Comments on: How to Develop Use of Both Feet in Youth Soccer Players

on 8/8/2006 You should always practice keeping the ball up. This is probably the best exercise you can perform to get high control of the ball. Even if you are a beginner or already a competitive player.

It's always better to use a small ball, and make sure you use both feet right and left. I used to keep a small ball up the air ( size 2) just for fun whenever I had free time. Do it inside the house, and when you are able to keep it up at a consistent pace, you'll know you have improved your overall control over the ball.

Overall tip-

Always use your other foot, and then use whatever possible to keep the ball up - feet, knees, chest, head even your shoulders. Use the sides of your feet when you gain better control. Practice these as much as you can during any free time and it will make you more familiar with the ball.

on 11/22/2005 When using both feet in soccer you have to accept that you have two different feet (meaning that they both have different characteristics). Everyone's different in that area. In my case, my left foot was my angle shot foot (because I only used it to shoot on appropriate angles). This was only because it was psychologically easier to curve a ball with that foot. Although I could get a good sweeping curve with that foot, accuracy wasn't my strong point. That's what I had my "natural" foot for. My right foot was my power shot foot. I could rely on that foot to send a hard shot into the net with decent accuracy to where I was aiming. Each player should experiment with both feet to see which foot best suits them for each task (relative to their playing positions and natural foot preferences).

on 11/22/2005 To encourage an accomplished player to use his/her weaker leg, training with only 1 shoe on the weaker foot encourages increased use and is very effective. This is a well used method used by many European coaches.