Response to a training question…”What can I do to improve my fitness and shooting power?” For fitness training, I suggest you work on improving your capacity for repeated short sprints. Soccer is an “intermittent sprint” sport. Players are called on to perform a series of explosive actions (sprint, tackle, jump for a header, etc.) with […]…
Here is a player’s question and my response. I hope this helps some of you out there too: “… I want a REALLY detailed answer please. I’m totally new to soccer and in about 14 days im going to turn in the paperwork to try out for the team. I’m totally new. WHAT I WANT […]…
I was recently asked the following question: “What are some drills I can do to get better at playing Defensive Center Midfield?” My answer: Rather than “drills” it’s better to think in terms of the skills and ideas. This position, often called a “Holding Midfielder” can be thought of as a deep lying playmaker. A […]…
Your level of success will depend on how hard you are willing to work. I’m sure you know that it won’t be easy. If you feel that you are reasonably ready now then you should ask the coach if you can join in on the team’s workouts this spring. They are probably training 3 or […]…
To summarize the question, “How do I build up my confidence and not feel afraid on the field?” A wise man once said that “Good judgement comes from experience…and experience comes from – bad judgement.” You have to play the game. It is important to try and even to fail. We ask ourselves a lot […]…
Goalkeeping, like playing any other position is about skills and ideas. Whether it is your positioning, handling, diving, dealing with crosses and high balls, or distribution, you can learn these skills and ideas either by yourself against a wall or in small-sided games. For example, to begin learning diving technique, I like to have GKs […]…
The idea is that you want traction. You want your cleats to dig into the ground and not into your feet. Cleats have different configurations. There are replaceable studs for soft ground – typically a 6-stud configuration. There are also “molded” which have 12-studs,”turf shoes” with many studs, and flat shoes like you would use […]…