Anyone can control the ball incredibly once or twice, but to do it consistently, that requires training. Training that is best done with someone else. But what if you don’t have anyone else? In this guide, we are covering how to improve ball control when training alone with simple drills because regardless of what you have or where you are, you can improve all aspects of your football with some right knowledge and commitment, even if you are in a high level football academy.
Here’s what you are going to learn as you read:
Controlling the ball when dribbling.
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HOW TO IMPROVE BALL CONTROL WHEN IT COMES TO DRIBBLING
Dribbling is one of the most exciting parts of football. It’s where you can shine going past opponents. It’s also when you can get your ankle broken for going past opponents if you play in the likes of Sunday League so be adviced to use what you learn to dribble better with caution!
Here are some incredibly simple yet effective drills to boost your dribbling skills:
Sprint with the ball. It’s a lot harder to control to a ball at a high pace, yet it’s something that you will most likely need to do at one point of a match. Do it effectively, and you will vastly improve your team’s chances of scoring. Sprint with the ball while trying to control it as much as possible having it as near to you as possible. Of course, sprinting is tiring, but perhaps doing sprinting with the ball is a far more effective strategy to implement rather than springing without a ball?
Work on how you move your body. Your ability to dribble has a lot to do with your body movement. You need to position your entire body towards where you want to go. Your upper body also needs to be lower. It will allow you to move faster and better while also making it much easier to protect the ball from your opponents.
Do one of the most simple cone drills out there. 6 or 7 cones set apart from each other (change the distance every so often) in a straight line. Incredibly simple, yet one of the most effective exercises to improve ball control and dribbling overall. You most likely already do some of this with your team, but you probably need to do even more.
Most of the drills on YouTube that look super cool and fancy aren’t similar enough to a match situation. This one is. Your most likely move on a pitch to go past your opponent is to either go left or right, followed by continuing going forward. Of course, you can modify this drill in many different ways.
For instance, you could place your cones in a set of 4 or 5, followed by the next set of cones being 2 or 3 meters away from you, at a different angle. A drill that can allow you to also work on change of movement.
And remember to try to these as quickly as possible. Starting off, you can take your time to have the right accuracy, but you need to be accurate and fast in a real match situation. Otherwise, you will lose the ball when going against an opponent.