P1 : Fundamental Ball Mastery : Footshapes :: Technical Football Tuition

What are Foot-shapes :

When players interact with the ball, they make a number of key foot-shapes (open foot, foot locked up, foot tucked in etc) around the ball to improve their ability to control what the ball does.
All practice aims to improve foot dexterity and improve the ability to control the shape the foot makes around the ball, and over time enough touches of the ball will naturally develop good foot-shape ability.
However, a useful development tool for young players are ball mastery exercises that 'maximize & concentrate' the number of foot-shapes and the amount and speed of foot-shape changes.
The videos below offer a snapshot look at a couple of ball mastery exercises which we see as 'benchmark' technical exercises that all players should be aiming to master.
They are not easy, so players need to work at them regularly to firstly get comfortable doing them, before then mastering them.

Note :

This is also homework. [All players need to be working towards being able to do these exercises].
This can also be done as a warm up just before a session starts.
This is also a technical test for new players. A good coach can tell a player's level very quickly by using these 2 simple exercises. So players should use these exercises as a technical test in the same way.

The notes below are generic and appear on every page : Why?

Because understanding how to get the most out of practice is essential if the goal is to accelerate development.

Accelerate Development

Players who are keen to accelerate their development should work through these exercises to advance their ability to move the ball efficiently and effectively around their feet and from one space to a different space.

The progression of levels : Would be :

1st - Get smooth
2nd - Get fast
3rd - Get the head up.

If exercises are too hard then :

Use the online resource to start at an easier level and build up the level until all exercises can be done smoothly.

If all exercises is too easy then :

Can you do all exercises as quickly as you can hop/sprint? [Speed]
Can you do all exercises without looking down at the ball? [Head up (eyes off the the ball)]
- 'Eyes of the ball' - means you can still see the ball but it is at the bottom of your peripheral vision'. The eyes are 'up' so taht they can see the game.

Advanced Exercises

There are also A LOT more advanced exercises in the resource that all good players should find easy (even at speed and with the head up).
If these exercises are still a technical challenge (ie : you can't do an exercise for 15 seconds, non-stop, without a mistake) then there's still lots of work to do.

This is very very very important to understand : Technical development is simply a function of time.

In simple terms everyone needs to put in the same amount of 'practice' time (assuming the quality of practice* is the same) to get to the same technical level. However, the players who do the work within a 2 year period, will always be better than players who spread it over a 10 year period.

Most talented players do the hours early.
Most players who appear to be behind, simply have not done the hours yet (and by the time they do - it will be too late).

So development comes down to :

(1) A players' desire to get to the level they want, and
(2) How well players back this up with the necessary minutes/ hours of practice.
(3) How short a space of time can they cram the necessary practice into.

This is also very very very important to understand : Improvement compounds on Improvement.

5 minutes a day of extra practice is infinitely better than no practice. And 5 minutes of practice a day will add up over time, and becomes especially important when you factor in the fact improvement returns get compounded.

TST, along with the online resource, hopes to ensure the 'quality of practice' is as high as it can be and hope to inspire players to do just that little bit more every single day.