Soccer: Placement Is Key

I have been a die-hard fan of soccer since I was only 4 years old. I fell in love with the game the first time I stepped on the pitch and scored my first goal when I was playing recreational soccer at the age of about 4 and a half. At that age most of the kids that play have knowledge only enough to know that we had to chase a ball and get it into the goal without using our hands more than the other team does. Still, the excitement and thrill of being in a 0-0 game with everyone working as hard as they can to put the ball in the back of the net is what made me follow and keep on playing soccer until now. Even though I have played soccer for a long time I know that everyday I can improve and become a better player. So, to learn and gain more knowledge about the game I decided to read a soccer book called "Soccer Strategies: The Top 100 Best Ways To Improve Your Soccer Game," by Ace McCloud, for my 2nd quarter IRP project. For this blog, I chose to focus on a very vital part of the game and that is controlling your shot and placing it, not trying to hit it as hard as possible. This is very important because many people think that when you have a goal-scoring opportunity the best thing to do is smash the ball as hard as possible, this usually leads to the ball sailing way over the goal or wide of the goal because there is no control over where they want to hit it. To have more success in front of the goal instead of hitting the ball with as much force as possible, slot the ball where the goalkeeper won't be able to reach and place it in with just the right amount of power so that the shot is controlled and it hits the back of the net.

In the book on page 14 it says "Shooting the ball in a good location is a vital skill that many people do not practice enough. Placing the ball into the goal in a strategic location is much more effective than trying to smash it into the goal with no real direction in mind. A big mistake strikers can make is hitting the ball too hard and missing the goal entirely," (McCloud 14).

In both of those shots I took, exactly what the book was saying happened, the mistake I made was trying to smash the ball too hard and then I didn't even get the ball on goal. This is a major letdown for many players that don't focus enough on placing the ball in an area of the goal but just think about ripping the ball as hard as possible. This even happens with many professional players when they shoot because they don't focus enough on a location in goal and then it is very embarrassing and disappointing for them to see how far off they were after they blast it completely off target.

After reading the book, these are the two new and very much improved shots that I ended up coming out with. As you can see, I clearly picked out a place in the goal where I thought that the goalkeeper wouldn't reach if I placed it there and put just enough power under the ball. The result of actually having a location of the goal to shoot at in mind rather than just smashing the ball as hard as possible and hoping for the ball to be on frame are very good because in both of these shots I beat the keeper and scored. This book has taught me a lot about how to increase the chances of scoring by doing this because I was able to read it and follow how it said pick out a location in the goal and hit it there. This is going to help me become a better soccer player all around because I will be more controlled over my game now and score many more goals which is the main point of the game anyways. Also, in the book on page 14 again, McCloud talks about how the number one and most crucial skill of being a striker is that you have the ability to put a powerful shot on goal, (McCloud 14). This from the book also shows how I and anyone who reads this can improve and become much better at playing soccer and being a soccer player because it helps you go deeper into the fundamentals of the game and explains how to get better at basics like scoring with a deadly shot.

QUESTION: HOW DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DECEIVE THE KEEPER THE BEST SO THE LOCATION YOU PICK TO SHOOT AT ISN'T OBVIOUS?



McCloud, Ace. Soccer: Soccer Strategies- The Top 100 Best Ways To Improve Your Soccer Game (Soccer Strategies, Soccer Skills, Soccer Nutrition, Soccer Drills). N.p.: n.p., 2015. Print.