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Learning How to Play Soccer

September 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. It is, therefore, not surprising that millions of children around the world want to learn how to play soccer.

Although it looks simple, there is a lot more to learning how to play soccer than first meets the eye. The following explains some of the skills which are required when learning how to play soccer.

Learning the Rules

To learn how to play soccer first you must clearly understand its rules. Although a relatively simple game, soccer involves some complex rules which need to be learnt and understood from a young age. For example, what constitutes a fair and unfair challenge, how to take a throw-in, and the somewhat controversial and confusing offside rule all need to be understood when learning how to play football and becoming an accomplished player.

Basic Skills

Developing a basic skill set is vital when learning how to play to soccer.

Most soccer schools will first teach the skill of dribbling and ball control. Once this has been mastered the player can then move on to passing, shooting, heading and tackling. These are the basic components of any soccer player and will be developed over time and with practice.

Tactics

Once a soccer player has learned the basic skills of how to play soccer, they must move on to understanding the game further by learning about tactics.

Many soccer coaches will also offer tactical training in the form of soccer coaching exercises and some may even employ the use of DVDs, in order to get their point across. It is only when a player fully understands the role of tactics in the game, and can apply these in a match that they can fully appreciate the importance of the coach, and the role of each position in the team.

Additional Attributes

Learning how to play soccer is about much more than technical attributes. What separates great football players from the rest is their levels of commitment and professionalism. Having the right attitude and ability to bounce back from setbacks is essential, as well as having carefully planned nutrition and fitness regimes in order to ensure that you keep your body in excellent condition. These are factors which are often overlooked, however, combining these factors with hard work, practice and dedication is essential if you are going to learn how to play football effectively.

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Teaching Children How to Learn Soccer-Simple Tips

September 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When setting out to begin your teaching, you must realize the mental stage the child must be in order to learn the sport with success. In the beginning stages of learning, the child’s mind may tend to wonder a tad. You should realize that their attention span may not be with you immediately as this is new to them and they can be distracted easily. Taking things slow will help bring them around and eventually bring more attention to you.

I would recommend starting out with some lateral movements, simple fundamentals, and the basic rules of the game. Their mind will examine how this process is done in a correct manner, and then will begin to implement the process. It can be very easy for a child to get frustrated in the beginning process, but you will be the key their success. They may have to repeat certain steps you teach them multiple times in order to feel comfortable.

You must be calm, patient, and willing to repeat things over and over until the steps become routine. Some children will learn quicker than others so you must keep that in the back of your mind when teaching. Repeating steps more than twenty-five times usually becomes habit. Then a child’s mental state will become more relaxed at that point because they become more confident in their actions and their movements become more fluent.

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Warming up and stretching the body before you begin practice will help get the blood flowing in the body. This will help get the mind focused and ready as you start implementing the visual aspects of your practice. Having a warmed up body will also help prevent them from injuries during practice.

As the child gets into these habits, this will free up your their mind to learn more advanced techniques, because the basics become second nature to them and they don’t  need to try as hard on them.
Preparing your child for success in any sport will consist of a few key elements. Building them a solid foundation is a great place to start. You can start by identifying their basic skills they have already learned in life and then lay down those skills as the foundation. As you gradually give them new obstacles to overcome, this will start the building block of success.

Be sure not to let the child become complacent when learning advanced techniques. This can be easy for them to fall into because the mind and body do not have to try so hard on the easier skills they have already learned. It’s never a bad idea to keep the mind guessing in your teaching. Even for small children, mixing things up in your practice, will keep them interested and keep their focus sharp.

Now once your child or the child you are coaching gets to the point were they have mastered both the simple and advanced skills you have taught them, you can tweak and refine their skills to truly help them to perform at their highest level.

Greg is a father of six children and loves coaching and developing their mental skills to become better athletes and all around human beings. If your child is looking to learn soccer.
in a more advanced fashion, check out this link for some more tips to learn soccer. http://www.clintontalk.com/learn-soccer-2/

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How To Learn Soccer Tricks

September 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Let’s face it, even if you’re not much of a soccer player, knowing how to handle a few soccer tricks can mean a world of difference in your friends circle. Improving on your soccer tricks and skills isn’t just for impressing your friends and the ladies though. They can also get your match performance to a higher level, because they’re surprising and effective.

I can give you a lot of examples on that part: remember when Ronaldinho first started to perform his famous Elastico move? (flicking the ball with his outside of the foot to the left, then quickly cutting it with his inside) Nowadays, a defender that’s facing Ronaldinho in a one versus one duel will surely be careful against this move, but when the Brazilian had just invented it, it was extremely surprising and he managed to create havoc whenever his Elastico would work.

I’m not saying you’ll be able to perform as well as Ronaldinho after you learn soccer tricks like that, but it can definitely give you a surprising edge in a match situation.

Another great example of soccer tricks and skills that can make a difference is Zidane’s 360 spin. Although it’s a very effective and simple move, it wasn’t until Zizou popularized it that players all over the World actually used it in matches.

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So, if you learn soccer tricks, you’ll be able to gain an edge on your opponent, but that probably wasn’t that hard to figure out anyway. The real question is HOW to do soccer tricks and how to learn them correctly. Here’s what I would suggest.

Try to have a step-by-step approach when you learn soccer tricks, categorizing them on difficulty levels. Start with the basic ones, move on to advanced moves and once you get both these categories well under your boot, try out those special few that are extremely hard to master.

Obviously, if you’re practicing these moves by yourself, or with the help of a friend, you’ll be able to perform them with no or little resistance, which is rarely the case in a real match (and if there’s no resistance, why would you perform them in a match anyway?). So besides practicing the actual move, you’ll also have to work on the timing of your soccer tricks and skills.

A couple of basic moves could include: the Zidane 360 spin, the stop and go, the Puskas V-move or the fake shot dribble.

Under the advanced category, you could try the Cruyff move, the stepover and double stepover or the Scotch.

Moves that are quite difficult to master and are better off left for last, include: Ronaldinho’s Elastico move, the “Brazilian” rainbow move or the Van Persie sweep.

Start off with the basic ones and practice them thoroughly, until you feel you’ve mastered these soccer tricks. Of course, when you move on to the advanced moves, these will take a lot longer to get a solid grip over, but you will have had already built some basic ball control skills from the basic dribble.

More difficult dribbles like the Elastico, or the rainbow kick will take a while to get a grip on, but don’t get discouraged if you keep failing on executing them! With enough practice, there’s no trick that you won’t be able to handle. The only thing that kills learning a specific trick is saying “I can’t do this” and cutting it off your list.

Niv Orlian is the author & the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides info on various topics related to soccer. For more info on how to play soccer like the pros click here.

Learn McGeady/Frank Ribery Spin football skill STEP 1 With the inside of your foot touch the ball behind your standing leg. STEP 2 Transfer your body weight to the foot you have just kicked with and turn, touching the ball using the other foot. After any turn, make sure you sprint away from the defender. Keep practicing Steve STRskillSchool

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