Training Skills For Soccer - Quicker & Clever Stepovers

There are many training skills for soccer and in this article we will discuss the stepovers. We will mainly focus on how to perform them quicker and more clever. So, let's start...

Stepovers are one of the most efficient ways for getting around your opponent. However, you need to perform them quickly and smart in order to benefit from them. In this article I will present some general things you can adapt in order to improve your stopovers. Let’s start…

1. Bring a cone or similar and put it on the ground. Then, step away from the cone about 10 yards and start to drive the ball towards it. You should pretend that the cone is an opponent and that you want to get around it.

Believe me, even if the cone is not moving you will probably stumble on it few times. I know this by own experience :-) However, this is a good sign because if you can’t get around that cone properly you will not either be able to get around your opponent. Therefore, be sure to practice even more before tryout out your stopovers in a real soccer game.

2. Ask a teammate to attack you but tell him that he should not try to steal the ball from you. This one is my favorite because you will actually practice on real game situations with a real opponent. If you want to increase the difficulty of this exercise you may give your teammate permission to act like a real defender. This is even better because if you manage to get around your teammate successfully then you will also be able to get around your opponents.

3. Perform your stopovers in a real soccer game. This one is also a form of practice even if you are actually performing your stopovers in a real soccer match. It doesn’t matter how often you practice on the 2 points above if you never dare to use your move in a real game. Don’t be afraid of failure, instead approach your opponent with the ball and be resolute while executing the move.

Some Pointers
- When performing the step over move you need to really throw your body in the direction that you want your opponent to go in order to fake your move.

- During a regular soccer game, try to monitor the movements of your opponent’s feet and body position in order to see which direction he will lean to. Perform your step over in the direction in which your opponent is leaning and then quickly explode fast him in the opposite way.

- Performing quick and clever stopovers are just a little part of your over training skills for soccer. In order to become a successful soccer player you will need to master many other training skills for soccer. However, mastering the stopovers is a good starting point. Good Luck