game intelligence", a skill that can be honed in many different ways.

What makes the human brain so amazing is the ability to multitask. This is something we see in full force when soccer players are on the field. They not only need to strategize and plan ahead, but they also need to be able to focus their energy on the physical aspect of game play. As such, their focus needs to be equally split between the future and the present. It is absolutely fascinating to know that our bodies and minds are capable of this.

It is entirely possible to prepare the brain for this onslaught when at home away from the game. Certain games and activities assist in boosting the mental capacities required to perform like a star on the soccer field.

Strategy games or any game that offers a particular thrill is ideal. Soccer players will find a marked improvement in their performance when they begin playing games that require a certain amount of forethought or risk assessment. Playing chess for example is a good why to train your mind to plan ahead and see the whole board or soccer field.

Here are 5 tips to train the brain:

Training the mind is one of the most important things in football and is often neglected. Dan Abrahams give us 5 tips to train our minds to improve our all round game.