FineSoccer Kids 25

Welcome to the FineSoccer Kids Newsletter. Today's topic will deal with dribbling for speed.

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When a player has the ball and has a lot of space in front of her, a logical thing to do is to dribble into this space (an example might be when the attacker with the ball is past the last defender but still at midfield, she would dribble into the space between her and the goal).

To dribble at speed, use either your instep (which is your shoe laces) or the outside of the foot while pointing the toes down on the foot that is making contact with the ball. By using either of these two surfaces of the foot, you will be able to run faster than if you use the inside of the foot to dribble.

The key to speed dribbling is that you do NOT want to keep the ball real close to your body at all times. Instead, push the ball far out in front of you and then run after it. The reason for this is that you can run faster without the ball than with it so by pushing the ball far out in front you, you can take advantage of the open space and run as much without the ball as possible. This is one of the biggest mistakes that is made by players because they have been taught to keep the ball under control when dribbling and thus, don't dribble with much speed.

Players, who recognize when they have open space to dribble into, and are willing to push the ball out in front of them, are the ones who tend to create opportunities for themselves and their team.

Any comments, questions or suggestions should be sent to kidscomments@finesoccer.com.

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Have a great day!

Lawrence