Football skills

[minestrone]

Get a set of cones/bottles/stones whatever and try dribbling round them in the back garden for an hour a night for a few weeks and you will improve dramatically. Keep your eye on where you are going (cone) and not the actual ball. Use the outside of the foot.

When passing always use the inside of the foot.

You might not get to be a Pele but you wil notice a big difference. The main thing is to feel easy with a ball at your feet.

[suityou01]

Good point. I view our Sunday kick-about with ambivalence, it's good exercise and I try to get into a positive frame of mind before-hand. I spend the first few minutes optimistically trying to get stuck in, but then it doesn't work and a)people stop passing the ball to me (not in a nasty way, I understandably just become the last resort to pass to) & b) I start to feel embarrassed and stop trying to get the ball since I know I'll stuff it up every time.

Try and make some space, run into areas that have no players. If you believe you are in a good position, call for the ball. You'll get passed to more often if you move about. When your team lose posession, mark the opposition by standing between them and your goal (goal side it's called). Don't dive in, just stand in front. They will have to try and get around you this way. As soon as people see you making the effort to get back and mark players you will get praise.

If you just goal hang and fluff the occasional pass it's no good for moral or fitness. I am of course making a load of assumptions here.

Movement on and off the ball is just as important as ball control. Try working on your movement, the rest should follow.

[Clippy]

Have you tried doing a search on YouTube for instructional videos?

e.g. Soccer Training
(The search term "football training" seems to bring up a lot of American football related videos which I couldn't be bothered to go through).

Alternatively, why not try Amazon for training DVD's.

[xoggoth]

Last played a match about 15 years ago and was crud then. The way to look good is to join the team of a very small company, then they are so short of players there is probably someone even worse than you.

[Moscow Mule]

BBC kids website has some instructional videos from the pros IIRC.

[d000hg]

Last played a match about 15 years ago and was crud then. The way to look good is to join the team of a very small company, then they are so short of players there is probably someone even worse than you.

No, I can assure you that is my role in the team

[suityou01]

No, I can assure you that is my role in the team

According to Ron Manager you need :

Courage

Understanding (of the game)

Nouse

Tenacity

HTH

[Clippy]

Here you go, this should turn you into Beckham in no time.

[Tensai]

I was a bit like you, didn't really start playing regularly until Uni, where I was truly awful... Few tips that helped me a lot.

- Play within your limits.
- Make your first few touches in a game as simple as possible (max your chances of success,) it will improve your confidence.
- Stay calm. If you f**k it up, forget it, and concentrate on the next time.
- Laugh a bit, it's only a game.

And most importantly (IMHO)...

- Work on your fitness. Good core strength=improved balance (and less panting)=less "wobble" when passing/shooting.

Good luck.

[Zippy]

According to Ron Manager you need :

Courage

Understanding (of the game)

Nouse

Tenacity

HTH

All I can see is Gary lineker's sweaty forehead ....