First Touch and Finishing Training For Footballers | Full Off ...

Hi guys, welcome back to another video, just want to start by wishing everyone a very happy new year. I know that 2020 was a challenging year to say the very least, a lot of people's lives were affected in some way. But we're here in 2021 and although the world is far from back to normal, there's something about new year that brings a lot of hope, people setting new goals and ambitions. So I think that's a good dose of positivity that a lot of people need and I really hope it's a great year for you ahead. And just kicking off this year with a new video for you, today's video is a session I had with Beastera Soccer Training, you guys have seen many sessions I've had with them here on the channel before. And today's session was all about weight of first touch. We actually already put in an hour's worth of work beforehand. I got with a small group, unfortunately we couldn't film the session, but I did film the entire session that I had individually with them. We worked on a lot of weight of first touch, movement off the ball and some finishing. So we weren't able to mic up James as we usually do because the facility was quite packed. So it was very noisy and also we are required to wear masks inside the facility so you wouldn't have been able to hear James's voice clearly. So for today's video, I'm doing a voiceover kind of sharing what drills we're doing, the coaching points for each of the drills and a few tips along the way. Also just want to say a huge thank you to Beastera Soccer Training for squeezing me in over the holidays. They were very busy with camps and sessions, but they managed to fit me in for a good solid hour. So I appreciate their time helping me keep sharp over the holiday period. And as always, make sure you check out their website, their Instagram and their YouTube channel. They post so much valuable content for footballers out there trying to take their game to the next level. That's all going to be in the description box below. Without further ado, let's get right into the session. So we jumped right into the first drill since my body was already warmed up from that previous hour of training. So this is what the first drill looks like. Checking off the pole to create space to receive the ball. Then I take my first touch between the poles, play a reverse pass. It's an off the ball movement back into the middle for a first time shot. Then I check back up to the pole to receive another ball and I'm spinning that defender then with my next touch firing the ball in the back of the net. So this is the touch we're working on. Taking it with the outside of the foot, using the momentum of the ball to spin it past. Then it's an acceleration so I can shoot with my next touch. So we're working on a few things in this first drill. A lot of efficiency of movement and efficiency of touches and as you can see we're working on timing here as well. Look at this adjustment of the feet so that I can get the ball in my stride and strike it first time. And I'm also making that little acceleration up to the pole, getting just in front of the defender then using the momentum of the ball to spin the ball with the outside of my foot so I can strike it with my next touch. So we went through this drill a few times unopposed and then we actually added in a little bit of a mental stimulus so you can see off camera, you'll see in a second, that James, the other coach, is checking into the space to force me to make a decision. So if he checks to my right shoulder, that's putting pressure on me so I've got to take the touch between the poles. If he checks to the other side, I've got to take my touch away from the defender to get away from pressure, play the ball back and then create a new angle to receive the ball once again. So just working on a little bit of decision making as well but we always start unopposed just to get the technique right and warmed up and then we add the decision making element. So as you can see, James is coming into the screen here so I have to take my touch the opposite way to the direction that he checks and then everything else is the same, playing that reverse pass, getting around the cone to get that off the ball movement, checking back up to the pole, getting just in front, spinning the defender and then firing the ball in the back of the net with my first touch. So a lot of things going on in this one drill, working on that efficiency of movement, efficiency of touches and weight of first touch because that's really important. You need to know when you need to keep the ball close to you if you've got a defender pressuring you and you need to know when you can push the ball into the space and accelerate. And then we did the same thing from the opposite side, so we're playing the reverse pass with the right foot this time and then it's a left foot finish into the goal. So I'll leave the rest of this set uncut so you can see the recovery period I'm taking in between each repetition. So it's probably 10 to 15 seconds or so between each repetition, just walking back up to that starting pole and then I'm going from one to the next. So it's not a long recovery period and each repetition is pretty fast and intense. So it's putting a lot on the legs, you'll feel the lactic acid building up pretty quickly with this one. But that's what I love, I love training on heavy legs because that's when you really have to focus on the ball and you really have to be disciplined with your technique. When your legs are tired, your brain wants to switch off so it's easy to be a little bit undisciplined with your technique and that's when you start lifting the ball over the bar or taking really heavy first touches. So I love training on heavy legs because it really replicates the end of the game or those moments in a match when you receive the ball after a really intense period, your legs are really heavy but you still need to produce. So I would recommend that if you're doing technical work that has some sort of physical element to it, try and minimise the time between each of the repetitions. When you're doing 100% sprints you want maximum recovery because that's how you're going to get the most benefits. But when you're working on your technique, try and put the burn on the legs and that's going to help you in a match when you're feeling tired and you still need to have technical excellence. And then we worked on the same one as we worked on previously when we added the stimulus in. So once I get back to the beginning, then James checks either to my right shoulder or my left and then I've got to make a decision based on his movement. So as you can see, he's checking to my left shoulder so I'm taking that touch out of my feet to my right. So looking over my shoulder, processing the information behind me and then making my decision based on what I see. Then everything else is the same, just finishing into the goal. And now we just have freedom to choose whatever type of first touch we want. And as you can see, now Matt is pressuring me as well. So now I'm having to get that touch out of my feet and onto the shot as quickly as possible. And then we went into another activity. So we're getting that first touch out of our feet, really pushing it in between the gate there. And then we're just working on that quality of end product. So just pushing the ball into the net with a simple side foot pass. And then I'm turning, receiving the ball once again, another touch out of my feet beyond the pole. And then it's a finish with my left foot. And then we evolve the drill slightly so that if I miss the target with that first pass, James gets to roll a ball towards the empty net and I've got to get around the pole, make a recovery run and try and intercept the ball before it gets there. So it's a little bit of punishment if I'm not being disciplined with my technique and missing the target. He then gets to exploit that. So obviously it's going to make me focus a little bit more with my end product. So getting that first touch clean at a good angle so that it's going towards the target. And we went through this repetitively. So a small recovery once again, 10 seconds or so. And as you can see, James is varying the type of ball he's playing in. So sometimes he bounces it, sometimes he plays it on the ground. So I've got to react and take my first touch accordingly, which is going to be a lot more match specific because the ball isn't always going to be perfectly rolled along the ground. It's going to be bouncing sometimes, so you need to be able to adapt to whatever ball comes your way. So it's really good to work on taking the ball with all the different surface areas of the feet, the inside, the outside and the laces, depending on how it's coming towards you. So this is really good to replicate in your training sessions as well. So this is a great drill for working on the weight of that first touch, getting it far enough out of your feet. So your momentum is going in the direction you want and then your next touch can be a pass towards your teammate. And then we went into a final progression of this drill. This time, if I miss the target on that first pass, James gets to dribble towards that goal. So I've got to make a recovery run, trying to intercept either him or get towards the goal to provide a block. And if I make the pass, then I receive another one and I'm going at James towards the opposite side. And I've got to get the ball in the net on that side. So it's a little bit of a competition, which always brings up the intensity of the training session because usually athletes are very competitive. So you're going to try a little bit harder when you have an opponent to go up against. And as you'll see with a lot of my training sessions with my teammates, I'm always trying to play games of some sort where you keep score, which just make you work a little bit harder so you get even more out of the training session. But that concluded the session with Bisterra. So just two drill setups there, but we went through each one multiple times and also added a few varieties in, which ended up being almost an hour training session in total. So there we go, guys. That's the training session complete. I hope you enjoyed it and took away some value from those coaching points that I shared. And another thank you to Bisterra Soccer Training for their help keeping me sharp over the holidays and throughout this off-season training period has really helped my game so much and I couldn't recommend them enough. So once again, all of their stuff is going to be in the description box below. Make sure you go check them out. And before I go, I just want to say a huge thank you to you guys for your continued support here on the channel. 2020 was a great year for the growth of this channel and I've received so many emails, messages, video clips throughout the year from you guys showing me how you're staying sharp indoors. I know a lot of you didn't have training with your team throughout the year and you were showing me how you're using my training sessions to keep taking your game to the next level throughout this time. And I love to see that. There's no greater reward than hearing you guys are benefiting from my drills. So I'm going to bring you as much as I can in 2021 to continue helping you take your game to that next level and there should be a lot of good stuff on the way. So once again, thank you so much for your continued support and a happy new year. If you did enjoy today's video, make sure you smash the like button, hit the subscribe button for weekly training videos and I'll see you guys in my next video.