Unlock Your Potential: Essential Soccer Skills Guide
Soccer skills are honed on the practice field. It takes hard work and determination to learn the fundamentals. Training is an essential part of learning how to be a good soccer player. If you want to improve, it’s important to work regularly on soccer drills. It’s not easy to do the work, but if you stick with it, it’ll make you a better player.
Basic Soccer Skills
There are 3 basic soccer skills that beginners and advanced-level players need to learn to improve and refine their game.
Dribbling
Passing
Shooting
Mastering these skills is an important part of becoming a good soccer player. Below are drills that can help elevate your game.
Soccer Drills & Training Routines
Dribbling: Dribbling means controlling the soccer ball with your feet. It’s important for setting up passes to teammates, retaining possession of the ball, and moving the ball through space. Good dribblers play with their heads up, they’re balanced, and can change directions quickly.
Open Field Drill: For beginners, dribbling a ball is often their introduction to soccer. The open field drill is as simple as it sounds. Kick a soccer ball in an open space, using the inside and outside of your feet. The purpose of this drill is to get used to feeling what it’s like to control the soccer ball with your feet.
Inside to Outside Drill: For intermediate-level players, the goal is to get used to controlling the ball with the inside and outside of your foot. Set up two cones about 20 yards apart. Dribble the soccer ball using the inside of your right foot and then the outside of it. Return to the original cone using your left foot in the same manner. Execute this drill as quickly as possible.
Stepover Dribbling Drill: The stepover is an advanced move that players use to get out of situations where they are closely guarded. The player moves the ball rapidly between their feet while leaning in the opposite direction that the ball is moving. To practice this move, start in a stationary position without using a ball. Move the right foot to the left of the imaginary ball and then while leaning left, move your right foot over the imaginary ball to the right side. Repeat this using your left foot. Eventually, build to using a soccer ball and then move the ball forward using the stepover. The last part of the drill is to perform the stepover with an opponent in front of you.
Passing: Passing means advancing the ball on the ground to your teammates. Good passing helps teams move the ball downfield and get in position to score.
Wall Touch Drill: All you need for this beginner’s drill is a soccer ball and a wall. Stand about 5 feet away and pick a target on the wall. Repeatedly aim for that spot, hitting the ball with varying degrees of power. Notice how the ball rebounds off the wall and try to get the ball to return to the same spot every time. This helps with timing and accuracy.
Rondo Passing Drill: This super fun drill uses at least six players. Players line up in a circle that is marked by cones. One or two players are in the middle of the circle trying to intercept the ball. The outside players must pass the ball to a teammate while the middle players attack. This drill makes players use all their teammates.
Give & Go Dummy Drill: This drill requires 1 stationary player and 2 mobile passers. A player in the middle is the dummy, who lets the pass go between their legs. The player who receives the pass then passes it back to the dummy, who can either stay in the middle or move to the side. The dummy rotates back to where the receiving passer was, and that player becomes the dummy. The goal is to learn to disguise who you are passing the ball to.
Shooting: Shooting usually means kicking or heading a ball to the goal to try to score. To win in soccer, you must score, which means learning to shoot is a necessary skill.
No Goal Shooting: For beginners, the easiest way to learn what it feels like to kick a ball toward the goal is find an open space in the backyard and practice taking shots to a designated, undefined area. This gives them a feel for how much power to use and how to aim. You can also vary the distances. The next progression in this drill is to use a regulation goal that is unguarded. Practice shots from varying distances and measure how many you make.
1-on-1 Shooting: In this intermediate drill, the goal is to mimic live game action. You’ll need a defender to guard you. This teaches players how to adjust their position in real-time, and it helps with their dribbling skills. To make the drill more real, add a goalie.
Ball Bounce Shooting: One of the most difficult positions to shoot the ball from is when it bounces to the attacker. With this drill, another player bounces the ball to the shooter, and they must attempt a shot while the ball is in the air or bouncing. To make it more challenging, add a goalie.
Staying Motivated & Consistent
Practicing soccer drills is about repetition and laddering. You need to do the same drills repeatedly to improve. Once you’ve mastered a skill, you should add another element to the drill to reach a higher level of competency. To stay fresh and motivated, add strategies that’ll keep you engaged.
Goal Setting: Have some measurable outcome for each drill you do. For instance, that could mean documenting how many times you score in 1-on-1 goal shooting over a defined time.
Compete: The best way to diminish the monotony of individual practice is to play games with your teammates. This could be a live scrimmage or even just an informal match with your friends.
Take Time Off: Learning individual soccer skills can be a grind. Plan for down time and do something you enjoy. A break should reenergize you when you return.
Whether you’re a beginner or a veteran player, you can take your soccer game to a new level if you stay disciplined and practice soccer drills that match your level of experience. Improving makes soccer more fun and rewarding, and it makes the demanding work worth it.