Andrew Latham says that your first touch is critical in soccer. Juggling will help you learn how to control the ball and keep your balance, which can help you in tight spaces or tough situations (49). Your first touch can set you up for a pass, a shot, a dribble, and practically any other action of making contact with the ball.
When I was juggling, Latham's idea of juggling helping you balance and teaching you how to have control, helped me create a rhythm during my juggling. I had to make sure that I was on balance and stable with my plant foot, so then it would be easier for me to make contact with the ball and keep it up in the air. In the picture below you can see how my right foot is planted and balanced while my left foot is making contact with the ball and keep it in the air.
Not only was having a rhythm and being balanced help me do well in freestyle juggling, but having the right technique to make complete and good contact with the ball was probably the most helpful tip in my juggling process. "Most of the time, your toe will point up on contact to spin the ball back so you can keep it close and get lots of touches" (49). In the picture above and the video below, you are able to see how my toe is pointed up allowing the ball to have a backward spin, and bringing the ball right back down to my feet.
I would like to know your guys opinion and want to know if you think that back spin on the ball and short touches help you have more control on the ball? And i would also like to know what are some other tricks i could try in my juggling?
Latham, Andrew. Soccer Smarts for Kids: 60 Skills, Strategies & Secrets. Rockridge Press, 2016.
Tionna,
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was very interesting. It never occurred to me how effective juggling could be with your first touch in games. Also, I definitely agree with the benefits of back spin and using the technique you described. I think that something that could help improve your control with the ball could also be taking exaggerated but controlled "big" touches when keeping the ball up or even using one of those mini soccer balls. Lastly, I can't think of other tricks at the top of my head but maybe try doing consecutive around-the-worlds or be able to do tricks with both of your feet (that's if you can't already).
Joey,
DeleteI'm glad you found this idea and technique interesting, and thank you for the new trick idea of consecutive around-the-worlds. I might also try "taking exaggerated but controlled big touches", like you said, because it would probably help with my first touch as well. Thank you for the comment and now i have some new ideas to try out!
Very interesting and informative post Tionna! Though I didn't do specifically do soccer tricks, I do a different sport tricks and I see what you mean by how these tricks really help improve skills you already have. You are very talented at juggling! I am not great at soccer so I know how hard it must be to do this. For a side question, what type of strength do you think or know it takes to do this skill.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting and informative post Tionna! Though I didn't do specifically do soccer tricks, I do a different sport tricks and I see what you mean by how these tricks really help improve skills you already have. As you mentioned in your post, I also have a rhythm when doing my gymnastics tricks. It very helpful for me to be able to keep on certain tempo. You are very talented at juggling! I am not great at soccer so I know how hard it must be to do this. For a side question, what type of strength do you think or know it takes to do this skill? How do you build up that strength?
ReplyDeleteHi Mia,
DeleteThank you for the comment! When it comes to juggling, I strongly believe that balance plays a key role. With being balances I think that you could say that some type of strength is necessary to preform the task well. In my opinion, I think practice is the biggest factor to get better and even have a stronger leg to juggle. But, if your looking to gain strength, I think that having strong calves, quads, glutes and hamstrings would be the most important with juggling.
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ReplyDeleteHi Tionna, wonderful post! I love the art of juggling, and I completely agree with you, that being a good juggler helps you control your first touch out of the air. I am personally very good at trapping the ball out of the air and bringing it down, and I feel that practicing juggling all of these years that I have played soccer truly is beneficial! I always tip my foot up a little bit creating that back spin, because for me I can get much more little juggles in one go versus when I try a different technique like keeping my foot more flat, so I completely agree that the back spin of the ball and the little touches will give one much more control. A tip that I would have to add even more control to you first touch is when your juggling and a few kicks where you kick the ball high and then continue on juggling from that. A question I have for you is, how long ago did you achieve that juggling record?
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