Why Juggle?
My Coach wants me to juggle before practice…why should I?
Ok….let me see if I can help you understand (I’m smiling)….
Why juggle? Coaches all across the globe ask their players to juggle before practice, before a game or at home. Many times players are instructed to get a certain amount of juggles in a row before they can join the team for training. There are also many programs that insist a player has a number of “keepy-ups” as a criteria for judging the potential of a soccer player. So whats the point? Why should we be judged on juggling? Shouldnt coaches care more about smashing the ball in the back of the net from the 18 yd box line!!??
Well first of all let me quickly give you a couple good reasons why players are judged on their juggling talents. Hopefully this will help clear things up before I explain how bouncing the ball around off of your body helps you become a better player….
A PLAYER THAT CAN JUGGLE …..is a player that has spent hours upon hours with the ball. Have you ever wasted time flipping water bottles on a table? Are you a Killer in Fortnite because you have played non-stop all night? My point is no matter what the skill the only way to master it is to spend countless focused hours hammering on the craft. GOOD JUGGLERS PLAY WITH THE BALL CONSTANTLY LIKE AN ADDICTION!
A PLAYER THAT CAN JUGGLE IS PATIENT AND FOCUSED. Coaches know that patience and focus build skill so they assume a juggler will be coachable when it comes to other parts of the game. In order for you to become a good juggler of the ball you have to get used to failing over and over. Nothing good comes easy and skills take deliberate focus to master. There are so many skills to learn in a game like soccer. There is a hundred different ways to kick, pass, shoot, trap, control, redirect, dribble, and manipulate the ball. In order for you to become a great soccer player you must practice and train these touches everyday. There is so much to learn and you can always get better. Even the best in the world that are paid millions of dollars still juggle and train their skills everyday always looking for the next level, and so should you!
Try…Correct Mistakes…Try Again…Correct…Try Again….What Works? What Doesnt? Try Again!
Now that you have a better idea why juggle training is looked at so highly by coaches let me give a few things juggling will give you back.
JUGGLING DEVELOPS A GOOD FIRST TOUCH, FOOTWORK AND BALANCE! Think about skill training like this…in order for you to get a skill down you need to repeat it over and over again, right? Now it is acually more detailed than that but for the sake of this example lets keep it simple. As you are repeating the skill (juggling) there is the first touch to keep the ball up, then footwork to maintain balance while reading the path of the ball. Then half a second later comes the second touch with more weight shifting footwork and focused ball reading. Repeated over and over gets your body into a rythum of reading the ball, footwork to move and adjust then touching the ball agian. It simulates a first touch drill so dont just use your feet! Pop the ball up and use all parts of your body, there are no rules just remember its all about A GOOD FIRST TOUCH EACH TIME. The problem most players have that are struggling with juggling is that they hit the ball up well a couple of times and then things get out of control and they quit. Dont quit! Just realize that you need to work on it like any other skill!
Now imagine if you carved out some time, say 30 minutes a day to work on becoming a better juggler. You told yourself that no matter what you would focus and do your best to improve without getting frustrated or quitting. I bet if you tried hard and stayed positive you would get a little better each day and eventually be pretty good at keeping the ball up! Then the next time you were playing a game or scrimmage and the ball came to you in the air it would feel like juggling as you controlled the ball and did what you wanted to with it!
Ok Coach I get it….I will work on my juggling….but how can I be more successful and consistent?
I thought you would never ask…….(I’m smiling again!)
There are many suggestions out there for building juggling skills and I encourage you watch videos on YouTube and get as many opinoins as possible. The more info you have the more likely you are to find something that makes sense to you that you can follow. Here is my main suggestions for building rthym while juggling and getting more touches in a row.
LET THE BALL BOUNCE.…start the juggle anyway you are comfortable. Try flicking it up with your foot, rainbow or some other trick. Then get the best first quality touch on the ball and let the ball bounce while you are reading its path and shifting your weight or dancing your feet. DO NOT STAND FLAT FOOTED WAITING FOR THE BALL TO DROP! Repeat this over and over just trying to keep the ball alive during bounces by focused quality touches. As you build comfort and confidence try adding a juggle or two before letting the ball bounce again. Kick the ball harder (higher) or softer (lower) to play with angles and speed. Dont judge yourself on the number just have fun with the touches. You can do this process with all parts of your body. YOU ARE GOING TO GET FRUSTRATED failing and overcoming the failure and frustration is part of your journey as a futballer! It is a game you are playing with yourself and you are becomeing a better players so dont sweat the small stuff, just stay consistent!!
PRACTICE TO MUSIC…..kick on a feel good beat and let the music influence your footwork. Success with any soccer skill comes down to having good footwork. I will go into footwork in depth in another article but basically you need to keep your weight shifting back and forth from one foot to another, kinda like dancing! As your weight shifts let the beat of the music set the rythum of your touches. Try to zone out and let the music take away your negative thought and have fun with the exercise. In no time if you can be consistent you will without a doubt improve.
Juggling is just one skill out of many skills a player needs to master the game of soccer. You dont have to master it in a week or even a year, the key is to consistently work on all soccer skills daily. Just a little everyday adds to your journey as a player, the more time you spend working the better you will be!
See you out on the field,
♥Coach Sam
Be Creative..Be Fearless..Have Fun!
