Soccer Juggling Skills

Keeping Score

Players can vary massively in juggling ability. Even talented players who succeed in games can find juggling a tricky task. If you are comfortable with juggling develop focus and always compete against your personal best. If you can only do 3 juggles then aim for 4 the next time. Do not give up and success is merely a matter of repetition and application.

Technique

When you are practicing juggling, you should always keep your eye firmly on the ball. Keep your standing foot next to the ball and keep your body weight towards your toes at all times. If the ball goes to the side move your feet and avoid stretching for the ball or you will quickly lose control. Keep ball below shoulder height to make it easier to control.

Progressions

Progressions you can add to your juggling practice include:

• Left foot only.
• Right Foot only.
• One body surface only.
• Different combinations. For example, 2 thigh 2 foot.

Juggling Exercises

Listed below are variations of juggling practice that you can use.

Beginner Juggling

For players beginning to learn the skill of juggling, start with the ball in your hands. Allow the ball to bounce once between juggles to get used to the action of kicking the ball up to yourself. As you become familiar progress to juggling without the ball touching the ground. Progress to starting with the ball on the ground, roll the ball towards yourself before putting your foot underneath the ball before flicking it up to begin juggling.

Body Surfaces

Practice juggling with different body surfaces. Begin by warming up juggling with your feet for 5 minutes. Dedicate 5 minutes to each of the following body surfaces;

• Thighs – Use the middle of your thigh to juggle, alternate thighs with each touch.
• Head – Use your forehead and look up at ball while dribbling with your hair.
• Shoulder – Shoulder juggling is a very advanced from of juggle, use the points of your shoulder to juggle the ball up above your head. Alternate shoulders with each touch.

Finish by juggling using a different body surface with each touch. Below is a video of the great Diego Maradona juggling with many different body surface.

Up and Down

The up and down involves juggling the ball up and down your body using every surface. Start with the ball in your hand and drop it onto your foot. Juggle the ball in the following order; foot, thigh, head, thigh foot. Repetition and time investing will help you improve at this. When you become competent increase the difficulty by making the drill side specific; left foot, left thigh, head, right thigh and right foot. Progress the practice to beginning with ball on the floor and flicking it up to yourself. Players who become proficient can increase difficulty by adding the use of shoulders between the thigh and head juggles.

Around the World

The around the world is a soccer trick used commonly by freestylers, many believe it was pioneered by Maradona. While juggling an Around the World trick is performed by circling your foot around the ball. Juggle with your right foot, get the ball up above waist and below shoulder height. After juggling the ball up with your right foot, quickly circle the right foot around, over and back underneath the ball before resuming juggling. Perform the same motion using your left foot.

Juggle Catch

Juggle catch is fun elimination game you can play with friends. Each of you has a ball, from the second the game begins whenever your ball touches the ground you are eliminated. To avoid confusion, if a player catches a ball and then bounces it, that also counts as being out. One player is designated as the lead player. The lead player calls out body part sequences and ends with catch. For example; “right foot, left thigh, catch. All players must perform juggling in this sequence. Using body parts out of sequence, or the ball hitting the ground results in a player being eliminated and taking a knee. The last players standing wins. Difficulty can be increased by adding repetitions, such as 4 foot, 5 thigh, head, catch.

Size of Ball

Practicing juggling with different size soccer balls is a good practice. Developing the ability to juggle smaller balls increases coordination and touch. Size 3 soccer balls are a good ball to use when practicing this. Enjoy this very impressive video of Diego Maradonajuggling with smaller objects;

ACTION PLAN

• Practice juggling daily.
• Warm up with 5 minutes of juggling with your feet.
• Dedicate 5 minutes to each different body surface.
• Juggle using a different body surface with each touch.
• Perform tricks while juggling such as around the world. Be creative and invent things.