There isn’t a sports coach who doesn’t repeat these lines multiple times every day:

Keep your eye on the ball

This is true of any sport in which the ball is moving constantly (Golf is  a notable exception, but there are OTHER things that move in golf, mainly your clubhead and your arms).

In soccer, the importance of keeping your eye on the ball cannot be overstated. It is especially difficult to keep your eye on the ball in soccer – for the same reason as it is in ice hockey.

  • a) The ball is moving fairly fast
  • b) There are too many players – do you keep your eye on the players or the ball?

The distractions are many, however, the maxim still applies. One absolutely needs to keep their eye on the ball. If you are a goalie, with attackers surrounding you, forget about all the attackers. They are distractions. You have just ONE enemy – that is the ball. As long as you don’t take your eye off the ball, you will not let in a goal (greatly reduce the chances thereof). I guarantee it.  I played defender for a while – and rarely let a ball through – based on just this simple trick. Several guys twice my size tried – and failed.

Hear and Track the sound of the ball

One can use the sound of the KICK – as an attention focusing device. It is possible to simply go by sound  – and keep your attention focused on the sound that the ball creates. I have found this technique useful – since sound is a lot easier to track (than vision).

Summary

A soccer ball has the power to hold the attention of millions of viewers. However, for the players on the field, keeping their attention on the ball is anything but easy. If you can manage to do so, you will find your soccer skills improving considerably.

Anuj holds professional certifications in Google Cloud, AWS as well as certifications in Docker and App Performance Tools such as New Relic. He specializes in Cloud Security, Data Encryption and Container Technologies.

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Anuj Varma – who has written posts on Anuj Varma, Hands-On Technology Architect, Clean Air Activist.

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