Why and How to Train Your Less Skillful Foot
Why and How to Train Your Less Skillful Foot?
Learn why it is crucial for youth players to have a decent weak foot and how simple it is to start improving right in their next training sessions.
Some players ask themselves: Why do I need to work my weak foot if my dominant foot is already powerful?
In today’s soccer, the action is so dynamic and fast-paced that taking a second too long to think and adjust to the skillful foot could cost you a goal (or a match!)
A good weak foot makes it much easier to adapt to every match situation. Having a good first-touch with both feet will allow players to move in both directions when the ball comes to them, shoot at the right time and not just when they can do it with your main foot, or avoid players from failing a decisive pass that will put a colleague in a 1vs1 situation with the goalkeeper.
This skill is something that NF Academy also tries to motivate players starting to work on during the NF Academy local events. Click here to see our upcoming events in your region.
Training your weak Foot
There are no secrets, you have to repeat and repeat and repeat different movements in different contexts, as you already do with your dominant foot. I suggest all the players do this, and in most case, players will be surprised with the results after few months,
says the NF Coach David Fernandes, who is currently working with our youth players in Norway.
There are no scientific and complex methods to train your weak foot; it is all about training. In the next training sessions, try to change between feet all the exercises you do.
Still, below you will find some suggestions from our Coaches to start training right now.
SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Starter exercises that you can practice anywhere
Start with basic and individual exercises can be a good idea. The examples below are just a few of the dozens of possibilities that players can try. Still, we highlight these as being a trigger to start improving the ball touch with the weak foot and for be possible to youth do it anywhere, avoiding waiting for your training sessions to start practice.
Ball Control exercises
Below a few suggestions to start using your weak foot in ball control actions. Remember to keep using your dominant foot; the goal is to mastery the ball control with both feet.
Passing exercises
Passing is one of the most important football skills; regardless of the player’s position, there are many moments in the game that has good passing skills with both feet will make the difference. Focus on your weak foot, but again, train always both.
NF Academy Exercises and Support
You can take a look at previous exercises that NF Academy published right here:
Ball control -> https://www.nfacademy.uk/effective-ways-to-improve-your-mobility-and-ball-control/
Finishing -> https://www.nfacademy.uk/effective-ways-to-improve-your-strength-and-shooting-technique/
Hopefully, these simple exercise tips will allow you to control the ball on the court better. The goal is to expose the less dexterous foot to novel scenarios, in which it will enable movements to be less rigid, more fluid, and quicker.
To make the resolutions more effective, try to apply each of them to your routines.
A last input from our Sports Director João Plantier
It is crucial to create exercises where success is not always guaranteed.
The NF Sports Director, João Plantier, shared some important notes regarding the Individual Training:
“It is essential when we are training individually that we try to create a game-like context. In the game, it’s not just about focusing on the shoot or pass, but also about many situations around us, such as teammates, opponents, the coach talking, and parents talking. It is possible in individual training to create different stimuli through visual stimuli – different colors for different goals, auditory stimuli through the coach’s/father’s instructions, and sensory stimuli through touch/pressure to decide where I am going.”
“To train as close to the game as possible, we only need one person to create these stimuli.”
“It is crucial to create exercises where success is not always guaranteed. The relationship between success and failure makes the practices more stimulating. For example, “count the number of times you can pass the ball in 30sec from the same distance” or “how long it takes me to run a route,” all related to the non-dominant foot.”
“Also, when we are training the non-dominant foot, we are not only doing exercises that will work our motor/biomechanical aspect, we are also training the mind simultaneously.”
Do you want to work with the NF Coach support and guidance? Contact us.
UPCOMING NF EVENTS
Date | Program | Country | Place | Age Group | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
08 - 12 Jan 2025 | NF Selection Riga Cup | Latvia | Riga | 2010 | |||
16 - 19 Jan 2025 | NF Selection Riga Cup | Latvia | Riga | 2011 | |||
22 - 26 Jan 2025 | NF Selection Riga Cup | Latvia | Riga | 2008-2009 | |||
30 Jan - 02 Feb 2025 | NF Selection Riga Cup | Latvia | Riga | 2012 | |||
05 - 09 Feb 2025 | NF Selection Riga Cup | Latvia | Riga | 2013 | |||
16 - 22 Feb 2025 | NF Elite Training Camp Week 8 |
Portugal | Lisboa / Estoril | 2010 - 2016 | |||
23 Feb - 01 Mar 2025 | NF Elite Training Camp Week 9 |
Portugal | Lisboa / Estoril | 2010 - 2016 | |||
12 - 17 Apr 2025 | NF Selection Costa Daurada (BOYS) | Spain | Salou | 2009-2014 | |||
12 - 17 Apr 2025 | NF Selection Costa Daurada (GIRLS) | Spain | Salou | 2007-2010 | |||
17 - 21 Apr 2025 | NF Selection Future Cup | Sweden | Gothernburg | 2008-2015 | |||
Check the complete Event Calendar here.
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