Juggling is perhaps one of the most underrated soccer exercises. It might even be the most important in the development of your skills, because when you think about it, all the major skills require a quality first touch. And there’s no better way to build a good first touch than to practice your juggling.
Start from the ground up. Work on hitting the ball directly underneath it, dead center on your laces to pop it straight back up in front of you. Start slow. Always do 1, and catch it. Look for that perfect 1. 1 and catch, 1 and catch. Don’t forget to use both feet as well.
Getting several, perfect “one and catch” is more beneficial to your development than 5-10 out of control, poor juggles in a row. Always strive to perfect the basics, and build it up from there.
After you start to feel you’ve mastered one and catch, move on to two and catch, and so forth. If you don’t want to move on to two with your feet, try using your thigh. One and catch, same thing. You want to hit the ball in the center of your thigh, NOT your knee. If you find the ball is getting away from you, it’s because you’re using your knee and not your thigh. Pop the ball straight back up, and for good practice you can even raise your thigh up as if you were going to pop it back up again, but instead catch it to make a perfect one. This will build good habits for your progression.
Finally, you can up to your head. Look straight up at the sky, hit the ball with the center of your FOREHEAD, not the top of your head, pop it up, and catch it.
Begin to challenge yourself once you’ve perfected one and catch. Can you perform an “elevator” – foot to thigh to head and catch it; head to thigh to foot and catch it? Can you try to do a ladder: 1 and catch, 2 and catch, 3 and catch, 4 and catch, and so on until the ball hits the ground? Then you start from zero again.
Juggling is so important to your development as a player. Remember, always master the perfect ONE before trying to move on to multiple. Perfect Practice Makes Perfect!
