Soccer Juggling - Improve your soccer techniques & skills through juggling

Soccer juggling might seem a little useless since you won't actually have the room or the time to juggle in a real match. However, juggling's actually a good way to practice other soccer fundamentals, such as ball control, trapping, dribbling etc.

In this section, you will learn how to juggle correctly using your foot, thigh and head, as well as variety of skills you can improve through juggling.

If you want to become a master of juggling like this guy in the video clip below, you have to know that it takes some serious love and dedication to the beautiful game... so sit back, relax and enjoy the show :)

Soccer Juggling Techniques

To juggle a soccer ball, simply roll the ball slightly towards you with your sole, then quickly place your foot under it and bring it up in the air(sounds easy!?).

Juggle with Feet - 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.

Juggle with Thighs - When you've mastered juggling with your feet, you can move onto juggling with your thighs. Juggling in soccer doesn't rely on the thigh so much as the foot or the head, but there will be cases when you'll want to use your thighs.

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 a bit by juggling on your thighs.

Juggle with Head - Juggling on your head 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 Benefits

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.

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.

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.

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. 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 C. Ronaldo 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.