Most of us will not turn pro as soccer players, but it’s still fun to show off some cool soccer tricks and moves that you know to your friends.  Just to be clear, you should not focus solely on this aspect of your game.  When you do learn some new soccer tricks you’ll find that it can bring your play to the next level.

When we watch our favorite players on TV or in person we usually catch a glimpse or two of their best moves, ones they are known for.  For example, most of us have seen Zidane’s 360 spin move.  By all intensive purposes, the is a fairly simple move.  Don’t be fooled though, when done right it is very effective.  I am sure you have also seen the Elastico by Ronaldinho.  The first few times he did the Elastico it caught the opposing team completely of guard and would eventually strengthen his legendary status.

The moral of the story here is that if you take the time to learn these soccer tricks and moves you’ll have the upper hand on your opponent’s.  These moves take a lot of practice to master though.  It would be a good idea to learn these moves correctly.  Here is what you can do to get started.

The first thing you are going to want to do is categorize the soccer tricks and moves from the easiest to learn to the hardest to learn.  As with anything, start with the easier moves and use a step-by-step approach.  Take your time and master them.  Once this is accomplished then you can move on to the specialty moves like the Elastico.

It goes without saying that things are different when your alone or with a friend.  For example, your not going to run into much resistance by yourself.  In a game it’s a lot different and high paced.  You won’t have time to tinker around with most soccer tricks and moves.  With this being said, it is imperative that you have the tricks you want to know master come game time.

As I stated earlier, start off with the basics first.  Once you feel comfortable you can then move onto the more advanced tricks and master them.  As with anything, it is always good to master the basics first.  These basic moves lay the foundation for more advanced moves to come.

As you begin your quest to learn cool soccer tricks and moves you’ll need keep a good head about yourself.  No one starts off at the pro level, not even Zidane.  These moves take sometimes years to master and only after the basics have been hammered home.  The important thing is to not let yourself get discouraged.  When you practice hard you’ll begin to notice that these tricks will come easier as time goes by.

There is an old adage, practice makes perfect.  Well, in soccer that’s spot on.  If you want to grow as a soccer player the one thing that you need to do is practice an array of soccer drills.  This can be done at practice but if you want to become a stand out star you need to practice on your own time as well.  Below are some free soccer drills that will get you on the right track.

Our first drill is one that many know as juggling.  I know what you may be thinking, "how am I going to juggle in a game?"  Well, your not.  What juggling does is lay the ground work for more advanced skills in the future.  Plus, it’s easy, fun and can be done individually.

Juggling will allow you to hone your ball control skills and develops a strong feel for the ball.  By doing this your trapping and dribbling ability will grow which is necessary in game play.  Also, juggling will strengthen balance, concentration and the ability to use both feet to kick the ball.  Juggling just 30 minutes a day can go a long way in helping with many other skills.

Next we have one on one dribbling.  This drill should be done in pairs to maximize the effectiveness.  On many occasions in a game you will be challenged by your opponent and need to get by them.  By practicing this drill, you’ll be ready when it counts the most, in a game.

To get this skill down pat you’ll want to play both roles.  In one turn you’ll be the defender and in the next you’ll be the aggressor.  Make a game out of it, when the player your practicing with gets past you, it’s a point and vice versa.

Our final skill  is called one touch passing.  To make this most effective you will need some of your friends.  This drill will help in your ball handling skills and also work on your agility.  The basics of this drill is having at least 4 players, 2 on either side about 10 feet apart.  To start, just pass the ball to someone on the opposing side by only touching it once.  When the ball comes to you immediately kick it to someone else.  After a short bit of time you should try and speed it up some to increase skill.

By practicing soccer drills you can become a great player.  It’s a very good idea to practice these free soccer drills at home as well.  Some of the greats in the game work on their skills for hours even after practice, how do you think they got so good.

When starting out in the game of soccer, before you can learn some really awesome soccer moves, you  need to get the basic ones down first.  Learning the basics is not hard but as with anything it does take practice.  It is vital that you learn the moves laid out below as they will help you to master the more advanced ones.  Below are three basic soccer moves that everyone needs to learn first.

Our first move we are going to learn is dribbling.  Yes, it is not a flashy move but it is very important none the less.  This skill is the foundation for all moves to come.  In a nutshell, dribbling is the ability of a player to move the soccer ball up and down the field in a controlled manner.  All dribbling is, is the ability of a player to move the ball back and forth in a controlled manner from the left foot to the right foot while progressing forward.  You can learn to dribble by pushing, tapping or shoving the ball with the sole, inside or outside of the foot.  Before you commence practicing your dribbling skills, you first need to get acquainted with the ball.  The best way to do this is to simply juggle a soccer ball with both feet.  By juggling the ball, you will build up coordination and begin to get a good feel and sense of the ball which will help in all moves you attempt to learn in the future.

The next move is called passing.  There are basically two types of passing, the push or short pass and the long pass.  Passing the ball is the ability of a player to move the ball from him or herself to another player without the other team getting it.  The push pass is the most accurate because it takes less field to complete.  To execute the push pass, you need to use the inside of the foot and kick the ball with the middle portion of your foot.  The foot that is not kicking the ball needs to be planted next to the ball and pointed in the direction you are wanting to pass it.  For the long pass, you will follow the same steps only this time you will be kicking the ball harder.  You must always remember to keep your eyes and focus on the ball.  This will help out tremendously in the accuracy of the pass.

The final move is the shot.  When taking a  shot on goal, accuracy is the most important.  Anyone can kick a ball hard but only a few can kick a ball hard and have it go exactly where they want it to.  Using the instruction on passing the ball from above, you need to plant your foot that is not striking the ball next to the ball and pointing in the direction you want it to end up.  The foot that actually kicks the ball needs to be done so with the inside and on an angle to the foot.  Look down at your foot and picture it as a right angle.  For example, the bottom of your foot would be the zero degree axis and the top would be the ninety degree axis.  When you strike the ball you want to do so in the middle of 0 and 90 degrees or at the 45 degree mark.  This will yield the most power.  Again, remember to always keep your eye on the ball.

So that’s it, 3 sure fire soccer moves to build a solid foundation around.  Upon mastering these moves, you can then move on to learn those really awesome soccer moves that you desire.  As long as you keep practicing, you’ll continue to grow as a player.  You know how the old saying goes, “Practice makes perfect”, well in soccer this couldn’t be more accurate.