Heading The ball

"Heading the ball requires a certain technique to do it right. To start off with, you must head the ball with the upper part of your forehead, near the hairline. to improve the power and change the direction of the ball, you must flick your head in the direction you want,"(Kirkendall) Essentially he is saying that you need to use the force of swinging your head in one direction or another to gain power on the ball. For example, to forcefully hit the ball down and to the left you need to jump and get your head over the ball and swing your head down and to the left to hit it where you want it. "There is a large difference between an attacking and defensive header. An attacking header is when you are heading the ball up and away. An attacking header is when you head the ball down and typically into the goal or to a teammates feet,"(Kirkendall) A defensive header can be crucial to stop an attack being played by the opposing team.

This is an example of an attacking header. i am heading the ball down and to the left towards the goal. To increase the power on the ball I flicked my head to the left to change the direction.

Weak foot training

"The weak foot is essential to playing soccer even if you don't 'use' it very much. the weak foot is your plant foot, the foot you use to aim your shots and make sharp turns with,"(Kirkendall) To step up your game you need to start with short accurate passes, then move back until you are able to accurately pass 30-40 yards with your left foot. "By strengthening your weak foot then you re making it that much easier for you yo get out of pressure. id someone takes away your strong foot then you can make a play with your other foot to keep play moving,"(Kirkendall)

Long passing

"Long Passing is a key to success in the game of soccer. If you can master this skill then you can change the point of your attack and exploit the 'pulling over' of the defenders to that side of the field."(Kirkendall) The long pass is one of my stronger attributes, the accuracy and power on the cross is vital to have the pass positively effect the game. by working with a friend with these long passes, i stood 40-50 yards away and hit a long ball over to him over and over until i hit 10 in a row. then i did the same with my weak foot. "Improving your weak foot can be the difference between being 'good' and 'great'" (Kirkendall). if you have a strong weak foot and can make it as strong as your strong foot then you can get out of trouble and make yourself look better in your teammates eyes. to improve your weak foot, you should make short passes with that foot and then move back 10 yards and keep moving back when you get good at doing that one distance pass. if you are always on your toes it will be much easier to connect with the ball as you are more prepared for it. "Reception of the ball is the Most important skill you can master in soccer. If you can have a great touch then you can move around a defender with ease when you receive the ball and deceive the player marking you" (Kirkendall). To improve your first touch you can have people play you a hard driven ball across the field and you need to trap it within a 5 by 5 yard box. if you mistrap more than 5 out of the 10 balls played across you must Run a lap.

In this picture i am striking the ball to play it into the box from around the 43 yard line. because i can make long passes with accuracy, this will most likely land in the vicinity of the 6-yard box.

Shot Power

"Shot power is a trait that is essential to being a number 9 striker,"(kirkendall) To strike the ball cleanly you must hit the ball in the center with the laces of your cleat, or the large bone that runs just underneath it. by doing this you are striking the ball with the hardest part of your foot, therefore you will get the best connection and the most power behind your shot. "Now power is not always good if you cant be accurate and keep the ball low to the ground, to do this while your are striking the ball you need to have your knee over the ball and your torso leaning slightly forward. this will make the shot be more driven and stay closer to the ground,"(Kirkendall)

Speed Training Post 2

Speed is an essential quality that is used all the time in the game of Soccer. by doing the speed training in the book Soccer Anatomy I have been able to increase my 40 yard dash time from 5.4 to 5.3. and i also have made my interval running much faster by doing an up and down for example. that is here you start by jogging one lap around the track then sprinting one 100 yard length then the next lap around sprinting two 100 yard lengths and so on and so forth until you sprint the full  lap and then you sprint 3 100 yard lengths and then 2 100 yard lengths until you jog a full lap.