In this weeks lesson we played a game to show off what we have been learning throughout the previous weeks and see if we could utilise the skills in an in game situation e.g Turning, different types of passing and controlling the ball.

Throughout the game I used the different types of turns I.e with the outside of the foot to take it away from the oppositions player and I also did this in attacking situations because I received it while in the box and I was able to turn with the outside of the foot and the defender wasn’t expecting it and therefore I was able to take the ball past him and have a shot on goal. I also used the Cruyff turn during the game to get out of tight situations and when I was making space to myself as it helped me to sort my feet out while under pressure and get the ball away from the opponent. I used this best in the middle of the pitch as the turn allowed me to shift the ball onto my preferred foot to play a pass forward or wide to my teammates.

In this game I also used the different types of passing I practised a few weeks back and I feel I did the said foot pass well as I constantly found my teammates with my passing so I was able to generate the right amount of power and accuracy and this helped me as I was able to play through balls past the defence and play him through on goal. I also did the passing technique of striking thorough the ball as I could get it off the floor and over to my teammate so they could make an impact on the game and I feel I did this well as I was able to utilise this while under pressure as I could clip it over the opponent with enough height and the pass could also put my teammate through on goal to score so this also helped my team score. I could also improve on this as I train throughout the week so I can make sure I always make it accurate. The threats to this are that I found pull my quad again like a few years ago so this could stop me from training.

https://youtu.be/rnzYIlOc73Y

I also used different types of control during the game as different types of passes to me meant i had to be alert and use different parts of my body to maintain possession of the ball and avoid loosing it. One way I controlled the ball was with my chest as my teammates would sometimes send a high ball up the pitch and it was the best way of controlling the ball and I feel I did this to a good standard as when controlling I made sure the ball didn’t just hit of my chest and I was able to keep it close to my body so I was able to hold the ball up and play it to my teammates. I can also improve this by training with college and my weekend clubs where I can also put this to good use during games. In this game I was also able to use the inside and outside of the foot so control the ball and I think I performed this well because I was able to take the ball down from the air with both parts of my foot to play it to my teammates or have a shot on goal. I was also able to control the ball at pace as sometimes the passes to me weren’t 100% accurate and were sometimes over hit so I had to be able to maintain possession for me team to make sure the opponents didn’t take the ball from me and by doing this I was able to get it out of my feet and the control meant I was able to take it in the direction I wanted and take it past the opponent.

For this week we focused on control, we practiced doing this by controlling balls coming at us in the air and along the floor with pace. We controlled with different parts of the body like the outside and inside of the foot and sometimes with our chest and thighs as this would be necessary during an in game situation as sometimes passes aren’t very accurate and you have to adjust your body to keep the ball.

In the first drill we looked to control the ball with the inside and outside of the foot. We did this while increasing the amount of power we put on our passes to see if our partners could control it well while being in an unusual situation as not every pass is 100% accurate so you have to be prepared for miss placed passes with more power on them. I feel that I was good at this as I was able to continuously control the ball well without many faults and after I did that I was able to play my pass to my partner which was a good standard so he could control it easily. The disadvantages to this are that I once pulled my quad while playing football as I played a pass after I controlled it so this is something that could happen again. However the advantages to this are that I can continue to progress control as I train most days and play on a weekend.

In the next drill we focused on chest control which I feel I did to a good standard as my partner threw the ball in the air and I was able to take control of the ball with my chest and bring it down and pass it back to my partner so he could throw it back and I continuously did this without fail. The advantages to this are that I can also get better at this type of control as i can focus on this during my training sessions throughout the week and then I can put it into an i game situation which can benefit me and my teammates. I don’t think there are any advantages to this.

In this session we focused on defending well and timing our tackles, also our dribbling ability and testing if we could complete a one on one against a defender.

The first drill included trying to take on a defending in a one on one and also defending against an attacker. The positives I took out of this was that I didn’t get took on once by my teammate so it showed that my defending and timing of tackles was good. I was also able to take on my opponent while attacking and I did this well because I was able to take it past him a couple of times and get it through one of the goals available. Another positive was that when I did win the ball back I took it into the goals available behind my opponent which didn’t happen often throughout the session. I didn’t take many negatives out of this apart from my opponent sometimes getting back quick enough to stop me getting it through the goal which showed that I needed to have a bit more urgency and not to be as relaxed. The advantages to this is that I can continuously improve on my defending and attacking while one on one situations in other training sessions as for my Sunday and Wednesday team I am attacking but for my Saturday team I am a defender. I don’t think that there are any threats to me through this activity.

The warm up for this included going against our opponent but not taking him directly on as we just practiced dribbling the ball in front of the defender.

The next drill included having two sections and the first one was me attacking at my opponent played the ball to me down the line and I had to cut inside and get passed him to go through either of the two goals at either end. The second section included the opposite of before as I was the defender passing it down the line to my opponent to see if he could get passed me and into the goals. The positives I took from this was i was able to get past my opponent quickly so i could get it through the goal without him challenging me further. There are positives to this as i can improve on my ability to get past defenders in training for 1 v 1 situations although the threats are my injuries to my back and quads so continuously doing these could make them worse.

The next drill included having two sections and the first one was me attacking at my opponent played the ball to me down the line and I had to cut inside and get passed him to go through either of the two goals at either end. The second section included the opposite of before as I was the defender passing it down the line to my opponent to see if he could get passed me and into the goals. The positives I took from this was i was able to get past my opponent quickly so i could get it through the goal without him challenging me further. There are positives to this as i can improve on my ability to get past defenders in training for 1 v 1 situations although the threats are my injuries to my back and quads so continuously doing these could make them worse.

For this session we did shooting but it wasn’t shooting in the normal way as we did it in the form of passing which showed how accurate i was and if I could get the right amount of distance and power on the shot/pass.

First drill was shooting along the ground to our teammate from a certain range then we moved further out after a while. I think the positives to this was that I performed the shot to my teammate well as it got to him at a good height which was along the floor and at a good pace so that he could control it easily so it didn’t go outside of the zone we were passing in. I think the negatives to this was that sometimes i put too much power on the shot so it went under my teammates foot or through his legs so this is something I could work on for the future. The advantages to this was that I could do it well but can improve with my power which can be worked on in other training session. The threats are not always performing this move so I could forget the technique after a while and I could also hurt my quad again which came from over hitting/stretching.

The next drill was the same but I bit further away and it had to get off the ground and when you received the ball you had to control it well. The positives in this drill was that I was able to strike through the ball well with good technique and I was able to get it off the floor, to my teammate. I also felt confident while doing this move which enabled me to keep on doing it dm to a hood standard each time. The negatives could be that my technique wasn’t always the best as I often hurt the front of my foot while completing this and I also sometimes just used my own technique rather than striking through the balm cleanly. The advantages to this though are that I can improve my technique in future training sessions so I can strike through the ball better which would mean I could perform it in a game and I wouldn’t lose the balm as I would’ve performed it correctly. The threats are no focusing on this technique as I feel more confident doing other passes that probably do the same job.

In the second lesson we practiced doing different types of turns e.g the cruyff turn and hitting it of our heels to change direction. I felt confident going into this lesson because doing these turns is a basic in football that i should do to enhance my game which makes me a better player as these turns mean I can get away from opponents. We also did reverse and normal step-overs before turning.The first thing we did was attempt a Cruyff turn and the positives about this was that I could perform this move to a good standard each time attempting it and I also felt confident while performing the turn. I don’t think there were many negatives except from occasionally getting my feet mixed up for a second but I always managed to maintain my balance so I could pull off the turn correct . There are a few advantages to this because I can continue to get better at this turn while training for my clubs during the week and I can try them in a game to good use which can help my team out. Another advantage is that I feel confident while doing it so I don’t feel there is much room for improvement apart from doing it a bit quicker in an actual game scenario which I can practice during other training sessions.

Another turn we did was a reverse step over and taking it with the opposite foot e.g reverse step over with my right foot and taking the ball away with my left foot. The positives I took out of this was my ability to perform the step over and turn with good consistency while completing it to a decent standard each time which is shown in the video as I felt confident while doing it hence why i did it quite a few times as I felt it probably looked the best out of all the moves. The negatives could be that I don’t do it quick enough which could be exploited in an in game scenario which would mean my team would lose possession of the ball and potentially mean conceding a goal. The advantages are that I can improve my speed on the turn my practicing it in training and by consistently doing it I can be more confident in doing it at a fast pace and this would mean I could do it on a weekend for one of my clubs. The threats to me while performing this move could be that i could re-injure my quad that I pulled a few years ago so this could prevent me from continuously progressing this turn. Another threat is that I may not always focus on it in training as there are other turns in football that are quicker and move effective in game .

The last turn was connecting with the outside of my foot with the Ball so it went in the other direction to my body. I felt the positives to this move was the fact I could do it quite well with ease and confidence as I have been doing this turn for many years in football. The negatives were that in this session I didn’t do the turn with much pace but I know that in a real game I would do it much quicker. The advantages to this is that I can continue to perform this in training and get better at this as I know it can be a good turn to use in a real game. The disadvantages to this is the injury I used to have could reoccur which may mean I would be out for another few months.

Football week 1 – Passing

For the first week we did passing and the first part of the session were simple passing from one teammate to another along the ground which I felt I did this well because all of my passes were accurate and straight to my partners feet so he could control it without too much effort being used. I don’t think there were any negatives to this because none of the passes went wrong nor out of the zone so there was only positives to take from the first drill. I also don’t think there are any dangers or threats to me while doing this drill coz I haven’t had previous injuries caused by passing. There are a few advantages however because I can get better at doing this by training each day with my Gateshead college football team and on Mondays and Fridays with my club teams, which I can put into use on a Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

The second drill consisted of having someone in the middle and I having to chip it over his head to another partner which I did well as I consistently got it over my opponents head without fail which was the aim of the drill so the positives were that I was able to continuously lift the ball over the opponents head to my teammate on the other side. The negatives were that sometimes the ball would skim of the opponents head which in a real game would probably mean losing possession of the ball. There isn’t a threat to me while doing this as I haven’t had a reoccurring injury from passing the back so it’s not something I worry about. The advantages are that I can work on this skill while training for my clubs and can use this to good use in an actual game to good effect.

The third and final drill included the same three teammates with one in then middle but this time I had to curl it around the player in the middle so he couldn’t touch it and I feel like I did okay at this but it could have been better as I often put too much power in it so I was able to get the ball to curl around the defender but that ball wouldn’t always go to my teammate at the other end of the zone. But overall I think I did this to a decent standard but there is a threat to this as I pulled my quad a few years ago while attempting one of these passes during a game so doing this repeatedly could maybe cause another injury to the same quad but apart from that there are no other threats . The advantages are that I can improve on my technique in other training sessions so that I can use it properly in a game to maybe create a goal scoring opportunity .

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton