"The CRITICAL ELEMENT to understanding Blast The Ball".

The answer is an easy YES, but how we get to that answer is not an easy explanation.

If you will bear with me for a minute or two I will explain.

I will start by giving you a real comparison of two real soccer players.

Player “A” is a 9 year old player that was taught under the principles of Blast The Ball.

Player “B” is an 11 year old player that was taught without them.

Both players are about the same size and speed.

Both players played on the same club level team for an entire season.

Both have played soccer for several years with player B having one additional year’s experience.

Both played forwards most of the season.

Player B was actually a slightly more aggressive player and better ball handler than player A.

Both players had equal shot and scoring opportunities.

However, Player A scored 41 goals during the season and Player B scored 3.

Why is this?

It is a common occurrence we see throughout youth soccer.  Young players are often not exposed to basics skills often enough to make them a part of their muscle memory.

Even the worst ball handler will have opportunities to score during a game.

It is often the lack of BASIC kick training that keeps them from scoring or feeling comfortable to shoot at the right time. (This also applies to passing as well as shooting. A pass is a kick.)

We must train players repetitively until it is part of their NATURE and INSTINCT.  

What is shocking is that this reaches up to much higher levels of ages.

We simply don’t educated our older players on the mechanics and science of the soccer kick ASSUMING they will figure it out as they get older.  

Unfortunately, players are focused on drills and tactical movements in practices rather than starting EVERY practice with BASIC movements and skills that “MAKE UP THOSE DRILLS AND TACTICS”.

They are never taught WHY they should do something, just often shown once HOW to do it.

This puts players into a RUT that is hard to break out of.

Here is a lesson to be learned from the England Professional Footballers Association.

“Their studies and research determined that it was very difficult to teach or fix skills after the age of 14.  They have put a HUGE emphasis on training players in the 5 – 14 year old age level on basic skills.”

The COACH can’t teach it all.

Think about this for a minute....

The soccer coach has to do everything on the team.  He deals with behavior, parents, officials, the organization, schedules, tactics, health, practice plans, line ups and training. Then, when he is done with this, he has a REAL job and family just like you do.

There simply isn’t enough practice time during a season to make sure every player is getting the BASIC SKILL TRAINING that all youth players should receive.

This training must be worked on at home between player and parent or by the older player individually.

Here is a great quote I found while surfing the web from a great coach.

“In England, it is said that by the time a player reaches the age of 16, he must have fully mastered the skills, since from that time on, the game becomes increasingly tactical. In Argentina, many players reach this age of skill mastery at the age of 12. Here in the US, it may not be until the age of 20.

Nothing is more common than a player who is dominant at 10 but mediocre at 17. This is because at 10, kickball, speed, and muscle are king. So this dominant youth player and his coach think he does not need to work on skills. Next door, a little, scrawny kid, who gets outrun and out-jumped every Saturday, is out in the back yard touching the ball. At 17, this player turns out to be far superior because he is a better player. The moral is, if you have good speed, strength, and size, you are a good athlete. But you are not a good player until you have skill."

Blast The Ball is designed to make every soccer player, parent and coach better educated in the basics and advanced skills of kicking and ball flight.  It was designed to be an educational video as well as entertaining.