Your ability to control and manipulate the ball is mighty important in football. Flamboyant dribbling skills make you a standout among the crowd setting you up for pinpoint passes and shots. Want to improve on this fundamental football skill? The f...
Your ability to control and manipulate the ball is mighty important in football. Flamboyant dribbling skills make you a standout among the crowd setting you up for pinpoint passes and shots.
Want to improve on this fundamental football skill? The following tips can help.
1. Contact gently with the ball
Every time you contact the ball, you gain a “touch.” By using all these gentle touches, you contact the ball more often thereby, getting a greater control over your “on the ball” movements.
Source- Wiki
This may slow you down at the initial stages of your practice, but with time and persistence, this will allow you to advance quickly and beat defenders one-on-one giving you more chances of a crucial pass or shot.
Remember,
The more you touch the ball, the more control you gain over the movement of the ball.
2. Always try to keep the ball closer to your feet
This will make it harder for the opposition defenders to intercept and snatch the ball away from your feel. You will also be able to change directions quickly doing flamboyant stuff to bamboozle the defender in front of you as a result of this practice.
Image- Eden Hazard of Chelsea taking on Jonny Howson of Norwich City
Source- Wiki
3. Use the leading edge of your foot to dribble on the move
Gallop ahead with the same foot forward every time you take a step ahead. This will help you keep the ball closer to your feet giving you an extra edge over your opposition defenders.
Also, keep the leading edge of your stronger foot forward as you are running. This can help you keep sufficient contact between the ball and your feet giving you greater speed, balance, and control.
Note: Do not apply this technique for making quick direction changes, stops, and cuts.
4. Try to keep the ball in the lower end of your peripheral vision
Most football amateurs tend to focus wholly on the ball as they start developing dribbling skills in the beginning stages of their career. But this is not a decent practice because this reduces your positioning awareness, on the whole.
It’s, therefore, advisable to keep the ball in the lower end of your peripheral vision so you can easily maintain proper awareness of the rest of the field. This practice can help you find loopholes in the opposition defense that you can exploit in the blink of an eye.
5. Practice changes in your dribbling pace and direction
The key to a successful dribble is uncertainty. Proceeding blindly in a predictable manner can easily get you hung up by a defender.
Therefore, practice changing your speed and stride while taking on defenders.
This way, you can quickly change pace and directions in confusing ways to throw defenders off their feet for your own little advantage.
6. Use your body to shield the ball
If a defender’s got too close to you for your liking, use your entire body to shield the ball from the defender.
Use your legs, arms, and shoulders to keep the ball safe from all possible angles. Get in between the ball and the defender and make your pass as quickly as possible to avoid getting dispossessed in the next few seconds.
Image- Shielding the ball
A few key mentions:
Choose a long, open field for practicing all sorts of dribbling drills.
Practice long on-the-ball sprints using gentle touches.
Practice speed dribbling drills. This method should call for you to make contact with the ball after every 5 to 8 steps. Do not slow down while practicing speed dribbles. Try to dribble with the ball in your regular running stride for maximum efficiency.
Dribble through cones during training for a more effective football practice, on the whole. The video below explains this beautifully.
So that more or less sums up the entire article for now. Hope the different dribbling tips mentioned above come in handy for your purpose. Goodbye and good luck!
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