Football is a passion of yours, now you want to get better at it. You have to step back and say to yourself, “What can I learn about the game so that I can master it?” This article will give you exactly what you need to know in an easy to understand format.
Condition yourself more for practice, then for the game of football itself. While you need to be ready for game day, practice will take the most out of you physically. Therefore, it’s vital that your conditioning keep you up to par in practice and making a good impression there, to avoid much bench time.
Listen to your teammates. Even if you don’t agree with them, you know that they also want to win. Their insight might be the thing that puts your team over the top.
When working on improving yourself as a football player, keep in mind that the only thing you really can’t change is your height. You can change your diet to lose or gain weight, and train to build your muscles up. You can also work with a trainer to increase your speed and skill. If anything, height should be your only handicap.
Football requires a lot of schemes and strategies, and it is not possible to know all of them. By being the smartest player, you can outwit your opponents. When you are unable to beat them with your body, beat them with your mind.
Treat all of your fellow players, even your opposition, with the respect they deserve. Football is a taxing sport on body and mind. Everyone that plays is a warrior in his own right. It shows great courage and teamwork. Keep that in mind, and don’t react poorly to misplays and losing. Treat your fellow players the way you’d want to be treated.
Learn how to get past defenders when catching a kick off. The best way to do this is run directly behind a few of your best defenders. They will block for you most effectively and will create an opening for you to run down the line towards the goal.
Practice all that you can. Football may look easy when watching it on television, but that’s far from the truth. It’s a very physically demanding sport that also take a lot of brain power. You need to remember patterns and think on your feet with little notice to succeed. All of this takes practice.
Work ethics will affect the amount of time you spend on the field. Even though natural talent helps, work ethic is more important to be a true success. A coach would rather have a player who is willing to work hard and learn over a lazy player with natural abilities.
Don’t be afraid to be intimidating as a football player, because this can really help your game. When opponents think you’re bad and know you’re going to hit them hard, it can change the way they play and cause them to make mistakes. Be known as somebody they really don’t want to face, and you have an advantage before you even show off your real playing ability.
Use interval sprint training to really boost your stamina. Sprint for 30 seconds, then rest for 1 minute. Sprint and rest again. Keep repeating this until you can not physically spring anymore that day. Record your total number of sprints for that day, and aim to beat it by one the next day. Most days you won’t, but you will slowly edge that number up.
Always drink plenty of water when you are practicing or playing football. It is very easy to get dehydrated during a game or during practice. This will not only impact your performance, but it could be dangerous as well. Drink plenty of fluids before, during and after any football related activity.
Get used to playing off of your weaker foot. If you’re like many athletes, you’ll favor one foot over another. It’ll tend to be the foot that you pivot on and use for running fakes. If you want to confuse the opponent covering you, surprise them with some moves using your weaker side. It’ll give you some real advantage.
Practice scoring with something that is extremely rare called the fair-catch kick. This will give you a chance to score a field goal via a free kick. A player gets a holder’s help to kick the ball into the air. It’s similar to a field goal that’s standard and scoring three points. The down is not timed.
Shoulder pads are an essential part of football protective gear. You have to be sure your shoulder pads fit correctly before you begin playing. Make sure they aren’t moving around and in tip top shape. If there are any problems with your pads, it could lead to an injury in the game.
Consider teaching others about all you know in regards to football. If you can give back to the community by coaching a team of six year olds, you will get an amazing feeling in your heart. You could also hold charity football games to raise money for local organizations as well.
Your playbook is your best friend. Take the time memorize each play and practice each play often. By knowing each play in your playbook, you can call a little used play when the defense keeps shutting you down. Each player should know every play in your playbook for the best results.
Some days, only train one leg during your football workout. You need to make sure that both your legs are strong. When you train both legs, one leg will tend to bear most of the weight, though. So think about doing ‘one leg workout’ days to make sure that both legs are in great shape.
Now that you can get better at football, you’ll find that your passion for the game continues to grow. You’ll want to play as frequently as possible so that you can enjoy your time outside of school or work. Practice all you can and your skills should improve dramatically.