Why and How to Train Your Less Skillful Foot

Published on: 07/04/2021
NF Academy Football Training Sessions
NF Academy Football Training Sessions

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.

David Fernandes joined NF Academy some months ago and he is "impressed with the way that my work is helping the players developing".
David Fernandes joined NF Academy some months ago and he is "impressed with the way that my work is helping the players developing".

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.

NF Academy Coach João Plantier

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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