Author: Tony Martin

Let’s be honest, not many people like to practice religiously to get good at a hobby. Most of us just like to spend time with friends and family instead of lonely soccer practice sessions. The reality is that, unless you’re trying to get in a professional team, your priorities aren’t in sync with long practices.

But, what if you could have a friend over for practice sessions? When in the company of a friend, our discipline levels go up because of our competitive nature with sports and we can finish our practice sessions in a better fashion. Here are the most effective two-man one-ball drills to perfect:

Passes on the surface

This is the most basic drill to practice with a friend. The one who serves may only send the ball to the receiver using an inside-of-the-foot push pass. The receiver should then quickly pass the ball back, directing the shot to the server’s position. Although basic, this is fundamental in these sessions.

Passes high on the air

This is a more complex version of the last drill. The one who serves just needs to send an under-hand arching ball to the receiver, who will then control the ball and return it in the same fashion. It can be done in one touch but two-touches variations should be practiced.

Passes on the air and returns on the surface

The server should pass the ball just like we explained in the last drill, but returns must be made by letting the ball touch the ground after the first control and then hitting it hard right when it touches the floor. This is a harder variation and it improves control and pace.

Same drills while moving

These drills aren’t realistic, but they get the job done. If you want to make it more like a real match, you have to add movement to them. Try doing these drills while running from one side of the pitch to the other maintaining the same distance between the partners during the whole drill.

Now, it’s time to practice if you want to get better. You just need to talk to some friends and plant the soccer seed in their heads. While they start seeing the progress regarding their skills, they will get addicted to the training. The only thing necessary is the will to get out a practice.

In Tri St Lucia, we’re excited to show new ways for normal people to start playing soccer. Getting more people into it will just improve your level of play, as competition makes us better.

Practicing is not everyone’s cup of tea, but perfecting a move or a skill and see your progression is a marvelous process. In soccer, this is one of the most important principles to understand if you want to become a good team player, as the team with more practice is the one with more capacities most of the time.

Although many people will just quit entirely before even getting good at the game, some of us would love some guidance in order to make good practice sessions and actually get better when gathering with friends to play. Here are the most common drills to improve your penalty kicking skills:

Use a Blindfold

The goal of this simple drill is to get a sense of where the goal is and how big it is when you’re standing on that spot in the pitch. Just try taking penalty kicks and scoring with the blindfold on. This will slowly but surely give you more positional awareness while improving your kicking technique.

Use a Little Goal

Full-sized goals are perfect for the blindfolded drills, as it teaches you how big it is without watching it. This time is different, this is about distance. Just stand about 25ft away from that little goal and start practicing shots from there. After that kind of practice, taking penalty kicks will feel like a breeze.

Use the Whole Pitch

This is one hard drill to practice, as most people will just quit. Stand on one corner and take shots to the goal curling the ball in the air. Then, do it on the other corner with your weak foot. For a harder variation, try the same drill but hitting just the crossbar, and then with your weak foot on the other side. Good luck with that!

Trying these drills won’t instantly make you a great player, but it will surely start the progression game. When you start realizing you’re a better player due to these practice sessions, you’ll get addicted to it. That’s how legendary players are made, through practice and passion.

Show these drills to your friends and start trying different things. Soccer is something to enjoy with a group of people, and you can be the one leading them just by knowing these simple tricks. While this won’t happen overtime, with dedication, you can become a player who surprises people with talent on the pitch, and that’s a great way if you ask us.

Soccer rules are so simple that you can’t define how to play a match by just reading them. Over the years, different tactics and formations were created in order to discover a way of beating more teams. While this freedom can be a beautiful thing, it can lead to many players to not understand where they are moving.

Soccer can be pretty not accessible for new players, as it looks like a skillful sport to play. The most important thing is that through practice, everyone can get better. In Tri St Lucia, we’re trying to teach more people how to play properly. These are the things to consider when playing on the defending side of a soccer match:

Delay

Delay is the ability of a defense crew to slow down an attacking side’s advances through the pitch and lower their chances of success. When applying pressure, the defender must be careful to not over-commit with a bad tackle because with one defender out of the equation, is pretty simple to create an effective play.

Depth

This refers to the guarding position of a defending side when someone is pressuring the ball. The teammates should position themselves in order to protect the space if that defender gets beaten. This maneuver is called defensive covering and it’s used in professional matches every weekend.

Balance

This also refers to the position of teammates while some of them are pressuring the ball on a sector of the pitch. Those who aren’t pressuring must retain balance by checking the line and trying to position themselves to cover those spaces as forwards seek these spaces to penetrate the defense.

Concentration

This is a key element of defending in soccer matches and refers to mental constrain. Many players aren’t thinking too much while defending. This shouldn’t be the case, as any mistakes can create more opportunities for the attacking side. Everyone must be focused and retaining balance at all times.

Compactness

This is one of the most important elements of professionalized soccer. Compactness refers to the positional awareness of every defender while moving in the pitch. A defending team must know how to limit the space of play in certain areas of the pitch, but in recreational soccer, this can be hard to perform properly.

Although these are simple guidelines for newer players, everyone should try to understand these basic concepts. We all have seen that extremely talented player who ruins too many chances due to not knowing these simple principles, but this list can help many of those.

Some of us are willing to practice a lot to get better at soccer, and one of the most important things to learn is free kicks, as these set pieces are the bread and butter of a normal match. There are players who were famous just because their ability to do these perfectly placed free kicks that could win matches.

Most of us will never play for aclub to win titles, but it’s really cool to learn how to properly place a ball when you have your turn to amaze everyone with a perfect free kick. These drills will make you better at free kicking so, don’t stop practicing and keep reading.

Use a Tire

You can use a tire hanging of a goal’s crossbar to make this simple, yet effective free kick drill. At first, just try to hit the tire from a 25ft distance, but when you get comfortable with it, start trying to get the ball through the tire hole. This will greatly improve your accuracy.

Use Tall Objects

You don’t need a professional free kick wall to make this drill work. Just place a really high object as if it was one of those walls and start practicing. Place it 10ft away from the goal and from a 25ft distance, try to curl the ball around the object and into the net. It’s easier said than done and most people will quit before even getting it right. Don’t be that guy.

Use Cones Too

Using cones to limit space is one of the best tools for set piece practice. Just make a gate with the two cones and cross the ball through it. To make it harder, take one cone out of the equation and cross the ball while trying to hit that cone. You’ll get beastly with this one.

Improving is a slow process that only occurs when serious dedication and practice are a key part of your routine. These drills are designed to make you get better faster than your counterparts, but the passion must be there. Take 20 minutes every day to practice these drills and you’ll be surprise by your progress.

The next time, we’ll be discussing about some drills for getting better at penalty kicks because here at Tri St Lucia, we’re trying to get people into the most beautiful sport in the world.These drills will help anyone get better, is just a matter of practice.

Soccer is one of the greatest sports ever invented, but here in the US, its popularity isn’t even close to our biggest sports events. In Tri St Lucia, we think that everyone should be playing more soccer, as nothing but a ball is really required, but not everyone knows the basic movements to start playing soccer right away.

In most sites, you’ll find basic information about kicking, passing, and sprinting, but not on this one. Today, we’re discussing some movements to get you in better shape when dribbling the ball in the pitch. Get good with these tricks and you’ll be the MVP in most of you soccer gatherings and matches.

Changing Direction

This should be pretty simple, but people who are new to the game just run around with the ball at full speed. That’s not soccer. You have to pace yourself to be unpredictable in your movement with the ball. Simple dribbling skills, pacing, and a quick change of direction will be your primary weapons on the pitch.

Cross Body Drag

This is a simple movement that we’re able to see in hundreds of matches each weekend. When facing a challenging opponent, open your hips trying to convey that you’re going to make a pass in one direction, then, quickly drag across your body in the other direction and away from the defender.

La Croqueta

This is a simple movement, but it requires good pacing to make it work. It’s basically a quick touch of the ball, passing it from one leg to another. You have to be really good at timing your opponent’s tackle and quickly run out of the position.

Body Feints

These movements are also easy to perform and very effective. You’ll run to a defender and just before him, or her, do a hard step in one direction and quickly sprint yourself out to the other. You can do double and even triple body feints by chaining these hard steps in opposite directions.

These moves, although basic, are the staples in every soccer match we’re able to watch on weekends. Thousands of players use these same basic techniques to go through defensive lines with the ball on their feet. You can also try to perfect these moves!

The only thing you need to do know is practice, as this will turn you into a better player. With all these moves ingrained, you’ll surprise every defender who has been playing against you in the past. Don’t give up until you start making progress and see you on the pitch!

Soccer is a pretty simple sport with a really simple set of rules, but this freedom creates all kinds of possibilities and managers around the world have created tactical systems which developed into different styles of play. Taking all that aside, there are simple principles that will make you a better player.

On this list, we’re going to focus on the most important rules to follow when you’re on the attacking side in a soccer match. Don’t be the new guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing and keep reading. Here are the most important things to consider when attacking:

Penetration

Penetration is the ability of the team to get inside and behind the defenders while attacking. Every move you make in order to get behind them and create opportunities for your teammates is a penetration move. We’re able to see this while the forwards use their speed against defenders before midfielders throw the ball to them.

Depth

Also called support in some books, depth refers to good positioning of the team, which creates enough passing lanes for attacking mates to not lose the ball easily. Good depth means that an attacker will always have someone to pass the ball to and a way out through a well-positioned midfielder.

Mobility

Mobility is the movement of the attacking players, which will cause the defender players to move, creating spaces in the lines for attacking players to make penetration moves and keep going forward on the pitch. Attacking players will be moving to unbalance the defending lines.

Width

Width is the ability of the attacking team to expand the space between the defending lines by passing the ball from side to side of the pitch. When width is created through passing, defending lines will undoubtedly leave enough space for attacking teammates to make runs inside and behind them.

Creativity

Often referred to as improvisation, this is the part that most fans love about certain players. When good players create their own moves for simple things as passing and shooting, they become unstoppable, as these quirks are harder to predict than the common cookie-cutter moves.

These are the key things to consider when attacking while playing a soccer match. if you have these ingrained in you, it’s going to be easier when starting to play soccer. Keep practicing, keep loving the sport, and keep reading Tri St Lucia for the best soccer information and news.