I love soccer. It’s a beautiful game. So many millions and millions of people love the game. I’ve met so many good people from all over the world playing football. Just a ball and you can play.
If you want to be a better soccer player, at the end of the day and for the interest of long run, do it for the love of the game. Just play as much as you can. Take care of yourself. Dream about soccer. Work on your touch. You should be waking up at night because you are dreaming of soccer.
Remember if you are injured, you need to stop and get better or else your injury will continue to get worse. Are you playing in the World Cup? No? Then take a break. You need to push your body but you need to respect your body.
Table of Contents
Best place to become a better player
On the beach or with better players than you. If you play for four hours a day for as many days as you are at the beach, plus go running around looking at girls in bikinis (or the tidal pools), and go swimming and maybe surfing, you are going to be getting in some serious shape. And maybe you should be going to a beach in a soccer-loving country like Brasil? Playing in the sand also strengthens your legs a lot because it is a lot harder to run in sand. And playing barefoot will help give you a better touch. Just don’t use those plastic soccer balls or your feet will get really sore.
Juggling
Besides playing soccer, I think juggling is a great way to get your skills up. There are the basic foot touches, and thighs and head. But once you get those, there are also all the different pick ups from the ground and a gillion different ways to hit the ball with your foot. Laces, inside, outside, toe, heel, underneath. Plus all the spins and whatever else you can think of! You can juggle by yourself or against a wall, or with a friend, or playing soccer tennis or volleyball.
Mental obstacles and accomplishments
The main thing is to get into the flow so you can really feel the game (as it unfolds). Feel the ball, and let yourself play in the moment. Recently I have been hesitating and not creating as a player and I hope to get back to the source. Actually, since I wrote the last line, I have been getting more back to the source, but I want to go deeper where you start playing by intuition a lot more.
Physical accomplishments
You can build endurance if you are patient. Also doing lots of sprints and short bursts of playing at a high level or intensity will help immensely. Remember that physical endurance is a multi-year endeavour. You don’t have to push yourself year round. In fact, you should take breaks. But I think endurance has a culmulative affect; your endurance keeps on pushing up, as long as you take good care of yourself.
Technical issues
My main suggestions would be juggling, as well as working on the specific technical issue. Also, imagine it in your head, your muscle doing it just so, the ball moving, the field, the players. Start in slow mo and speed it up. And once your are normal speed, try to keep speeding it up.
Creativity and inspiration
It helps if it is coming from love. If you are having emotional issues regarging the game, admit it and let it out. Then you can play with love again. Also, watching soccer on TV, like the great games and squads will sort through your brain eventually. I think just being outside for a few hours will eventually lead to some inspiration. If you happen not to fell inspired, be gentle with yourself and make sure you play in a logical way. Your inspiration will return.
Feeling the flow of the game
The game always has flow, especially if the players can play. Just the fact there is a ball creates flow. Getting into the flow of game is part of the beauty of playing.