“Getting Those Extra Touches”

As a youth soccer player, I was learning about the game every day. Like all young players, each practice I heard coaches preach about things like team shape, “pressure-cover” cover defending, putting enough “weight” into your pass.

First Touch: A Crucial Part of Soccer

Among all of these things, there was one thing in particular that I thought to be a crucial part of soccer. That one thing was my first touch.

I quickly realized that if a ball was played to me and I had a poor first touch, I either gave up possession, letting the rest of my team down, or I made it very difficult on myself to connect that next pass under pressure. So I asked myself, how can I improve my first touch when it is not on my coaches agenda for training sessions? The answer was simple, I had to find a way to get those extra touches.

So I arranged some extra training with Andy Tate, a former Twin City coach. During one session, Andy brought with him a miniature soccer ball. He then told me, “Brayden, if you can juggle that mini ball 20 times in a row, then your touch will be just as good, if not better than anyone that you play with”. He then gave me the mini ball and I spent time each day juggling that mini ball. Sure enough, my touch began to improve significantly.

Why Train with Brayden?

There are many other things that are equally as important as first touch in the game of soccer. Some of these things are small aspects that play a large roll in game situations. Coaches don’t always have the luxury of covering all of these aspects because they have to focus on the “team” side of soccer during their sessions. This is precisely why that becoming a better soccer player requires time spent with the ball outside of team practices.

Training Sessions focus on the following:

Looking for soccer training this summer?

Contact Brayden at info@braydencurrin.com to schedule your training.