Soccer Terms

soccer rules kicking

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Soccer Tips & Moves : How to Kick Hard in Soccer

I’ve only minimal experience playing soccer. What’s the best way for me to learn the rules, techniques, etc.?

My “minimal experience” is a team at the age of five and kicking the ball around a couple times. I’m looking to play on an intermural team when I go to university and would like to be well-prepared, though I have only two years to get ready.

Read the fifa website and familiarise yourself with the rules of the game. I presume you are looking for help learning to play the game. there are a few skills to learn, which would be helpful. Best thing to do is find some friends who want to play, but if youre on your own…

Passing: learn to pass by kicking the ball against a wall. Kicking the ball with the inside of your foot is best way. Learn how much power you need to hit the ball. After you have the hang of it, aim for certain targets on the wall, to improve accuracy. Try passing the ball both on the ground and in the air against the wall. Dont be scared to use both feet, and if one of them is better than the other, dont fret, this is normal. Get someone to help and practice passing the ball further distances.

Shooting: Much the same as passing, but with more power and accuracy required. It would be good to have friend to go in goals for this, if you dont have goals, just use what you have (like a couple of jackets against the wall). Hit with inside of foot, keep your head over the ball – the further back your body is when you hit a shot the more likely the ball is to go into the air. Again, try to hit the ball with the inside of your foot for more accuracy.

Heading: Again, get some help. Get the friend to throw the ball to you and head it back in their direction. If your friend is also learning, see how many times you can keep the ball in the air with heading it alone.

Keepie ups: These may look like fun, but in fact help a lot
to improve your overall control. Keep the ball in the air by flicking it up with your foot, and see how many times you can keep it up using your feet, knees, chest and head.

Tackling: Can only really be practiced in a game. When tackling, go for the ball, not the feet, and never tackle someone from directly behind. Warning though: sliding challenges should never be done on hard surfaces or plastic pitches unless you want a nasty gash on your leg. My advice is just get stuck in! Dont be scared to tackle.

Dribbling (running with the ball): set up cones in a line, if you dont have them use your imagination! Run with the ball through and around these cones. Better to learn in a game, you will pick up how people take the ball past others.

The overall idea is to have fun. Get some friends together and have a kickabout in the park. You will learn far more from this than what i have detailed above. Try searching yahoo for sites which give training techniques. If you dont have anyone to play with, just take the ball and mess about with it, there is no better way to learn: i was never without one at my feet as a youngster! Hope this helps

Does it seem like soccer aficionados speak a language all their own? It sure seems like it to me, and I’ve been playing the game for over 20 years. I put an article on the front page of this blog to help explain the most common soccer terms in plain English. Hopefully this list will help soccer moms everywhere (and soccer dads too, for that matter)to better understand what their little athlete is talking about! Click Here For Access: Soccer Terms.