Stick with me here for a minute...

I just had to share this with you.

If you will take the time to follow this it TRULY represents what Blast The Ball is all about.

The other day I received an email from Mark.

Mark is a freshman in high school and his dad found our website.

They ordered Blast The Ball and this is the series of emails that  followed.

First email from Mark.

Coach V,
I have a question about the straight kick. You talk about hitting the ball with your laces but since the ball is sitting on the ground I am usually hitting the ball more with the tops of my toes. This doesn't result in a hard shot. If I lift the ball up by putting the ball on a small cone, the shot looks good but that's not going to happen in a game. Is there something I can be doing to get better contact with the ball?
Thanks and I love your DVD and the soccer hop that my dad made for me.
Mark

Coach V Replied

Hi Mark,
Thanks for the comments about the video (DVD).
I know exactly what you are talking about.
What you are doing now is fine and you will eventually get the feel of the full contact.
One thing you can do is imagine your foot / laces traveling through the ball in a straight line towards the goal.
We often have a tendency to lift our foot just as it hits the ball.
Striking through and almost down on the ball will give you more of a "FULL" contact feel.
BE CAREFUL however....
This takes time and can result in injury if you don't take it slow.
Also make sure your foot is planting even with the ball not behind it as shown in the video.
This is a hard thing to overcome.
Coach V

Mark's Dad Wrote

Coach V,
Thanks for sending Mark the advice.
I have 2 soccer playing children. Mark is a freshman in high school. He just completed a year of playing for the high school JV team and he will be playing on his first premier team later this fall. Jill is in 7th grade and she also just joined a premier U13 team plus she will be going out for the junior high team for the first time in the spring. I felt that both of them needed better technical shooting skills but I didn't have the expertise to help them out. When I saw an ad for the "Blast the Ball" DVD, it sounded like it was exactly what they needed to take them to the next level. Also, now that they are older, kicking the ball against the garage door was not something we wanted them to do, so building the soccer hop rebounder (plans included with the DVD) is working perfectly. They have just begun working on the different techniques that the DVD covers because I didn't want them to get too involved with any new ideas in the middle of their playing season. In the short time that they have been working on the kicking basics, I have seen a big increase in the quality of ball striking. The DVD is so full of information that I'm sure we'll be referring back to it for years to come.

Craig Eiding, Mark's Dad

P.S. After reading your reply, Mark went back out and starting working on his straight shot. He realized that part of the problem was that he wasn't always getting his plant foot directly next to the ball. That was contributing to hitting the ball with the top of the toes because his foot was in an upswing motion. When he gets his plant foot positioned correctly, it's much easier for him to hit down on the ball. Thanks a lot.

Mark and his Dad with the Soccer Hop they built.

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