Dribble the Soccer Ball
Weaving Dribble
Being able to dribble with the soccer ball glued to your feet is essential to playing the game- otherwise players wouldn’t move with the ball at all!
It can be tricky to start with, but as they say (cringe), practice makes perfect. So really all you need is this easy guide, a bit of motivation… and a pitch to play on.
One footed dribble;
´
1) Put the soccer ball at your feet
2) Kick it slightly forward and to the side with the outside of your kicking foot
3) Approach the ball and kick it slightly forwards and back the other way with the inside of your kicking foot
4) Approach the ball and kick it slightly forwards and back the other way with the outside of your kicking foot
5) Approach the ball and kick it slightly forwards and back the other way with the inside of your kicking foot.
´
As you can see this gets quite repetitive, but just keep on doing it like this. Try to keep the ball quite close to your feet at all times and stay on your toes with your head over the ball.
When you get better at doing this, why not try to dribble round some cones to improve even further? Then, move the cones closer together so it gets harder to weave round them. One day soon, you will be suprised at how skillfully you can dribble!
Now you can try to do a similar thing, but with both your feet;
1) Place the soccer ball at your feet
2) Tap it out slightly forwards and to the side with one foot
3) Approach the ball, tap it slightly forwards and back the other way with your other foot
4) Approach the ball, tap it slightly forwards and back the other way with your other foot
As you might find you can either do this with the inside of each foot or the outside of each foot. Keep practicing and you’ll soon be able to dribble with any foot and weave skillfully around cones or defenders!
Fast Dribble
Arguably the master of the fast dribble was Marc Overmars: famous for playing for Arsenal, Barcelona and his country Holland. Try to model your fast dribbling on his and you will be surprised how much you advance.
Anyway, here is the step by step guide to dribbling at pace.
´
1) Place the ball at your feet
2) Knock it some distance in front of you with either foot
3) Sprint to the ball
4) Knock the ball some distance in front of you again
´
Carry on like this and you will automatically find yourself racing up the pitch with the ball at your feet. Whenever you have space to run into and there isn’t a suitable pass on, this is what you should do.
Try not to let the ball get TOO far away from you so that you don’t lose control of it. Plus, try to be accurate when you kick the ball ahead of you so as not to head in the wrong direction.
Anyway, now you’ve got that, Why not learn to pass the soccer ball as well?