Tips for players who aren’t very good from someone who wasn’t very good.

EDIT: Great tips in the comments that I missed out in the post. Definitely worth reading.

PSA: This post will most likely be rudimentary to a lot of you and quite possibly repetitive in regard to what has been posted before. However, I’ve lurked this subreddit for years on end and always wanted to contribute to other average players so here goes.

Quick background: Dad never taught me how to play, never attended any football schools, never been coached, never made any school teams, have zero natural talent, pretty much just played with friends in kickabouts when I was younger and always lurked below average. I was ok. I could be relied upon to not ruin a game of football but I was never a good player. I graduated from University, struggled to find a job, was left unemployed for 8 months, in between looking for jobs I decided to fill my spare time with doing something productive: become as good a footballer as I could be.

Due lacking any, I decided to circumvent the skills in football that require talent. The way I saw it, if I could become competent in all of the aspects that don’t require talent, I’d become a decent enough to gloss over the inadequacies. So, here’s what I focused on:

Looking over your shoulder, scoping the pitch, being aware of your surroundings.

The good news is, this again does not take talent. All it takes is looking around the pitch when out of possession, and, after a lot of practicing, a quick glance when the ball is on the way in to your feet. You are capable of this no matter what level you are at. I am proof.

Getting used to looking over your shoulder as a pass is coming in to you is (well, it was for me) hilariously difficult and awkward to learn. 99% of the time the ball isn’t going anywhere you’re not expecting it to. There is no reason to watch the ball all the way in to your feet. But if you haven’t been coached to do this from a young age it is (again, for me) difficult to pick up. But it’s vitally important to learn this skill. It will make you twice the player once you can pull it off.

So, before you receive the ball:

Where are your teammates. Where are they moving to. Where are they going to be after you receive the ball.

Where are the opposition. Who is marking you. How much distance is between you and your marker. How much distance is between your option for a pass and his marker.

Do this all the time. This is your new habit.

Identify space.

This can be applied for any outfield position and should be on your mind at all times. It also holds hands with being aware of your surroundings and the positions of players.

Space is the most forgiving area of the football pitch. It not only allows you the benefit of a bad touch, a moment to think over what you’re going to do with the ball, a chance to turn, but it also gives your teammates an option when they’re trying to decide what to do with the ball.

If I’m ever playing and wondering why I’m not receiving the ball as much as I would like, 99% of the time due to not working hard enough to find space. Once I start actively trying to find space, I receive the ball. And when I’m in space, my mistakes don’t look half as bad.

HUNT FOR SPACE.

Knowing what you are going to do with the ball before you receive it.

Now that you’re familiar with the positions of the players and you’ve unearthed a pocket of space for yourself, it’s time to formulate a plan in the rare case one of our friends decide to trust us in possession.

I still don’t do this as consistently as I would like but I guarantee you I do it more than 90% of the players I play with/against – I don’t play at the best level. You must discipline yourself to automatically update your options before you receive the ball. If you’re not particularly talented when it comes to football this is by far the best habit to nurture. It gives you more time on the ball and allows you to concentrate on what you’re about to do rather than panicking for options.

I’m now at the point in which I’ll be internally angry with myself if I receive the ball without having already formulated a plan. This is because, more often than not, I’ve hatched some terrible idea before taking possession. Any occurrence in which I’m caught out is a reason for inner turmoil and a reminder to think before I receive.

Try not to complicate proceedings. If you’ve looked around the pitch and you’re able to create a 2D map highlighting the positions of all 22 players then that’s fantastic. If you’re an average human, and a bit shit like me, you need to know two things: can I turn with the ball and what pass is on before I receive possession. Knowing those two will bring you on leaps and bounds as a player. As you become more comfortable scoping the pitch you’ll naturally increase the amount of options you’re able to detect.

Take your first touch away from your marker.

This is one of the most beneficial rules that I live by. If you’re being marked then take your first touch in to space away from your marker. That extra second or two you buy yourself by doing so is huge - especially if your first touch isn’t the best.

It's that simple and all of the best players do it. Take the vast majority of your touches away from opposition players and watch the amount of time you have to come up with a way to mess up the passage of play increase.

Wingers – I understand that you will be taking touches towards opposition players.

Play with your head up.

You know where the other players are. You have found space. Why isn’t your head up?

It’s so frustratingly natural to look down at the ball if you’ve never been taught/coached to do otherwise. It’s also horrendously detrimental to your game.

So your head is up before you receive the ball to check on your surroundings. Your head goes up again as you’re about to receive the ball to see what options you have for when you receive the pass. Your first touch is either in to space or to turn. Your head is up again. Your head is almost always up.

Again, you can drill this in to yourself. I was beyond bad at this for years but I’m ok at it now. It most certainly doesn’t come naturally to me. I will still from time to time get the ball caught under my feet when I'm purposefully playing with my head up. But we're learning and allowed to make mistakes. Also, if I've followed the tips I'm usually in space and able to rectify the mistake.

Resist the temptation to do thing you know you’re not very good at.

I can’t dribble and I can’t shoot so I don’t dribble and I try to refrain from shooting – I say refrain because I’m not a bore and if the seas part when I’m 25-30 yards out I’m shouting “Sigurdsson” and letting rip.

I’ve never been taught how to shoot and, as a result, I have years of detrimental experience incorrectly striking a ball. Over the years I’ve improved after watching various YouTube videos but I’m still fairly terrible. So I rarely do it. I just either keep possession or look for the assist – something which not only makes me look like a competent player, but also pleases my teammates.

Lift weights.

You have no idea how beneficial being strong is until you’re strong. And I’m not talking natural strength like that guy you know. I’m talking about a consistent weight lifting program.

Anyone who has made the transition from relative weakling to moderately strong will attest to this. It’s almost like you’re cheating when you’re playing against players who don’t lift weights. If you’re like me and you sometimes need to shield the ball because your puny brain can’t compute what to do quick enough then you will benefit immensely from the strength +20 the gym gave you.

Of course, people will tell you not to rely on your strength and focus on your technique but you’re here because your technique is lacking. Like me.

Juggle the ball left foot, right foot over and over.

Easiest way to hack your way to a decent first touch. During a YouTube binge I came across a video with this simple tip. After initially laughing it off I gave it a try. The benefit is huge. 100 or so a day will do to begin with. After a while you’ll knock out 100 quite quickly and naturally progress on to higher numbers. It will also inadvertently develop your weak foot.

For those who do this I guarantee you’ll be surprised with the results.

Develop your weak foot.

From now on, any chance you get in which the consequences are at an all-time low, use your weak foot. No marker, practice turning with your weak foot. 5 yard pass to your teammate, play it with your weak foot. Walking with the football to the pitch, put it on the floor and dribble it there with your weak foot. Kicking your socks in to the washing basket, hit them with your weak foot.

A good 5-6 years ago I made using my weak foot as often as possible my New Year Resolution. For a year solid it was to the absolute detriment of my 5-6-a-side games and the frustration of my friends. The good news is, all that practice paid off and I was able to get confident enough to use my weak foot in pressure moments during league matches in which I would repeatedly give the ball away with left footed passes. Fantastic. But at least I developed the confidence to use it.

I wouldn’t consider myself both footed but I can now go through a game of 5-6 a side using my left foot the majority of the time and not look out of place.

If in doubt, play the way you’re facing

I’ve played with so many players who could improve their game tenfold by adhering to this one simple rule. Unless you know you can turn or you have some sort of phenomenal spin in your locker, play the way you’re facing. That one time you manage to spin your marker does not make up for the thousands of times you have needlessly given away possession.

Develop one or two extremely simple skills and repeat them until they’re mastered. Then never learn anything else and continue to spam those two.

Bruce Lee put it best: “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

The two I would advise on sort of mastering are Iniesta’s croqueta and a dummy/feint. For the croqueta, simply pass the ball in between each foot over and over and you’ll eventually get the hang of it and naturally be able to reproduce it in games. The dummy/feint will take more practice and in game implementation before you don’t look like you’re falling over but it is impossibly fantastic for buying a couple of seconds when you’re in distress. If any of you have bothered to read down this far and have a good YouTube tutorial for dummying/feinting please post it. I’m not talking about anything particularly complicated, just simply go to run in one direction without the ball then with the other foot carry it away in the opposite direction.

When you pair this simple dummy with knowing where opposition players are on the pitch, you will find yourself holding on to possession far more. You know where the closest player to you on the park is. You know from which direction he is closing you down. Dummy/feint in the direction he's running from then take the ball in the opposite direction. If performed even remotely well, there's no chance he will be able to change direction in time to tackle you. It's one of those moves that when you do pick it up, it feels like cheating as life becomes infinitely easier under pressure.

u/galeeb posted the following video in the comments for anyone wanting to learn how feint:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neA1TK3625c

Conclusion: I’m sure someone will comment that anyone who can do all of the above moderately well is talented as it’s a lot to compute. I don’t think I’d disagree with that. But what I would say is that learning each section doesn’t take talent – the talent stems from being able to string the above together during a game. I’d say that, other than learning two skills and maybe becoming strong, the rest of the sections are more a case of developing beneficial mental habits which we're all capable of.

I use myself as a case study when I say anyone can learn any of the above. Granted I don’t play at any great level but for anyone out there just looking to have more of an influence in their local games or amateur Saturday League, I hope it’s been of some help.