My Ball Mastery Journey

MY BALL MASTERY JOURNEY

OpportunityElite

At OpportunityElite one of our main focuses in player development is ball mastery. Over the last few years ball mastery has become a much more significant part of team training sessions at a number of different levels. Spurs were one of the first teams to actually have a designated technical coach, Ricardo Moniz, who is currently manager of SV Excelsior in Holland.

Back in 2008 was the first time that I saw ball mastery as a specific aspect of training. Ricardo Moniz came and visited the training academy that I was coaching at. He provided a purely technical session, focusing on the manipulation of the ball, using both feet and quick changes of direction.

At the time I was playing semi-professional football and used ball mastery as some of my own individual training, but only sporadically.

I then moved to America to play for a University on a soccer scholarship. Training was tough, physical and intense but it didn't incorporate any ball mastery training. After my time playing was finished, I became a coach at the University and implemented ball mastery into players' training programmes. I would devise sessions for individuals to make sure that they were more comfortable, confident and sharp on the ball. With regular practice I could see the huge benefits that the players were having. Even players between the ages of 18-24 were benefiting from the increased touches on the ball, and quick, agile movements. Previously I had thought that ball mastery will only really benefit the youth players, who were in the early stages of their technical development, but that wasn't the case. All ages improved due to ball mastery training.

After realising this I began to think of different ways to bring ball mastery into team practices while developing new skills and exercises. I soon realised that I needed to be very sharp on the ball and able to show players exactly how to do the exercises and skills. The speed of my feet improved significantly, my close control became good on both feet and I just felt much more confident on the ball.

The ball mastery practices helped the players greatly, and it also helped me develop much more than I thought I would. I improved in all areas of close control and felt sharp on the ball, quick footed and deceptive, being able to drop my shoulder and change direction quickly.

As a player I was skilful, loved to dribble at defenders and create goalscoring opportunities, but the ball mastery practice that I had been doing had helped me feel quicker on the ball and much sharper!

When I was a youth player there was very limited ball mastery training. The extent of it may have been some quick Cruyff turns and drag backs before our match at the end of the training session but now I can only wish that I had learned and used ball mastery at a much younger age. I am certain that it would have provided a huge improvement to my game, giving me more confidence on the ball in tight areas, while allowing me to deceive my opponents with quick feints, drops of the shoulder and close control of the ball.

On my return from America to the UK, I began coaching players technically through one to one and small group sessions. Ball mastery has been a huge part of that training, but I must always make sure that I can demonstrate and perform the techniques to help players see and understand exactly what they need to do.

To make sure of this I practise on my own, once or twice a week, ensuring that I can move the ball sharply, while keeping co-ordinated and in control of the ball. My close control and ball mastery skills have improved significantly over this time and I now feel that I have quicker feet, better control and skill on the ball than when I was playing!

I'm a huge believer in ball mastery and have seen the results first hand. Improvement doesn't happen straight away but with consistent practice players will become much more confident and comfortable on the ball.

I now think to myself quite regularly about how different my game may have been if I had had significant ball mastery training from a young age.

It's all about taking more touches on the ball and being comfortable and confident enough to move and manipulate the ball exactly where we want.

If an opponent finds it very difficult to get the ball off you then you will be in a great situation.

Bring ball mastery into your training as much as you can, even as you move into the senior game.

It's hard work but the benefits can be huge for you as a coach, or as a player. If coaches can practise it, they will begin to understand how best to demonstrate and help their team improve their technical ability on the ball.

MY BALL MASTERY JOURNEY