How to - Soccer Juggling

Admittedly, soccer juggling isn't an essential skill to have in a match, since you'll rarely find yourself having the time or the need to juggle in that kind of fast paced environment. However, learning how to juggle has other important benefits that will come in helpful in a match.

The following article will focus on the skills you can improve through juggling as well as show you how to juggle correctly using your foot, thigh and head. Throughout the article, you'll also find several soccer juggling tips and tricks that should prove useful when improving your skills.

The basic technique to juggle a ball in soccer is to use your feet for this purpose. Simply roll the ball slightly towards you with your sole, then quickly place your foot under it and bring it up in the air.

When you juggle using your feet, hit the ball with the upper part of your foot, with your knee slightly bent. Make sure you hit directly under the ball, otherwise it might run away from you. You'll have to find your tempo when juggling and you'll soon find out what force you need to apply under the ball so that you allow yourself time to retract the foot and at the same time, make sure you don't give too much height to the ball.

The advantage is that the ball will be much closer to your body, so in case you hit it too hard or too softly, you have time to correct your body position and get the ball back up in the air. You will also relax your feet slightly by juggling on your thighs, so if you're trying to set up some soccer juggling record amongst your friends, you'd better learn how to do it properly.

Juggling on your head is spectacular, but requires more technique and concentration than if you would do it on your foot or thigh. However, sometimes you'll feel the need to relax both your feet for a bit and in that case you'll have to, literally, use your head. Hit the ball directly on its equator, giving it a vertical motion with the help of your neck. Make sure you use the upper part of your forehead to hit it, otherwise it could take a totally unwanted direction.

Soccer Juggling >> Quicker Reactions – While juggling a soccer ball, there will be times when you won't hit it perfectly, which triggers a quick reaction from your mind and body to try and catch the ball and keep it in the air. This comes in extremely useful in real matches, especially when you don't trap a ball like you should have and need to make a quick correction in order not to lose possession.

Soccer Juggling >> Ball Control – Same as the above mentioned example, soccer ball juggling helps your trapping ability and it also improves your eye-foot coordination, which will be useful in a real match in numerous situations. Basically you'll learn to "feel" the ball and automatically know what measure of force needs to be applied on it when trapping it, passing it and so forth.

Soccer Juggling >> Increased Concentration – Simple as it is, the process of juggling a ball on your feet requires all your concentration. Sure, this concentration quota will diminish itself in time as you master the art of juggling, but you still have to focus on what you're doing to succeed. In a real match, this translates into an increased concentration when trapping the ball, when passing it or when executing a dribble.

Soccer Juggling >> Improved Confidence – Feeling that you have complete control over the ball when at your feet is a great confidence booster. Every pass, dribble or successful trapping relies on this and soccer juggling provides the means to make you confident that you have the skills to control the ball perfectly. You don't need to be a freestyle soccer juggling pro to obtain that kind of confidence. But simply knowing that you have full control will be enough to give you the confidence needed.

Unlike many of the other soccer fundamental skills, juggling is actually better trained alone. It requires little effort, room or money to train. Just get a ball and go to your front yard, or on your training pitch and start juggling, starting with your feet, then working your way up to the thighs, head and shoulders.

I'm sure you love those soccer juggling tricks Ronaldinho or Henry perform in all sorts of commercials...well here's a tip: with enough practice ANYONE can do them. Just set your mind on doing one...I guarantee that in a couple of days you'll get the hang of it.

Oh and if another one of your teammates is interested in practicing his juggling skills, you can both train at the same time. Just pass the ball from one another in the air, without allowing it to hit the ground. When you receive the ball, juggle it a couple of times before passing it on to get the exercise's full effect.