What do Christiano, Messi, Kaka and company all have in common?

They have the ability to receive the ball with the greatest of ease and like a great chess player, the ability to think five steps ahead of the game leaving everyone behind in their dust.

Many players will concentrate on passing and shooting but how many players practice receiving the ball?

Is receiving the ball important?

Believe it or not, this is what separates the great players from the average.

Why?The modern game of soccer today is played at a frantic pace.

Super conditioned athlete’s battle over the smallest of inches.

Games are won and lost in a split second.

The days of old when you could have a cup of tea while receiving the ball are gone. Spend more than a couple of seconds trying to control the ball and the chances of you being dispossessed increase exponentially.

Spending more time on the ball without clear possession could result in a meeting with your opponent’s studs or cleats. Remember you only have a couple of seconds to control the ball. Count it, 1 cat and dog, 2 cat and dog, would you have control of the ball?

Lets take this a step further shall we?

Ronaldo and co can receive the ball and have it under control in a split second. Simultaneously they can calculate where their opponent is and where the pressures coming from.

They know where to go and which direction they must turn.

The free space is calculated down to the very last blade of grass.

Do they sprint or shield the ball?

Do they attack or simply build up the play?

The modern day soccer player can have all this information processed within a blink of an eye.

The modern player has the ability to receive the ball using his feet, thighs, chest and head. When receiving the ball you must try and maintain an open stance. Do you know why?

An open stance keeps you balanced and gives you the ability to use both sides of the body. So how do you remain balanced when receiving the ball?

Always stand with your feet shoulder width apart and never be flat footed. Just before receiving the ball, lean forward on your toes of your feet and extend your arms for balance while keeping your head up and relaxed.

This covers the basic mechanics of receiving the ball. Do you agree?

How many different ways can you receive the ball?

Lets start with,

Receiving the ball with the inside of the foot.

• Make sure your body is always behind the ball while turning slightly sideways. The sideways movement will allow you to defend the ball away from the defender.
• Make sure your foot is 90 degrees. This angle gives you the greatest surface area to control the ball.
• On impact, withdraw the foot slightly and relax the leg muscles to cushion the ball. If you hold your leg too rigid the ball will bounce off your foot and into the defenders possession.
• The foot should be placed just under the centre of the ball.

Things to consider,

• Where is your opponent? Based on this answer, decide on the space you want to take the ball in.
• As the ball travels towards you, position your body in the direction you want to travel with the ball.
• Guide the ball in the desired direction.
• Turn on the burners and accelerate away from your opponent.

Receiving the ball with the instep.

• This technique is used when the ball is dropping from height. This by far is the most difficult technique to master because the surface area of the shoelace region is small.
• You also need to judge the height and momentum of the ball.
• Provide the necessary touch or cushion to control the ball.

So how do we accomplish this movement?

• Raise the controlling foot beneath the line of the ball and use the laces to come in contact with the ball.
• On impact, lower the foot and leg simultaneously while relaxing the ankle on impact.
• To master this you will need to practice, practice and practice.

Receiving the ball with the chest.

• The chest by far offers the greatest surface area for receiving and controlling the ball. To receive the ball with your chest you need to thrust your chest out towards the ball with an arched back.
• On impact, withdraw your chest so this action cushions the ball and removes the pace off the ball.
• Keep your arms bent and raised so this creates a barrier between you and your opponent.

Receiving the ball with the outside of the foot.

• This technique is crucial for strikers who want to keep their defenders at a safe distance.
• Receiving the ball with the intention to move off in another direction.
• Maintaining possession and slowing the pace of the game down.
• Waiting for support from the midfielders.

• Place your foot at angle of 45 degrees while bending your knees.
• On impact, gently turn the outside of the foot in the direction you want to travel.

Most players will read this and agree with the following techniques. But how many players will actually get out there and practice them?

Not many!

“May the winds of destiny blow you to the stars.”

In modern soccer, speed is of paramount importance. Back in the days, several top teams carried one or two slow moving players whose selection was justified by their outstanding ball skills. Such a luxury could not be tolerated in today’s game. There is so little time to work the ball, so little space in which to control it, that no successful team can afford any slow movers.

Speed Of Movement

Many athletes, especially track sprinters, are able to run very fast along a set course or a straight line. But this is only half the requirement. How many of these sprinters are able to stop suddenly, take off again or even change direction? These are the basic requirements of a soccer match.

Many people claim that a player is born either fast or slow and cannot be made into a speedster if he does not possess the natural genetics. To some extent this is true, but with the right training, speed can definitely be improved. So how do we improve our speed? How do we go about getting match sharpness?

Sprint Workout

• Place 6 cones on the ground spaced 5 metres apart. Starting from the first cone, jog at an easy pace to the second cone and make a flat-out sprint to the third; walk to the fourth cone while relaxing with deep breathing exercises; jog from the fourth to the fifth cone and finish the run with another flat-out sprint to the sixth and final cone. Allow sufficient time for recovery ( about 2 minutes) and then repeat the circuit.
• Another great sprint exercise is this, measure out a distance of approximately 100 metres and mark the end/finish line with a marker or cone. Set yourself a time to run the distance, using 75% of your maximum effort. A good rough estimate is 14 seconds although this time depends on the age and physical condition of the player. Having run the 100 metres at 75%, walk back to the starting line while doing your deep breathing exercises. The walk back should only take you approximately 1 minute. Repeat this sequence 10-20 times depending on your level of fitness.

Sprint Exercises

The exercises below are valuable aids to improving speed as they concentrate on developing your leg muscles.

• Hoping a set number of times on each leg.
• While jumping on the spot, jump high and perform scissors movements with the legs, to the front, the rear and to the sides.
• While jumping on the spot, land alternately with the legs astride and with the feet together. The arms should be swung to assist with balance.
• While jumping on the spot, draw the knees and heels up as close as possible to the chin or chest area.
• Jump and spin completely around in a full circle. Alternate with spinning to avoid dizziness.

Ball Exercises

Introducing the ball into exercises is what soccer is all about and till this day I don’t understand how some coaches deprive their players of the ball.

A basic wall is required for these exercises,

• Throw the ball at the wall from a distance of about 5 metres. Sprint after the ball and trap it on the half volley or catch it on the instep before it hits the ground.
• An extension to this exercise is to place a cone about 5 metres from the wall. This time throw the ball against the wall from a distance of 3 metres, turn around, sprint around the cone and return in time to trap the rebound on the half volley.

Speed Of Thought

Speed of thought is an attribute for which no specific exercises are really applicable. It’s the process where the brain translates thought into action to deal with a situation. Speed of thought is a valuable asset to any player. From my experiences (open to debate), I have found that it differs greatly from one player to the next. However, the player who trains the hardest and puts the most effort into these drills is invariably the one who develops superior speed of thought.

So like I’ve said before, grit the teeth, pull up the sleeves and train hard. The rest will follow…….

Then soccer without the competitive urge to win is not really soccer, is it? Any sport for that matter without the competitive urge to win, is no sport at all. I know what you’re thinking. But you told us that winning should not be the number one priority in soccer. Did I really? Coaching young kids is different to coaching full fledged professionals. Everyone agree? Although winning is not as important during the infant years of a player, it’s still the driving force. It’s the reason why kids will run around like headless chooks in pursuit of that elusive ball. It’s nature, everyone follows the laws of evolution subconsciously. Survival of the fittest is just another way of saying winning.

Without making reference to kids soccer or full time professionals, the higher the stakes in soccer, the more a team will strive to win. Agree? Even when you play with your mates down at the local university grounds, where hardly anything hinges on the result except pride, the habit of winning is evident. Competition and the urge to win signifies that you are alive. You want to compete and feel the emotion of winning like you’ve just conquered some new country that hasn’t been discovered yet. Turn on the discovery channel and you will be amazed how competition exists in all forms of life, not just sport.

When I was playing as a professional, I always treated “good losers” with suspicion. What is a good loser anyway? By this they imply that they didn’t really care whether we won or lost, it’s all the same to them. If you are competing at a high level and you have these kind of players, get rid of them now! If there is such a person or you are that person, you shouldn’t be playing competitive soccer full stop.

“Hang on there cowboy”, you shout.

“For every winner there is a loser”, you insist.

Surely that’s not your argument is it?

Fair enough, for every winner there is a loser. Young players, kids must learn to accept defeat without carrying on. They don’t have to like it! Never accept the feeling of losing. Be gracious in defeat and take it. But get annoyed, study what went wrong and find ways of winning. Remember its not natural to lose in competition unless you want to end up like the Dinosaurs and other species that have perished. The more annoyed you get when losing, the bigger the chance next time you’ll end up on that winning side.

So how do you win? How do you master the art of winning? Well if you’ve got the time, read every post on this site. But let me give you a quick synopsis. First of all, your coach and your team mates must have the will to win. It’s no use pretending that winning is not important. Too many defeats leads to early discouragement and abandonment of the game altogether. If your scores for weekly games read 6-0, 6-0, 6-2 you should be worried even if you were playing tennis.

So how do you win? Start by learning and understanding your teams strengths and weaknesses. Exploit your strengths and try to conceal your weaknesses. Also study your opponents and the opposing team. Investigate their strengths, handicaps, style and isolate their star players. If necessary, change your tactics and style to combat your opposition. Trying to play skillful soccer against a team like Manchester United will inevitably end in disaster.

If your opponents are physical and are known to be much stronger than you in certain areas of the game, there is no point rushing into a game like an amateur boxer wanting to test his skills against Mike Tyson. Work out tactics that will disrupt your oppositions play. Flood the defence, occupy the midfield and make sure you counter every strength they have with a suitable plan.

However, one should caution against ultra defensive tactics. Even when you are faced with a far superior opponent, you should never give up entirely on winning. If Greece can win the Euro Cup any team has a chance of beating the big guns.

Think of this scenario for a while. Your opponents are concentrating and trying to break down your defensive resistance and even their defenders are joining in on the attacks. But what happens when you quickly absorb this pressure and counter attack. A quick, unexpected counter attack relieves the pressure on your goal but can actually result in a goal against play. If you do not believe me, watch the European Cup in Portugal when Greece won it. That’s all they did!

What happens when you see a small fighter come up against a taller, stronger fighter? The smaller guy is always on the defensive because he does not want to be killed. But don’t think for one moment that the smaller fighter while protecting himself is not looking for that one hit or miracle punch that will knockout his opponents teeth. So remember when playing superior teams, defend and counter. Be patient and when the time is right, strike with everything you’ve got. You never know, you might go home with some extra teeth.

Let’s admire Christiano Ronaldo for a while.

The Manchester striker has supersonic speed and the safest ball control going around. He scores goals with the greatest of ease. But it’s his ability to run with the ball that is his priceless asset.

Let us emphasize again that in the modern game we should aim at minimizing long runs with the ball which slow the game down unless they open up passages for the quick counter attack. When you run with the ball, usually you prod it in front of you with one of three parts of the foot; inside of the foot, full instep and outside of the instep. A player looking for a career in soccer must be able to use all three variations even if the full instep technique is rarely needed.

Inside of the Foot

We push the ball with the same inside part of the foot that we use for passing. The ankle is loose and relaxed and the foot is turned slightly outwards. The ideal sequence is to use the same foot for every prod or touch of the ball with every second step. When a great player runs with the ball, he gives the illusion of the ball being tied to his foot, with the ball being under his body which gives his opponent no chance of intercepting the ball. The likes of Zidane and Figo were the best at this technique and it seemed like they never lost the ball.

Full Instep

This is the most difficult of the three techniques. We keep pushing and prodding the ball with the full instep about where the bootlaces are. The foot is turned down towards the ground and it hits the ball near the top. The real advantage of this method is that the running style is more continuous.

Outside of the Instep

The foot is turned inwards and we keep pushing the ball with the outside of the foot which all but embraces the ball. When the opponent is running alongside or parallel with us, we keep the ball on the foot away from him on his blind side, preferably with the inside of the foot or outside of the instep.

When the opponent is approaching directly ahead, we lead the ball with the inside, giving us a better chance to dribble past him. With beginners or kids begin coaching with the inside of the foot variety. First let them walk with the ball, taking care of their balance, the distance between the foot and the ball and the direction. Later, when the kids get the hang of it we can speed this up, first through jogging and then running with the ball.

Let’s teach youngsters to be able to use both feet. The ultimate is the player who can run with the ball, pushing it ahead of him with both feet, changing direction whenever necessary, slowing down and speeding up to get rid of an opponent. South Americans are the master of this technique, shielding the ball perfectly and changing directions with the slightest movement of the hips. The English on the other hand prefer the direct, energetic sprints which may appear more spectacular but where the ball may be lost from the foot.

When training youngsters always remember to encourage, be patient and train them with the biggest smile you can produce.

“this is a good thing”

Soccer players these days have different skills and physical attributes. Some have lightning speed and can be seen burning up and down the flanks, others showcase their strength while man marking strikers and the strikers dazzle us with their short bursts and sharp turns. So what’s the point?  Although senior players play to their strength I would strongly suggest that the youngsters do the opposite.

Are you scratching your head yet? Coaches in Europe and in the Soccer Academies devise training methods that create a better overall player. Player development is based on working on your weaknesses. The training programmes create a balance between the strong and weak skills of a player. When Kids are left to their own devices at training, they will only train and work on the fun areas of the game. Give any young child a ball and an empty goal and they will spend the whole afternoon shooting the ball into the empty net. Is this a good thing?

In order for any player to significantly improve he must first eliminate all his weaknesses. So how do we combat this? Most players these days are designated right foot or left foot. Why? Most players have a psychological block that denies them the chance to strike the ball with the opposite foot. Why would you allow your child to only develop one foot? The best youth coaches in the world ensure that their players develop both feet. Not every child has access to these coaches so how do we tackle this problem? If you are aware of the problem you can easily fix it. Let your player strike the ball with his “natural” foot. Set a target and let your player try and hit the target using his stronger foot. Watch the player and study the approach and the striking technique. After a certain amount of repetitions, change feet. The idea of this training method is to replicate the same technique on the less desired foot. If the player struggles to use his opposite foot I’ve got three words of encouragement. Do you know what they are?

Practice, Practice, Practice.

With practice, encouragement and a lot of patience the player will develop confidence in his less preferred leg. The confidence will allow the player to use both legs efficiently and remove the psychological block that denies them the chance to use both legs. Could your players or child benefit from this? Absolutely, how many kids do you know that can kick with both legs? If you do know any, they are definitely the minority. Being part of this minority is a great way to get noticed and separated from the other millions of players that grace the green turf.

Has anyone heard the saying

Good things come in two’s

I couldn’t agree more, the left foot and the right foot.