How to develop a Wayne Rooney football training plan?

December 6, 2006 4:15 PM

I want to seriously improve my football (soccer) skills. I play fairly often in a mixture of 5-a-side games and an 11-a-side team, but my skills are improving very slowly as the games don't involve any training, just playing and you only get the ball for a fraction of the game. I was hoping for suggestions to make up some kind of training plan of my own as well as getting a better understand of football tactics.

I've recently started to play 11-a-side, and there are a whole host of things which I need to work on which you don't get in 5-a-side games, mainly different tactics, holding your position, a lot more heading and sliding tackles etc. I'm a pretty big guy, so if I can base other exercise around the football I love then hopefully it will help with motivation to keep getting fitter. I was planning to do some training on my own away from the games I play, e.g. gym, maybe some football exercises in the park etc. so if anyone has any recommended methods then let me know.

What I'm good at: defending, passing, shooting
What i need to improve: close control of the ball, speed of movement, dribbling at speed, heading, slide tackling, team tactics, free kicks etc.

Ideally I would like suggestions for a) what sort of training I should be doing away from the games to improve b) the best way to improve my fitness in relation to football c) how I can get a better understanding of tactics.

All help will be welcome, I've looked around on the internet and it seems there are a lot of resources for young kids and sites that tell you how to do "the Ronaldinho" but not a lot of good information about basic training on your own. All I want to do is get better for the games I play and have more fun.

posted by equality7-2521 to sports, hobbies, & recreation (10 comments total)

Something I did when I got into playing pickup games over a summer was just simply going outside and juggling. Juggle and try to get as many consecutive hits as possible without the ball hitting the ground.

It seems like such a useless skill but trust me when I say that a few months juggling made a world of difference in my ball handling. You mention close control of the ball, this will help.

The skills you learn juggling will help you in controlling balls that come at you at speed, dribbling, making special moves, and otherwise will just make your legs a lot stronger and quicker.

Other than that, I don't have much for ya. I only ever played on a casual basis.
posted by zhivota at 5:23 PM on December 6, 2006

BBC masterclasses?
posted by jamesonandwater at 5:44 PM on December 6, 2006

This is pretty much the same answer as zhivota. But I noticed my game improve quite a bit after I took up hackey-sack. I think it was my reflexes getting sharper. I was able to receive and control the ball better.

As for dribbling. You could always try and get hold of some cones or markers. Then set up a course to dribble through. Timing yourself each time.
posted by gergtreble at 5:45 PM on December 6, 2006

I'll second the juggling: I haven't been playing for long, and was lucky enough to start under a fantastic development-focussed coach. He made us start every training session with at least 15 minutes juggling, and actually said that if we were going to do anything at home, our time would be best spent juggling. He told me to aim to be able to consistently do 120 in the air, beginning with just feet, and then eventually being one of those awesome ninja circus people with a ball bouncing off either ear. Helps ball control, speed of movement -> dribbling at speed, and heading.

The best way to improve your fitness for football: go running. I play at a fairly low level, and there's always some chubby girl who has ball skills, but is still a weak player because she's the slowest person on the field. You should be able to at least hold a decent jog for as long as your games go (my personal theory here), and a little sprint training wouldn't hurt either. (Maybe a quick sprint every few minutes during your long jog?).

Dribbling at speed and ball control can be done on your own as well, but takes more real focus (I can juggle at home, but you have to go to a park to dribble.) If by free kicks you mean spot kicks at goal, you can practice these so long as you have a goal, and don't just kick it at the middle. Pick a spot near one corner, go for the same one every time, and practice till you can hit it every time.

Team tactics, and so on are much harder to develop on your own, but I would suggest you just watch matches. Live is even better than television, because you can actually see the positioning. My coach used to try and get us to hang around and watch the higher teams at our club, and pick out the player in our position (or any position), then watch them, not the game.

Disclaimer: as I said, I haven't been playing for long. This may all be rubbish.
posted by jacalata at 5:59 PM on December 6, 2006

For tactics, I'd suggest going to a bookshop and looking at coaching books until you figure out what level your understanding is at.

Watching games is great, but it's even better if you can start to put together what both teams are doing, and why it is or is not working in that situation.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 6:19 PM on December 6, 2006

the *best* thing you can do is to go to a field in the evening/night with your ball, by yourself, and just dribble, practice passing, and shooting. do this frequently for a long time. the combination of practice, concentration, and light deficit with help you build skills and better coordination very quickly.
posted by pallen123 at 6:47 PM on December 6, 2006

Juggling and dribbling are very good. Try to concentrate on control with the outside of your foot while dribbling. The instep is a pretty easily controlled area. The outside, especially at higher speeds, takes a bit more of a learned touch to control, but it comes in very handy. Using cones to weave through will help. Start with them spread quite a bit apart, and slowly decrease the distance between them and speed it up a bit.

Two drills from my youth (where I spent many a year playing 5-6 full seasons a year between outdoor 11 man and indoor 6 man, plus moonlighting for various teams for tournies) --

1 - Toe-taps: start with the ball in front of you. Alternate jumping and tapping the toe of your boot on the ball, all the while maintaining control of the ball. Once you get to the point you can do this at a decent speed, begin rotating around the ball as you tap it.

2 - Liberty Bell (as we called it in the states). Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart with the ball centered underneath you. Kick the ball between your feet (like a bell-clapper would go). Again, as you get better at it, you can tool around a bit, i.e. revolve with the ball, or eventually go up and down the field in this fashion.

With both of those, wean yourself off of watching the ball as you do it. This will help develop eye-foot co-ordination and give you a much better feel for the ball.

Also, if you can find a place with large concrete/brick wall, you can spend hours working on various parts of the game. It's a great way to practice trapping the ball as it comes in from varying angles and heights (chest traps, upper leg, and using your boot to stop it dead in its tracks on the ground). It's also a great way to practice long distance placement (assuming you've a way to identify parts of the wall and can aim for them and tell if you've made the mark or not).

As far as headers, free kicks, and even though you don't mention them, throw-ins go, those can really only be practiced with another person or two. We used to volley the ball with each other using our heads only to practice passing the ball via headers, as well as juggle in pairs or groups. Surely someone else on your team would be willing to meet up once a week or so to hone their skills.
posted by Ufez Jones at 8:11 PM on December 6, 2006

Another thought.

If you are practicing on your own try to find a wall you can kick against. This way you will be able to practice passing AND receiving on your own.
posted by gergtreble at 9:48 PM on December 6, 2006

I've been playing soccer at various competetive levels for over twenty five years. Improving your touch on the ball means going out and touching the ball. The more time you put into it, the better, and faster you will improve. Practicing juggling the ball with every surface of your foot: laces, outside, inside, heal and inbetween. Practice rolling the ball with your cleats. The liberty bell is a good one too. Practice Practice Practice, its the only way to get better. Learning to use both feet equally well will also give you an advantage with ball control and passing. Once you start to get a feel for how the ball responds off your foot, start mixing combinations as you run. This will allow you to change direction quickly. Go to pro soccer matches. Watching a team play is different than seeing one guy with the ball on tv. Find a friend and practice beating him one on one with the dribble. Get out and kick the ball around as much as you can. Have fun.
posted by p8r1ck at 11:47 PM on December 6, 2006

Ok- thanks for the answers, I think they are all pretty good, I understand that practice is the key, but just needed a bit of direction in what and how to practice!

My plan then is to:

* practice ball juggling often (zhivota)
* build up to running for 60/90 mins to improve stamina (jacalata)
* watch live football games (jacalata/p8r1ck)
* get a wall and practice touch/control (gergtreble)
* get a friend to practice heading/throws/long range (Ufez Jones)
* read up on tactics (Tacos Are Pretty Great)

I think this is a good list of things to work on, and now I have a clear plan I can see how I can fit it in with what I do at the moment. Some of the ideas I hadn't even thought about such as watching more real live football, I see that the problem with watching TV is you're not watching what happens away from the ball. Anyway- hopefully I can come through winter and be back in 2007 a bit better :-) Thanks everyone!!!
posted by equality7-2521 at 3:26 PM on December 7, 2006