Soccer Training has drastically changed and what you believe you know most likely is not the top method of training. Take it from a recent former professional soccer player that has a behind the scenes understanding that what you are learning out there's most likely counter productive. What do I mean by that?
Well most beneficial way to becoming probably the very best soccer player you are able to, or even if you're a coach the fastest way to teach the soccer players of yours, is with effective soccer training. In the event that you're currently doing drills that consist of just standing in a line for minutes waiting to get your turn, then you are likely subject to your first mistake.
1. Drills are dead!
First off for the coaches let me clarify what I mean as a "drill". In case you've players standing around waiting for their turn to play you're just flat out wasting training time plain and simple. In case you're working on offensive strategies and then make sure your defense is off working on defensive strategies as well.
Furthermore, players should be concentrating on more individual skills either at the same time, exactly where they each have a ball to work on touch drills or even passing with a partner, or maybe they need to be working on individual improvements on the own time of theirs. This brings me to mistake number 2.
2. Soccer Practice versus Individual Practice.
While training is good for team building and team chemistry, you've to make sure that you or your players are practicing individually if you would like to sky rocket the abilities of theirs to a higher level. Think of soccer practice as a period of time to put all of your individual attempts to make use of and get them game ready for game situation. I saw my soccer skills literally explode over the off season when I made a decision to do my very own individual soccer training instead of join another club team.
Did you fully grasp the average time a player has the ball in a given game is 9-15 seconds? So you need to understand that the time you have the ball is extremely important. Just as important you need to understand that the time off the ball needs to be much more sharp since that's a vast majority of the game.
How can you do that exactly? Moreso, what should you be learning? These are both very common questions I get.
When you think of soccer you should be thinking of a couple of factors to make you a game changing player. Personal skill, speed, conditioning, and what I call your soccer I.Q. which is the ability to out think people on the area are only a small number of aspects of overall soccer training. You have to also street soccer understand where you need to be, where your teammates should be and where the ball needs to go. players which are Great have great soccer I.Q.'s and that does not happen by accident. It comes through practice, understanding, and above all great guidance from a knowledgeable coach.
The third mistake that many make is definitely the biggest.
3. Soccer Training is ninety % mental.
Now this could come as a major shock to you but let's think about the nine seconds you've the ball on average per game. What are you doing the rest of the game. You're supporting, helping other players defend certain spaces of the field, and you are making runs into space. What do all these have in common?
Sure while they are looking for some physical running that is easy to train for, they are mostly mental.
A lot of people, particularly in America, tend to play soccer physically. Simply because I outsmarted people constantly, I was generally the smallest yet most effective player on the pitch. How do you recognize if you need to go in for a slide tackle or perhaps you should jockey the defender? Should you then push the offensive player towards the sideline so he does not have a place to go and should you turn him inside towards another teammate that is supporting you?
These are all things coaches do fail in teaching kids. Please do not make that mistake! I cannot stress that enough. There is a big line between being a soccer player and an incredible soccer player. But there is a very fine line between an excellent soccer player and an epic soccer player that people will remember, will need to play with, and fear playing against.
This all begins with the right guidance, the appropriate mental mindset, and the right soccer training.
Soccer has and will always be coined as a sport of mistakes. It is who makes less mistakes and who are able to capitalize on another team's mistakes. So whether you are a coach, a parent, or possibly a soccer player that's looking to become great remember that it all starts with your individual soccer training before anything else.