High School Soccer Advice

[TheOnlyIThinkJake]

Hello. I am currently a sophomore and I play for my school's soccer team. We are a small school in the PIAA District 3, located in Pennsylvania.

I'm about 5'6" and 130 pounds, but I'm fast and have ball skills and a pretty decent shot. However I truly struggle with fielding punts and goal kicks.

I already am starting on Varsity, due to an injury, and I am doing quite well, but over the next 6 remaining games and through the next year's I want to take the next step. I want to become not only better, but also a team leader.

If you could share any advice/experience/workouts/routines that'll help me out please do.

Feel free to give any advice or tips, or anything else helpful, to help me.

Edit: Right now I play CAM, but occasionally go out to the wing.

[Rensational14]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

Fielding punts?

Well. Be able to shoot with 2 feet, thats one of the greatest assets you can have.

[TheOnlyIThinkJake]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

Fielding punts?

Well. Be able to shoot with 2 feet, thats one of the greatest assets you can have.

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely work on my left foot. I didn't know how to phrase the "fielding punts." What I meant was heading and chesting them down. Or forwards.

[dlxsf18]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely work on my left foot. I didn't know how to phrase the "fielding punts." What I meant was heading and chesting them down. Or forwards.

The term I've heard coaches use is "trap", as in chest trap, etc. What I recommend you do is go out every day and just practice juggling... bounce it 10 times, then on the volley blast it high up in the air and practice bringing it down on your chest, then with your knee, then with your foot, and repeat it over and over again.

That's basically all I do when I train on my own. Also, at the pitch near my house there's a wall and a trash can on my left and right so I'll practice bringing it down then passing it to my imaginary teammates, but it makes more sense for me as a deep lying midfielder than it would for you I think.

As a sophomore playing Varsity you're in good shape tbh. The most helpful advice I can give you is don't call it soccer haha. If somebody asks, tell them you play football- not out of embarrassment ofc, just that the rest of the world calls it football so we should too. Good luck

[XXstormmXX]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

If you can practice with your teammates you should try this.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3RNfaIW5k1g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Matt10]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

Find some ankle weights and wrist weights every single time you practice ball control. Make sure not to kick the ball hard (i.e. shoot) because you can pull a muscle, which could lead to other injuries. This is meant for "light" ball control only.

Throw the ball up in the air with backspin and forward spin - not just tossing it without spin. The reason is the ball comes to you with backspin or forward spin on it in realtime - why practice control without spin...

Something I practiced a lot: If you have a buddy/teammate, have them kick full shots at you from 10-20 yards away - and try to trap it with whatever you can. This is tough, but the more you do it - the more your reflexes will kick in on 50/50 balls and your foot-eye coordination will improve greatly.

I played the beautiful game in highshcool, college and professional overseas in Indonesia/Thailand. A lot of the methods I use are not traditional, but it's why I want to become a soccer coach one of these days

[TheOnlyIThinkJake]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

The term I've heard coaches use is "trap", as in chest trap, etc. What I recommend you do is go out every day and just practice juggling... bounce it 10 times, then on the volley blast it high up in the air and practice bringing it down on your chest, then with your knee, then with your foot, and repeat it over and over again.

That's basically all I do when I train on my own. Also, at the pitch near my house there's a wall and a trash can on my left and right so I'll practice bringing it down then passing it to my imaginary teammates, but it makes more sense for me as a deep lying midfielder than it would for you I think.

As a sophomore playing Varsity you're in good shape tbh. The most helpful advice I can give you is don't call it soccer haha. If somebody asks, tell them you play football- not out of embarrassment ofc, just that the rest of the world calls it football so we should too. Good luck

I'm definitely going to do the bounce drill, and I'll make sure to call it football from now on.

Thank you for your advice.

[TheOnlyIThinkJake]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

If you can practice with your teammates you should try this.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3RNfaIW5k1g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Next time me and my teammates get together, this is what we're doing.

[TheOnlyIThinkJake]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

Find some ankle weights and wrist weights every single time you practice ball control. Make sure not to kick the ball hard (i.e. shoot) because you can pull a muscle, which could lead to other injuries. This is meant for "light" ball control only.

Throw the ball up in the air with backspin and forward spin - not just tossing it without spin. The reason is the ball comes to you with backspin or forward spin on it in realtime - why practice control without spin...

Something I practiced a lot: If you have a buddy/teammate, have them kick full shots at you from 10-20 yards away - and try to trap it with whatever you can. This is tough, but the more you do it - the more your reflexes will kick in on 50/50 balls and your foot-eye coordination will improve greatly.

I played the beautiful game in highshcool, college and professional overseas in Indonesia/Thailand. A lot of the methods I use are not traditional, but it's why I want to become a soccer coach one of these days

I'll try and find some ankle and wrist weights to practice with. And I'm definitely going to practice touch, with the ball spinning. I'll also have to do the trap drill, as that is one thing that I know I have to improve on.

Thank you for your tips and advice.

[XXstormmXX]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

Next time me and my teammates get together, this is what we're doing.

Cool, it's something any winger or attacking midfielder should try. This was what Barca was practicing before their last champions league win, when they had the world's best passing game.

[haldinoo08]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

The best advice given to me by the coach of our damfakta (they're the women's team, where I live) was this: in sports, imitation is important. We look up to all of these athletes, and other people do too. If you like a player, don't be scared to copy some moves. Practicing other people's style helps you master your own. In fact, I learned to do soccer flip throws from the women's soccer team because I had a crush on the players

[TheOnlyIThinkJake]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

UPDATE: I'm now about 5'8" and around 140 pounds. I should be going into the preseason as one of the two starting central midfielders, barring anything strange.

Thank you to everyone who has put something on here. And please if anyone has anything, share it!

[JohnnyLamb]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

Cool, it's something any winger or attacking midfielder should try. This was what Barca was practicing before their last champions league win, when they had the world's best passing game.

It's what every team does at any level at most of the practices and/or before the game. Well, at least in Europe. When I played the game, we used to do this a lot.

[Review]

High School Soccer Advice

Not sure what your goals are but I'll throw out my advice. This is coming from someone who has played semi-pro and had a couple buddies drafted to the MLS.

Ankle weights - you should wear them under your jeans/pants all the time during the fall/winter. Trust me
Play pick up- why? Because you can be creative and try out new techniques on the ball. We used to play 5 vs 5 on tennis courts during the fall/winter when the nets were down
Kick ups - all the time and every day. Will improve your 1st touch - even if you think it's good it can always be better
Test your speed - often times ppl say they feel faster even though they might not be. Speed is something that has to be tested just like strength to see if there has been progress or gain.
Work on your body - abdominals, lower body and conditioning - cond. prob most important because when you get tired it's easier to make mental errors

Again, not sure what your goals are but if it's the MLS you need to stand out and have the ability to make something out of nothing. Moreover, you need to be in the absolute BEST condition of your life. If you want anymore advice just shoot me a pm some time. Good luck!


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[OneDrop]

Re: High School Soccer Advice

I'd suggest not wearing ankle weights. They can lead to injuries because they put stress on your ankles. The main thing you need to do if you want to get better at passing, dribbling and trapping the ball, is play in very small spaces. Like the Barca pre-game routine, do that but also try other things where you're allowed to dribble for example. The main thing is that you do this in a small space because you do not get a lot of time and your reflexes need to be on point. This is honestly the most important advice I can give you. Another thing I suggest is if you do kick-ups and you get good at it with a size 5 ball, start using a size 4 ball. Keep going down in sizes until you're finally able to do kick-ups with a tennis ball. Also, whenever you play football, use BOTH feet. This will give you an advantage over one footed players who might be better than you with their main foot.