How to Become a Better Soccer Midfielder by Training Alone
To be a good soccer midfielder requires a lot of hard work, and you must be ready for many physical and psychological demands during a competitive game. It is without doubt that becoming a good soccer midfielder takes a lot of practice and hard work.
Many aspects of becoming a better soccer midfielder must be practiced with your team; movement off the ball, decision making and keeping possession away from defenders can only be practiced in a team environment or with a group of players.
However, some aspects of your game can be worked on alone, and of you want to be the best you simply must practice alone. The typical club team in American youth club soccer will train twice a week with games at the weekend. Many teams will also take months off in the summer and winter, this is simply not enough time to reach your potential.
Factors of you game you can work on alone include touch on the ball, long range passing and short range passing.
Touch on the Ball
Your ability to trap balls from a range of different heights and angles is crucial to your ability as a midfielder. You will see a range of loose and bouncing balls you must be able to deal with, and you will also receive passes when you are under defensive pressure that you must develop the ability to control and use in a positive way for your team.
You can practice ball control alone with the use of a wall or any surface the ball will come back off. Stand 10 yards away from the wall and drive the ball at the wall hard and low. When the ball comes back trap it with your right foot, you should aim to trap the ball so it goes no further than one or two steps in front of you. Perform 50 to 100 repetitions, before doing exactly the same using your left foot.
To increase the difficulty of this drill move five yards closer to the wall, giving yourself less time to react to the flight of the ball. You can also hit passes off to the side forcing yourself to move quickly side to side before trapping the ball.
Vary this drill to incorporate controlling high and bouncing balls. Throw the ball high onto the wall and practice trapping balls with your thigh, chest or your foot at differing heights. Perform 50 to 100 repetitions at each height, only through repetition can you truly master this skill and become comfortable in possession of the ball.
You can also practice trapping balls in a certain direction. For example, if you received a pass with a defender on your left shoulder, you would trap the ball with your right foot and move the ball away from the defender on your first touch. Practice trapping the ball away from pressure when you are alone by directing your first touch to the left or right.
Passing
You can practice accurate passing over short and long range on your own by using targets and getting in plenty of repletion. Mark three targets (two yards wide) on a wall and stand 10 yards away, pass the ball using the inside of your foot and aim to hit the target. Perform 50 repetitions with your left foot, and then 50 with your right foot. Score a point every time you hit the target and record your score out of 50 with each foot. Keeping score will allow you to monitor your progress.
Increase the difficulty of this drill by standing further from the wall and making it a long distance passing drill. Aim to develop accuracy over 20 to 30 yards on a consistent basis.
Another form of practicing long range passing is to place hula hoops on the ground. Practice lofted passes and score a point for yourself if you can land the ball inside the hoop. You can also mark out targets using cones for this drill. Keep scores of how many balls out of 50 you can land inside the target, and also track the furthest distance you can accurately perform this drill from.
