Should You Be Doing Individual Technical Training? 

Of course, normal training with your team is amazing as it helps build team chemistry and gives a better understanding of how the game will flow. But, individual technical training is vital to your personal development as a soccer player.

Additional personal training should be supplementary to your regular team practice and designed to give you an advantage. If you want to take your game to the next level, this is a great way to start.

Benefits

Technical training is very beneficial if you want to improve your overall ball mastery and 1v1 skills. Learning and refining your technique can easily translate into game situations. In addition, you can personalize your training to target your weak areas and ultimately step up your game. 

For instance, if your right foot is dominant, you can specify your technical training and emphasize working your non-dominant foot. You can tailor your training to center around your first touch, power, balance, etc.

Another example would be if you have trouble dribbling with speed, you can incorporate various drills (with and without a ball) that will enhance that aspect of your game.

Individual training can also increase confidence. Soccer is both a mental and physical game. That said, confidence is a significant part of your success as a player. Focusing and improving on your weakest areas can make it easier to have trust in your capabilities while playing. In the long run, training in a space that only requires you to focus on yourself creates a positive environment to grow. 

How long should I train?

This is a great question to ask yourself. At the end of the day, it comes down to how good you want to become. The more hours you put in, the more improvements you will see. As said by Tim Notke, “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

What should I do?

There are a few ways you can go about individual technical training. First, you can easily set up drills by yourself with a couple of cones and a ball. You can focus on mastering the ball at your feet and overall fast footwork. 

For a more game-like application, you can also reach out to your coach and ask for additional one-on-one training before or after practice. The coach would be able to set up individual drills that require direct passes, quick turns, fast reflexes, shooting, etc. It all depends on what you think you will benefit from the most. 

Additionally, you can seek out a personal soccer trainer to help you improve. Personal training is becoming more and more common these days for those who want to progress to an elite level of play. With a personal trainer, you can get highly specific and rigorous practice for what you feel you need improvement.

Another route is soccer training apps. Personal soccer training can come straight from your phone in this digital age. This is good because it also provides a reasonably flexible schedule for training.

In a group setting, it is difficult to target the areas that you may need help in. Often, the coach focuses on the bigger picture instead of each individual on their own. Taking it upon yourself and putting in the extra hours of individual technical training can revolutionize your game. Overall, the more you touch the ball, the better you’ll be. 

Featured image via Adobe Stock Images

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