3 Ways To Improve Fast in Football

By Manas Shastri On

 3 Ways To Improve Fast in Football

Let's be honest, we all want to improve fast in football, however, most people usually don't know the steps needed. They most likely play stick to cone drills and free-kick practice for 3 hours per day, yes that can make you improve, but it also has some disadvantages and you might not even improve. Here's the secret: 
"Training Less Makes You Improve More"

I started playing football at 9 years old, a pretty normal age to start. I also had some friends that have been playing football for more than 5 years. I felt so underleveled and late to football. To improve this, I started training 3 hours a day using free-kicks and cone drills, but unsurprisingly, I played even worse. It was until I realized, improving in football doesn't require the most complex trainings, it requires training the basics first. 

1. Train Barefoot 

When you're barefoot, your body allows itself to move freely without any issue. It allows itself to be expressive. So, when you're barefoot, practice juggling and 1 touch-wall passing. This allows your body to be more open with itself, storing more information and training. Furthermore, training your juggling skills barefoot allows to improve you basics mastery. Which sometimes, is all you need when it comes to playing football. 

Wall-Passing & Turning

How to do it:
  1. Find a wall and continuously pass the ball back and forth. 
  2. After getting comfortable, use either another object or a small goal-net and place it behind your wall. 
  3. After receiving a pass from the wall turn either to the left or right and pass it into the other object or small goal-net. 
  4. Be flexible and turn both ways in order to get used to it. 
This training drill helps you train your ability to turn properly and teaches you the fundamentals of a midfielder in a real game. Knowing how to turn properly as a midfielder allows you to access acres of space, which you can then use to exploit, penetrating the opposition's system. Allowing for the best goalscoring chance.

2. Play Pick-Up Soccer

Playing pick-up soccer allows your body to train more in a tight space in a real-life situation, it is also scientifically backed, when you're playing football in tight space, it allows you to use more creativity in order to progress the ball forward creating a goal-scoring chance. Not only that, it also makes you step more out of your comfort-zone, by meeting new people. 

You can find pick-up games by going to your local football pitch and ask the receptionist if there's any pickup games available, then you can sign-up for it to join. 

3. Train Less 

Playing less is actually scientifically better for you, as playing for 4 hrs straight gives you fatigue and you lose all your improvement, so, the ideal training time should be 1 hour - 1 hour 30 minutes. As this is perfect due to having a lot of time improving your weaknesses and also preventing fatigue so you can play in more games in the future. 

In the end, improving fast in football isn’t about endless hours or complicated drill. it’s about training smarter. Mastering the basics, exposing yourself to real-game situations, and allowing your body enough recovery time leads to more consistent progress. By training barefoot to sharpen your touch, playing pick-up games to develop creativity, and limiting sessions to high-quality work, you set yourself up to improve efficiently and sustainably. Football rewards intelligence, balance, and simplicity, and those who understand this will always develop faster than those who don’t.

Do you want to know what training drills you need to go pro? Check this link:

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