Football Tips

changepartners

Lads,

Looking for some tips!

Im into athletics and endurance sport, I train fairly hard for an ordindary person, over ten hours a week consistently. So Im in ok "athletic" shape. Ive never played a team sport and would like to give it a go before im too old. I have the chance to play junior football and want to give it a go.

Im not great with my feet but have found if I work at stuff and make an effort I really improve. So Im playing a bit of casual soccer just to improve my touch and kicking. But could anyone give me some advice on things I could do to try and bring myself up to speed as a footballer? I have a few months until next season and like I say always find if I take the time to work at things I get better. Or it will let me see if I am hopeless.

The only things I can think of are trying to kick a few points, handpassing to the wall and soloing a bit.

Has anyone any suggestions or advice or wants to offer me a coaching session? :-)

Thanks!

passremarkable

kicking and handpassing against the wall is a good start..your on the right track. that will give you the basics and get you used to the feel of the ball. i would keep at this until you are confident enough to go training with the team. most teams wont start training until jan so you have plenty of time to get ready. its all about ball control, as you have pointed that your fitness level is ok.

Ath trasna

I would say soloing and kicking are 2 of the main things to focus on, if you could get someone else to work with and do a bit of kick passing and catching the high ball, this would also stand to you.

Also fitness wise, there is a lot of sudden burst of speed required and lots of twisting and turning along with taking a few hits so be prepared for that also.

elefant

If you want to take it seriously, basketball is, in my opinion, the best complimentary sport for Gaelic Football. Handling, tackling, vision and footwork improve massively. It's also great for fitness during the winter.

WhatNowForUs?

Kicking and handpassing against a wall is the best start.

What you then need to do is find some netting that when you kick the ball against it it will fling the ball back to you which recreates the flight of the ball (this will be hard to find) otherwise get a friend to kick with from various distances.

Remember always run to the ball and don't be found waiting and standing for it (most importantly, even the quarter of a second you are about to collect it) to come to you, if you master this you will have a head start on most Junior team players.

hardybuck

As much as it pains me to say it, you could probably afford to come back to the kicking of the ball a little bit later down the road. Depending on what position you're playing, you could play a whole game these days and only kick the ball 10-20% of the time you're in possession.

A lot of teams now don't want guys holding onto possession too long, and don't want guys kicking away too much possession either. Therefore, the solo and handpass is pretty important. You've got to be able to take the ball into your possession, break a tackle (in which you might take a solo) and hand it off to a support player these days, all in a few seconds.

If you can start slowly, taking four steps and soloing back into your hands, then a hop, solo again. Repeat that, and try to get progressively faster until you can solo and sprint without breaking stride.

Also, you can do the above drill, while rolling the ball in front of you occasionally to practice the pick-up. You can also kick the ball up in the air to yourself to get used to fielding the ball above your head.

Once you get comfortable with the above, you can start learning how to tackle, which is another day's work.

You can probably find some decent coaching videos up on YouTube now these days as well.

changepartners

hardybuck wrote: »

If you can start slowly, taking four steps and soloing back into your hands, then a hop, solo again. Repeat that, and try to get progressively faster until you can solo and sprint without breaking stride.

Also, you can do the above drill, while rolling the ball in front of you occasionally to practice the pick-up. You can also kick the ball up in the air to yourself to get used to fielding the ball above your head.

Thanks that makes a lot of sense, soloing at speed is sort of unnatural now and I need to work at it. Also the pick up off the ground is a bit unnatural to me.

davegrohl48

changepartners wrote: »

Thanks that makes a lot of sense, soloing at speed is sort of unnatural now and I need to work at it. Also the pick up off the ground is a bit unnatural to me.

Soccer solos help with the solo as it is the same action lightly kicking a ball so that it is spinning back towards you Don't count the steps, by the time the ball is settled in yer hands n yer back in stride yer ready to solo again You don't flick a ball very high in a solo ideally You can practice stationary just drop to yer foot n flick If yer right footed probably droppin right handed (popular style in Kerry to drop left hand to right but dont think as easy for beginners) have yer left hand ready to gather ball back. Worth putting kilometres of solo runs in until you get it as will really allow you play with more time on the ball Will free you up to think about shot or pass

hardybuck

davegrohl48 wrote: »

Don't count the steps, by the time the ball is settled in yer hands n yer back in stride yer ready to solo again

I'd disagree with you on that. You'd get three steps in before moving towards another solo, but maybe that's what you mean by getting back in stride. However, you shouldn't be breaking stride at all.

I think it's really important that players maximise their steps. One very bad habit which a lot of long established players have is taking a solo as soon as they gain possession. Keep it in the back of your head that you've got those four steps to break the tackle or control the ball before needing to solo.

slingerz

basics are catching and kicking. master those first using a gable wall. use both feet for kicking and kick in different ways against the wall and notice the difference, each may be applied in a game situation.

next master the pickup, again using both feet and gradually speed it up as you get better at it

look at the handpass, use both hands as well as examing passing it out the side rather than straight ahead.

WhatNowForUs?

We Might be getting to technical here for a first timer.

He needs to know the rules.
He needs to be able to catch into body and overhead.
He needs to be able to kick.
He needs to be able to handpass.
He needs to be able to pick the ball off the ground in stride.

Then he can go onto
Breaking the tackle.
Soloing.
Tackling (If hes fit he can make a nuisance of himself without being able to tackle and within the rules).
Getting GAA football fit.
Getting proficient on both sides of your foot for kicking.

keep going

In fact you might be much more effective foot baller if you never learned to solo

hardybuck

keep going wrote: »

In fact you might be much more effective foot baller if you never learned to solo

Eh...no. He wouldn't.

changepartners

WhatNowForUs? wrote: »

Tackling (If hes fit he can make a nuisance of himself without being able to tackle and within the rules).

That's what I was thinking!

keep going

hardybuck wrote: »

Eh...no. He wouldn't.

I suppose id better explain my logic . The poster is fit and mobile but has a very poor skill level (no offence) and to be effective it would be better to use his strenghts which would be his ability to track and compete and act as alink to other players rather than trying to master the most difficult skills.I am involved in coaching underage in a small junior club and we have to use every available player some that have poor skill levels. There isonly so much improvement you can do in a season and often in competitive games I would encourage these players not to solo and to look to pass quickly as I have found it often leads to break downs as the player will concentrate on soloing rather than looking for a pass.one tip is to always turn away from the opposing player as it allows you more space to make a better pass and its easier to protect the ball.players dream of soloing through and scoring the beautiful goal but that in reality is only a pipe dream for many players .I welcome your argumentsf

changepartners

Very interesting post keep going, seems practical for the likes of me! Pity I dont live in west Cork!

hardybuck

keep going wrote: »

I suppose id better explain my logic . The poster is fit and mobile but has a very poor skill level (no offence) and to be effective it would be better to use his strenghts which would be his ability to track and compete and act as alink to other players rather than trying to master the most difficult skills.I am involved in coaching underage in a small junior club and we have to use every available player some that have poor skill levels. There isonly so much improvement you can do in a season and often in competitive games I would encourage these players not to solo and to look to pass quickly as I have found it often leads to break downs as the player will concentrate on soloing rather than looking for a pass.one tip is to always turn away from the opposing player as it allows you more space to make a better pass and its easier to protect the ball.players dream of soloing through and scoring the beautiful goal but that in reality is only a pipe dream for many players .I welcome your argumentsf

I know that if I was running around on my own with a ball in a field, I'd be practising my solo, pickup and the odd bit of fielding above my head. It's a very handy thing you can do jogging around on your own. Kicking a ball off a wall will only give you so much.

As the lad plays soccer already, he should have a decent grasp of how to kick - probably not perfect but enough to get away with. He may as well work on the solo himself now while he can. If it's going to take longer to get right, the sooner he starts the better.

In terms of young players, I can remember doing endless practise as a 10-12 year old on the solo and other basics until we got them right. We did a good drill where the manager would have us go back and forth across the pitch, and he would randomly ask you how many fingers he was holding above his head - forcing you also to raise your head and look up while in possession.

I would agree on the values of releasing the ball quickly, but unless you've unreal support play, releasing possession without taking at least a hop or solo is likely to result in you giving rushed passes and giving away possession - a cardinal sin in my eyes.

keep going

hardybuck wrote: »

I know that if I was running around on my own with a ball in a field, I'd be practising my solo, pickup and the odd bit of fielding above my head. It's a very handy thing you can do jogging around on your own. Kicking a ball off a wall will only give you so much.

As the lad plays soccer already, he should have a decent grasp of how to kick - probably not perfect but enough to get away with. He may as well work on the solo himself now while he can. If it's going to take longer to get right, the sooner he starts the better.

In terms of young players, I can remember doing endless practise as a 10-12 year old on the solo and other basics until we got them right. We did a good drill where the manager would have us go back and forth across the pitch, and he would randomly ask you how many fingers he was holding above his head - forcing you also to raise your head and look up while in possession.

I would agree on the values of releasing the ball quickly, but unless you've unreal support play, releasing possession without taking at least a hop or solo is likely to result in you giving rushed passes and giving away possession - a cardinal sin in my eyes.

good tip with the fingers btw
I supose there is no harm in practicing on your own but as I said in games players can be more effective if they desist from soloing and concentrate on movement and space, not suggesting all players should avoid soloing but if our skill levells are poor.I found one of the hardest things to get across to youngsters is to move first, solo later, the first thing most do as soon as they get pocession is solo

hardybuck

keep going wrote: »

I found one of the hardest things to get across to youngsters is to move first, solo later, the first thing most do as soon as they get pocession is solo

Agreed, and it's something I touched upon in my earlier posts. Senior players also it to which grinds my gears. In drills we would penalise lads who took a solo in before taking their steps.

Also, if you're doing drills which involve lads going through cones, ladders etc., if you turn it into a race the lads will see pretty quickly that the guys who take the fewest hops or solos are likely to have an extra couple of yards on them. That will make it pretty visible to them.