Soccer, Driving, Chess & Billiards.
"What in the name of flambéed cats is that goofy dog talkin' 'bout now?"
Listen and you shall learn.
Believe it or not, if you want to be a good soccer player, you can improve quickly by applying the principles of driving, chess and billiards to your soccer game. It is an important point of learning to make comparisons and relationships between the matter that you are learning and other aspects of life of which you are already familiar. This allows you to more easily understand the concepts since they are not freshly learned, but instead adapted to the knowledge that you already have. In this way your previous knowledge acts as a building block on which to construct new and more elaborate information.
For instance, what are the basic guidelines to being a good driver? Be aware of your surroundings. Don't put yourself into dangerous situations. Always leave yourself a way out, a way to avoid possible hazards. Keep your attention on what you are doing. Be able to react quickly to changing traffic...etc.
Now if we apply these to soccer. Be aware of your surroundings. Just like driving, look left, look right, look back, look up, know where the other players are, know where the ball is, know where the space is, know where the space is being created.
Don't put yourself into dangerous situations. Pretty basic, but still rarely done. Play the ball early, don't dribble yourself into a corner, don't dribble the ball in front of your own goal under pressure. The fewer chances you take in dangerous situations, the less of a chance you will make a costly mistake.
Always leave yourself a way out, a way to avoid possible hazards. If you make a risky run into a crowded area, be thinking of a way to save yourself if things get hot. Sometimes it is as easy as playing the ball back to your support, or it can be as tricky as intentionally playing the ball off the foot of your opponent to receive a corner kick.
Keep your attention on what you are doing. This is so obvious, and so basic, yet few players are capable of maintain strict concentration during a match. When the concentration drops, the rate of mistakes rises.
Be able to react quickly to changing traffic. If you are moving to the right, and you notice that there are 7 opposing players on the right, be able to quickly switch the ball to the left side of the field.
What about chess? Or billiards? What makes a good chess player, or good billiards player? The ability to think ahead. The ability to see 3, 4, 5, 10 moves into the future.
A good chess player knows that if move A is made, the opponent will probably make move B as a response. A really good player sees that A means B, so D means E, and F means G, and H means I, and J means checkmate.
In billiards, you need to set up the next shot. If you know you can't knock a ball in, you will need to try to keep your opponent from being able to play as well. So you are thinking of what your next shot is, and how to have the ball end up in the right position for the next shot. A good player knows that once the 9 ball is sunk, the 11 is next in line. A really good player knows which order to run the rest of the balls on the table.
Again, when applied to soccer, think ahead. If you have the ball in the backfield, what are you trying to do? Well, you want to get the ball to the forwards so that they can score, but they are all marked up tightly. So how do you get them open? Manipulate the opposition. Make them do what you want them to do. If you hold the ball for a few seconds, the opposing forward will step up to pressure you. Play the ball to the center defender. The ball then gets played to the left wing midfielder. The opposing team will shift to their right, your left, to pressure the ball. Once the opposition commits to defending your left, play the ball through to the right side, where you will enjoy a numbers-up advantage, and a good scoring chance. Of course, this has been oversimplified, but the theory is sound. Make the opposition do what you want them to do.
Make your own comparisons. Basketball, lacrosse, tennis, square dancing, war games, shopping, whatever works for you. Ciao for now!
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