How to Play Soccer

Jack was an avid soccer enthusiast and always had a penchant for the game. In fact, at the age of 10 he had shown sparks of his football skills. His parents gauged his talent and aptly encouraged and pushed him to go for soccer coaching. After that, he never looked back.

The above could be the story of any of the awesome soccer players who have won the hearts of soccer fans all across the globe. What made them stars and such players was their sheer passion and grit towards being the best. Be it Cristiano Ronaldo or the charming and fantastic David Beckham. No surprises for guessing that for innumerable youngsters and amateurs, these two and many more are like gods and idols! All they want to know is how to play soccer and how to do it well. Thus dedicating this to all the soccer lovers - here is the kick off!

Learning How to Play Soccer

Rules Rule
The first thing you need to know when you want to excel in any sport is the rules. Once you are thorough with the rules and the way the game goes, then you can master the footwork. It would all be a flop show if you are an excellent player, but do not know the rules. For instance you have fantastic defending skills but do not know the rules about defending, then you would end up presenting a penalty to the opponents on a platter. The best way to know and imbibe basic soccer rules is while on the field itself, as instead of memorizing them, you can associate those rules with an on-field situation.

Skills which Kill
If you want to learn how to play soccer, you should know passing, dribbling, receiving, shooting, heading, kicking and trapping. Let's 'tackle' these one by one.

Passing: Passing the ball with the inside of your foot is the basic skill you would start off with when learning to pass the ball. Once you get this, go on to complex footwork and tackling. With continuous and unhindered practice, the skill can be mastered. Practice and only practice is going to sharpen our passing. This is inevitable for learning how to play better soccer.

Dribbling: Dribbling is all about tricking your opponent and getting past them to the goal post. It is needs nimble feet and good amount of athleticism. The fundamental thing about dribbling is that no soccer player dribbles in his own half. Then, even when you dribble in the opponent's half, you need to go along with the team. Every time the ball comes to you, there is no need to dribble. Analyzing the situation of the game before dribbling is absolutely essential.

Receiving: Getting the ball in a correct position, or receiving it in the correct position, is another thing you have to know, otherwise you cannot play soccer. You get a fantastic pass but you goof it up by receiving it in a wrong way and you are gone. An opportunity to score could be put at stake. The first touch is what matters while receiving the ball. Again, just like passing, you have to receive the ball using the inner part of your foot.

Shooting: Shooting is to hit the ball in the goal post, or rather shoot the ball in the goal post from a particular position. Okay, you are great at dribbling, receiving and passing. But you are a damp squib when it comes to shooting- is not good for you as a player or your team. That way you would not be able to score a lot of goals because you do not have accurate and powerful shots in your arsenal. The important thing in shooting is not power, but correct timing and ball control. Focusing on the goal post needs to be done. The whole aim of the game is to score goals, so the goal post is what has to be visualized all the time.

Heading: Ah - no please do not do something like what Zinedine Zidane aka Zizou did in that final against Materazzi! Heading the ball is what I want to say and which is a very significant aspect of soccer. When the ball is in mid air, like when a team gets a corner, after the player hits the ball and it reaches the goal post, many times the goal comes about as a result of heading the ball. And what an amazing sight it is! Especially in the replay! Nevertheless, the point then is that heading the ball is important, and that too with your forehead.

Kicking: There are around 7 types of basic soccer kicks. These are free kick, indirect kick, penalty kick, goal kick, corner kick, bicycle/overhead kick and instep/lofted kick. Start off with the simplest (please do not try your hand, no rather feet at doing the overhead kick at first go. You could hurt yourself or would not be able to practice for a couple of days! To know how to execute a penalty kick or free kick, take a look at how Steven Gerrard takes it!

Trapping: Perhaps you could call this as an add on to your soccer ammunition. This can come in very handy when you do not want the opponent to get the ball. Trapping the ball is generally done using feet, thighs and chest. However, players like Ronaldinho trap the ball using their chest.

The Usual Suspects
Apart from the above, you need to know on field soccer positions and what players in those positions do. Then automatically you know the formations of your team in the field and decide upon your team tactics - either offense or defense. Possession of the ball, man to man marking, zonal marking and so on.

All these things can be introduced at a basic level to kids when they are learning how to play soccer and slowly get them into the groove. This entire package, coupled with correct nutrition and efforts to stay fit will certainly prove instrumental in making you an excellent soccer player.

Playing soccer is ultimately all about slogging on the court and having an unfettering passion and love for the game as well as for being the best.