10 Bad Mistakes You DO, That Pro Footballers DON’T
Summary
This video outlines ten common mistakes amateur footballers make that hinder their performance, contrasting them with the habits of professionals. It provides actionable advice and techniques to correct each error, covering areas like first touch, player movement, defensive stability, comparison mindset, shooting accuracy, 1v1 attacking, in-game confidence, adaptability, off-ball movement, and decision-making speed. The overarching message emphasizes that consistent practice and adopting professional habits are key to improving as a player.
Key Insights
Open your hips towards the intended direction of your touch (inside, away, shoot, pass).
To improve your first touch, understand your next action and open your hips towards the direction you want to move the ball. This allows for a one-touch redirection, making your play much quicker and more efficient, whether for shooting, crossing, or passing.
Stay behind your marker in their blind spot, then move quickly as their eyes lift.
To time runs effectively, stay behind your marker initially to use their blind spot. As their eyes lift to find a pass, move quickly into space. Always be on your toes for a quicker acceleration. Point to your desired pass location and be vocal.
Lower your center of gravity by bending knees and angling your body to redirect pressure.
To stay stable and strong, bend your knees, lower your center of gravity, and angle your body into the defender. This technique allows you to redirect the pressure back onto the attacker, making it difficult for them to dispossess you.
Shift comparison to 'What can I learn from them?' to drive self-improvement.
Instead of feeling inadequate, view superior players as learning opportunities. Ask what they do that you can emulate. This positive comparison allows you to learn new techniques, improve decision-making, and enhance your overall game.
Quick decision-making and deceptive hip/foot movement disguise shot direction.
Positive signals involve making quick decisions and executing the shot rapidly. Deceptive movements, like pointing hips one way and snapping them across to shoot, wrong-foot the goalkeeper and increase scoring chances.
Focus on defender's body position, momentum, and balance to react instinctively.
Beat defenders by observing their body positioning (flat or angled), momentum (direction and speed), and balance. Reacting instinctively based on these cues, rather than pre-planned moves, allows for effective changes of direction and dribbling.
Build confidence by practicing shooting in game-like situations repeatedly.
Confidence is built through repeated successful experiences. Practice shooting in the specific situations you struggle with. Consistent reps build familiarity and self-belief, enabling you to shoot decisively and effectively under pressure.
Adaptability is learning new skills and positions quickly to suit game demands.
Adaptability means being open to new ideas and learning quickly. Instead of avoiding new positions, proactively learn about them through resources like YouTube. This preparation makes you a more versatile and valuable player.
Forecast your next move and move with intention into available space after passing.
Before passing, forecast your next action and intention. After passing, move into open space. This proactive movement creates passing lanes, pulls defenders, opens space for teammates, and keeps you available to receive the ball.
Practice more to build instinct and confidence, reducing overthinking.
The key to fast decision-making is tapping into instinct, which is developed through extensive practice. By controlling the ball numerous times, your brain remembers and refines the action, leading to confident, instinctive plays without overthinking.
Sections
Mistake 1: Poor First Touch
Taking a first touch that kills the ball makes it easy for defenders to close you down.
When receiving the ball, a first touch that stops its momentum signals to defenders that they can close in and defend. This touch often results in closed hips, making it difficult to shoot, pass, or cross effectively without readjusting.
Open your hips towards the intended direction of your touch (inside, away, shoot, pass).
To improve your first touch, understand your next action and open your hips towards the direction you want to move the ball. This allows for a one-touch redirection, making your play much quicker and more efficient, whether for shooting, crossing, or passing.
A poor first touch limits shooting, passing, and crossing opportunities.
Alex's first touch slowed down his play, making it easy for defenders to anticipate his movements. When his hips were closed after the touch, he couldn't shoot and had to readjust his body, losing valuable time.
Mistake 2: Poor Player Movement and Timing
Moving too early or too late when making runs loses possession or creates poor positioning.
When a teammate has the ball, moving too early allows defenders to catch up, while moving too late means teammates don't know where to pass, and you're not in a good position. Professional players master the timing and direction of their runs.
Stay behind your marker in their blind spot, then move quickly as their eyes lift.
To time runs effectively, stay behind your marker initially to use their blind spot. As their eyes lift to find a pass, move quickly into space. Always be on your toes for a quicker acceleration. Point to your desired pass location and be vocal.
Utilize defender's blind spots and timing of their attention for effective runs.
The strategy involves using the defender's blind spot to hide your intentions. When the defender looks up to assess the play, that's the moment to initiate your run. This 'late but quick' approach ensures you get to the ball first.
Mistake 3: Instability When Challenged
An unstable, upright stance with narrow footing makes you easy to push off the ball.
When challenged, being narrow, flat-footed, and upright means you absorb the defender's impact, making you unstable and easily pushed around. This leads to losing possession, especially for smaller players.
Lower your center of gravity by bending knees and angling your body to redirect pressure.
To stay stable and strong, bend your knees, lower your center of gravity, and angle your body into the defender. This technique allows you to redirect the pressure back onto the attacker, making it difficult for them to dispossess you.
Proper stance and body angling make you stable and redirect opponent's force.
Player two demonstrated stability by bending knees and lowering their center of gravity. By angling their body, they could redirect the force of the defender's impact, effectively nudging the attacker off balance instead of being pushed.
Mistake 4: Negative Comparison
Comparing yourself unfavorably to better players creates jealousy, frustration, and insecurity.
The contrast effect leads players to see better players as a new baseline, fostering negative emotions like jealousy and frustration. These emotions do not contribute to improving your football skills.
Shift comparison to 'What can I learn from them?' to drive self-improvement.
Instead of feeling inadequate, view superior players as learning opportunities. Ask what they do that you can emulate. This positive comparison allows you to learn new techniques, improve decision-making, and enhance your overall game.
Positive comparison focuses on learning specific skills and techniques from others.
A player like Messi doesn't get jealous of a teammate starting; they learn from him. By observing better players, you can identify and adopt new skills, like free-kick techniques, close control, or scanning the field more effectively.
Mistake 5: Predictive Shooting Signals
Slow decisions, slow actions, and pointing hips/feet make your shot predictable for goalkeepers.
Negative signals like hesitating, taking extra steps before shooting, and aligning hips/feet directly at the target tell the goalkeeper exactly where and how you'll shoot, making saves easier.
Quick decision-making and deceptive hip/foot movement disguise shot direction.
Positive signals involve making quick decisions and executing the shot rapidly. Deceptive movements, like pointing hips one way and snapping them across to shoot, wrong-foot the goalkeeper and increase scoring chances.
Speed and deception are crucial for outsmarting goalkeepers during shots.
Cole Palmer exemplifies this by making his shot direction impossible to predict. Quick, decisive actions combined with hip and foot deception prevent the goalkeeper from reading the shot, providing a significant advantage.
Mistake 6: Overthinking 1v1 Situations
Relying on pre-planned moves in 1v1s, instead of reacting to defender's movements.
When facing a defender one-on-one, using pre-planned moves ignores the defender's current positioning and momentum. This forces a move that might not be effective and leads to overthinking, hindering performance.
Focus on defender's body position, momentum, and balance to react instinctively.
Beat defenders by observing their body positioning (flat or angled), momentum (direction and speed), and balance. Reacting instinctively based on these cues, rather than pre-planned moves, allows for effective changes of direction and dribbling.
Instinctive play based on defender's cues (body, momentum, balance) beats pre-planned moves.
Professional players like Messi and Ronaldo focus on the defender's hips and momentum. By understanding these cues, they can instinctively react, executing skill moves or changes of direction effectively to unbalance and beat the defender.
Mistake 7: Lack of Confidence in Front of Goal
Panicking or overthinking in front of goal leads to rushed or late, ineffective shots.
Players often panic or overthink when in a scoring position, resulting in rushed shots or missed opportunities due to indecision. This lack of confidence stems from insufficient practice in similar situations.
Build confidence by practicing shooting in game-like situations repeatedly.
Confidence is built through repeated successful experiences. Practice shooting in the specific situations you struggle with. Consistent reps build familiarity and self-belief, enabling you to shoot decisively and effectively under pressure.
Repetition in training is key to developing self-belief and consistent performance.
Just as mastering juggling builds confidence, extensive practice in shooting situations creates the experience needed to believe in your ability. This self-belief translates to confident and consistent performance in games.
Mistake 8: Rigidity and Lack of Adaptability
Being rigid and unwilling to learn new positions or adapt hinders player progression.
Refusing to play new positions or adapt to different roles prevents players from learning and growing. This inflexibility limits potential and stops progression, as seen when players avoid filling in where needed.
Adaptability is learning new skills and positions quickly to suit game demands.
Adaptability means being open to new ideas and learning quickly. Instead of avoiding new positions, proactively learn about them through resources like YouTube. This preparation makes you a more versatile and valuable player.
Embrace learning new roles and adapting to challenges to accelerate development.
The ability to adapt quickly, whether to new positions or changing game situations, is crucial. Players who fix mistakes faster and learn new skills are the ones who improve at a greater rate, highlighting the importance of adaptability.
Mistake 9: Poor Off-Ball Movement After Passing
Standing still or moving in the wrong direction after passing wastes opportunities.
Many players know they should 'pass and move', but they move into occupied spaces or the wrong direction. This fails to create passing options or open up space for teammates, making play predictable.
Forecast your next move and move with intention into available space after passing.
Before passing, forecast your next action and intention. After passing, move into open space. This proactive movement creates passing lanes, pulls defenders, opens space for teammates, and keeps you available to receive the ball.
Intelligent movement after passing is dictated by available space and intended purpose.
Effective movement is about identifying and moving into space. If space is inside, move there to become available. Standing still allows defenders to mark you, preventing easy returns and opportunities to progress the ball.
Mistake 10: Slow Decision-Making
Overthinking and second-guessing hinders quick decision-making and causes hesitation.
Amateur players often overthink decisions in the moment, second-guessing what to do with the ball. This hesitation blocks instinct and leads to losing possession or appearing clumsy, unlike professionals who act decisively.
Practice more to build instinct and confidence, reducing overthinking.
The key to fast decision-making is tapping into instinct, which is developed through extensive practice. By controlling the ball numerous times, your brain remembers and refines the action, leading to confident, instinctive plays without overthinking.
Speed of decision-making and ball movement is the biggest differentiator between pros and amateurs.
The primary difference between amateur and professional footballers lies in decision-making speed. Professionals' ability to quickly assess situations and execute actions, rooted in instinct and practice, allows for faster ball movement and overall game effectiveness.
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