I grew up playing soccer.
I played basketball and dabbled in a few other sports, but soccer was my sport. First AYSO, then later traveling teams and high school. AYSO is basically rec league soccer. A bunch of 6 to 12 year-olds running around on a tiny field with at best a vague sense of the game. Practices are non-existent and the game basically exists for kids to have fun and give parents a brief break from their duties.
I started playing more competitively in junior high, joining a U14 traveling "club" team. We had tryouts in August, weekly winter training from November to March, then a season from April to July. When I started playing high school soccer a few years later, I was essentially playing soccer year-round.
I was never one of the better players on my soccer team, I was always pretty average for whatever team I was on. I fluctuated from defense to midfield, depending on how my coach was feeling or what the team needed that year.
After sophomore year in high school, when I finished up a pretty average year on the JV team, the varsity head coach told me I should work on my finesse. I had always lacked the ability to beat players 1 on 1 in the open field, and my ability to possess the ball was pretty poor. My ball control was bad and my feet were both slow, and the head coach informed me that this was the biggest thing holding me back from making the varsity team.
I didn't really have any idea about how to improve my finesse.
I had never put in time outside of practice on any skills or athleticism, I just showed up to practice and did what I was told. But, I wanted to make varsity the next year, so I had to figure out how to improve outside of practice. I had to practice outside of practice. It felt weird and unnatural.
One of the drills we did during high school varsity tryouts was a soccer juggling contest. Players had 5 minutes to juggle as many consecutive times as possible. Our coach had always said that juggling requires great control, and was a good way to work on developing finesse. So my plan was to go to an open field near my house twice a week, and not to leave until I had juggled more consecutive times than the day prior.
I remember the awkwardness and unease I felt as a I walked to the open rec center field 4 blocks from my house. I remember walking out on the open field with my soccer ball and feeling like every random pedestrian or car passing by was staring me down, wonder what this idiot is doing in a field by himself. I remember feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed at nothing in particular, just for being on this field by myself, juggling.
But as the summer progressed, I got massively better at soccer juggling. First 10 in a row, then 20, 30, soon I was well over 100 with both feet. As I got better at juggling, I also got better at tuning out any awkwardness by focusing on the task at hand. By the end of the summer, the field was my comfort zone and juggling was second nature.
This is how I learned about practice outside of practice.
------------------
Summer after freshman year of college, when I went home and wanted to work on my throws, I knew what to do.
I played basketball and dabbled in a few other sports, but soccer was my sport. First AYSO, then later traveling teams and high school. AYSO is basically rec league soccer. A bunch of 6 to 12 year-olds running around on a tiny field with at best a vague sense of the game. Practices are non-existent and the game basically exists for kids to have fun and give parents a brief break from their duties.
I started playing more competitively in junior high, joining a U14 traveling "club" team. We had tryouts in August, weekly winter training from November to March, then a season from April to July. When I started playing high school soccer a few years later, I was essentially playing soccer year-round.
I was never one of the better players on my soccer team, I was always pretty average for whatever team I was on. I fluctuated from defense to midfield, depending on how my coach was feeling or what the team needed that year.
After sophomore year in high school, when I finished up a pretty average year on the JV team, the varsity head coach told me I should work on my finesse. I had always lacked the ability to beat players 1 on 1 in the open field, and my ability to possess the ball was pretty poor. My ball control was bad and my feet were both slow, and the head coach informed me that this was the biggest thing holding me back from making the varsity team.
I didn't really have any idea about how to improve my finesse.
I had never put in time outside of practice on any skills or athleticism, I just showed up to practice and did what I was told. But, I wanted to make varsity the next year, so I had to figure out how to improve outside of practice. I had to practice outside of practice. It felt weird and unnatural.
One of the drills we did during high school varsity tryouts was a soccer juggling contest. Players had 5 minutes to juggle as many consecutive times as possible. Our coach had always said that juggling requires great control, and was a good way to work on developing finesse. So my plan was to go to an open field near my house twice a week, and not to leave until I had juggled more consecutive times than the day prior.
I remember the awkwardness and unease I felt as a I walked to the open rec center field 4 blocks from my house. I remember walking out on the open field with my soccer ball and feeling like every random pedestrian or car passing by was staring me down, wonder what this idiot is doing in a field by himself. I remember feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed at nothing in particular, just for being on this field by myself, juggling.
But as the summer progressed, I got massively better at soccer juggling. First 10 in a row, then 20, 30, soon I was well over 100 with both feet. As I got better at juggling, I also got better at tuning out any awkwardness by focusing on the task at hand. By the end of the summer, the field was my comfort zone and juggling was second nature.
This is how I learned about practice outside of practice.
------------------
Summer after freshman year of college, when I went home and wanted to work on my throws, I knew what to do.
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