Basic soccer drills to improve your skills

Soccer drills will help you to improve your soccer skills. Some of the drills can help your control, speed and ability to dribble the ball, and improve your agility, too. These drills will give you a boost when it comes to playing on the field. You will see yourself lasting longer on the field if you build more stamina.

* FIGURE-8 (you need two cones) This drill is used to improve your touch and stability on the ball. It improves your speed while dribbling. First put two cones about 10 feet apart. Dribble the ball around the cones while making a figure-8. As you repeat this drill, try to focus on increasing your speed each time. While going around the cone, try to take more touches and then sprint with the ball while crossing as an 8.

* LADDERS (using a flat-rung agility ladder) Ladder drills help your footwork and movement and improve your agility. There are different ways to do a ladder drill. One way is called high knees. To do high knees you stand in front of the agility ladder. Then you drive your knees up to waist-level while moving in and out of every section. As you do this drill, try to get your knees as high as possible while still maintaining balance. Try to do this as fast as you can so you can improve your footwork.

* CONE DRILL (eight cones) Put seven cones lined up about 2 to 4 feet apart and a final cone about 15 feet away from the last of the seven cones. It’s your choice on how far apart you want the cones to be. Then while moving from one side of the cones to the other, dribble in and out until you get to the seventh cone. Finally, sprint 15 feet to the eighth cone. As you do this drill, try to take more touches to control the ball as you go through the cones. When you get to the second to last cone, sprint to the last one at your top speed. Work both feet equally.

How Are Football Cleats Different From Soccer Cleats?

We all know that cleats are part of the uniform if you're a football player or a soccer player. But what you may never have thought about is that all cleats aren't created equal. Sure, both football cleats and soccer cleats are supposed to make athletes faster and more stable. But as Popular Mechanics reports, there's some "surprisingly sophisticated science" behind the design of those cleats.

Below, discover how football cleats are different from soccer cleats. And find out exactly why different players on the team wear different shoes.

Players choose their cleats based on their position on the field

Popular Mechanics notes that manufacturers can produce cleats that are specifically tailored to a player's position on the field. For instance, receivers wear different cleats than running backs and linebackers, who don't wear the same cleats as players on the offensive and defensive lines. "Soccer is similar," Popular Mechanics notes. "Attacking forwards, dynamic midfields, and steady defenders wear specific shoes."

Just as the shoes themselves feature different materials depending on their intended purpose and position, the same holds true for the actual cleats. "Thermo nylon studs are rigid but lightweight for sudden propulsion," Popular Mechanics notes. "TPU, meanwhile, offers a stable yet comfortable stud for a forgiving fit, more appropriate for a defender."  The movement and weight of players also help determine the size and style of studs.

Football cleats come in three main styles, while soccer cleats come in one

Livestrong reports that because every player on a soccer team needs agility, all soccer cleats feature a low-cut style. (That enables maneuverability at the ankle.) Football cleats, on the other hand, come in three different styles. High-tops support the entire ankle. Linemen prefer this cut because of how well it supports the continuous lateral movements needed to play the position.

Mid-cut shoes surround only a portion of the ankle. They work best for players including defensive backs, running backs, wide receivers, and quarterbacks. This cut offers support. But it also allows more maneuverability than high-tops. However, some defensive backs favor the last style, low-cut shoes, because they're lightweight to enable maximum running speed.

Soccer cleats feel lighter than football cleats

Another difference between football cleats and soccer cleats? As Livestrong reports, all soccer cleats feel lightweight, because just about everybody on the team is running continuously. They have rubber or polyurethane outsoles to make them both light and durable. The upper can be synthetic or leather. And soccer cleats don't have midsoles because they need to keep the players' feet — and center of gravity — low to the ground.

Football cleats, on the other hand, tend to have thicker outsoles and heavier construction. They come in leather and synthetic materials. While most soccer shoes have outsoles equipped with removable aluminum cleat caps, football cleats come in removable and molded varieties. Detachable cleats are made of rubber, hard plastic, or metal. And they come in a variety of lengths for use on different playing surfaces.

Football cleats have a toe stud that soccer cleats don't

AZ Central reports that football cleats typically have a feature that soccer cleats don't. Football shoes have a toe stud near the big toe, which enables players to get additional grip when they push off from a hunched position, such as a three-point stance. This toe cleat wouldn't improve traction for soccer players. Plus, it could even injure an opponent during a slide tackle.

But in either sport, the type of field can affect the kind of footwear that players choose. Some soccer cleats work specifically on hard field conditions, such as dirt or hard-packed turf. Those shoes use shorter studs that won't dig into the ground. Playing football on natural grass, on the other hand, requires a variety of lengths of studs as compared to playing on turf. Factors such as muddy fields or long grass can require even longer studs with additional traction.

Chris Del Conte suggests Texas football is on the rise

While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:

1. Many of us among the local print jockeys have sensed a very low-key approach to the season by Tom Herman, who intimated as much Monday when he said it was “fair” to suggest Texas hasn't proven anything yet. Athletic director Chris Del Conte doesn't agree with lower expectations. “I don't see the low key,” Del Conte told me, “because I wasn't around for the high key.” Nice line, but it's been a minute since the high key. Behind closed doors, Del Conte suggests there are a lot higher expectations more than outside the football complex. “It's flat-out so exciting,” he said. “They're embracing the new kids. They see the evolution taking place. Most programs take two to three years of great recruiting classes to galvanize and have the culture take hold. Players have to believe in their coaches and their philosophy, and when they do, magical things happen. When you have a fan base that's just thirsty, last year was a successful year.” Come again? A 7-6 record was successful by whose standards? “We won a bowl game,” Del Conte said. “That's pretty awesome. That gets lost. It's you and your job to paint a picture of reality. Tom has high expectations. He has so much confidence in those boys, but at the same time you have to have a pragmatic approach, so not every week is a high or low.”

2. ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit was very blunt about Texas A&M's prospects going forward. The Aggies open the season Thursday night against Northwestern State, one of three opponents that won four games each last year. But they also play seven teams that won at least nine games. “I know Kevin Sumlin is now at Arizona, but one of the things I watched with A&M was the inconsistency from an attitude standpoint,” Herbstreit said in a conference call. “They seemed to be front-runners. When things were going good, they were in a good state of mind. They could beat anybody. And then when things were going bad, boy, they seemed to head south in a hurry. So he's got to change that, Jimbo Fisher. That's something I'm sure he's tried to push them to improve on quite a bit. So we'll see where they are.” Asked the biggest difference between Sumlin and Fisher, TexAgs.com writer and former Statesman alum Olin Buchanan said, “Details, discipline, demand. Fisher doesn't recoil from expectations. He embraced them.” He adds that eight wins “seem attainable” with eight starters returning on each side of the ball. Look out for big things from freshmen receivers Jaylen Preston and Caleb Chapman and backup safety Bobby Brown.

3. Getting the sense that Major League Soccer using Texas' Royal-Memorial Stadium or Mike Myers Stadium may be a tougher deal than meets the eye, with the north end zone construction and the use of Myers for the NCAA track and field national championships in June each of the next two years and the Texas Relays and the Texas soccer team and general student parking. “We haven't unraveled any of that stuff,” Del Conte said. “None of that stuff has been vetted. It's a long row to hoe. All these things are intertwined, and we haven't unpacked any of this.”

4. Count me among the Manu Ginobili Fan Club. He may be the most professional, cooperative and selfless athlete I've ever been around for any length of time. Among my favorite pro athletes are Lance Berkman, Jeff Bagwell, Darren Woodson and David Robinson with Ginobili at the very top. What is refreshing is that Manu indicated that he's open to having a role with the Spurs this season, telling reporters, “What I made clear to Pop is that it's not ‘Ciao, I'm leaving. … If I can help from the outside, I will do it with pleasure.” How about the inside? Would love to see him on Gregg Popovich's bench.

5. No cat suits at the French Open. Pleeeeeeze. Serena Williams is cool with it because, well, she's just cool. Doesn't matter if she wears a cat suit or a trench coat and military boots and a helmet, she's still the best tennis player ever.

6. On the other side of that coin, kudos to major-league baseball for allowing players to wear uniforms with their nicknames on the back as a reminder this is entertainment. The Texas Rangers rank at the bottom in the American League West standings but near the top in catchy monickers. Love Joey “Pico de” Gallo. That's almost as good as Miami's Jarlin “The Marlin” Garcia and Derek “Last Name” Holland.

7. We held our annual fantasy football draft, which is an auction draft with a $50 budget, on Monday night, and the team of mine and son John Tyler called the Sitting Ducks are very star-heavy with precious little depth. We have some front-liners like quarterback Tom Brady, wide receiver Antonio Brown, running back Leonard Fournette, kicker Justin Tucker and the Houston Texans defense/special teams. Our draft places a real premium on trash-talking. No one does it better than fellow columnist Cedric Golden. When Ced landed running back relics Marshawn Lynch, Adrian Peterson and Frank Gore — all of whom are already collecting Social Security checks — I asked if he was drafting for the Old-Timers Game. “Yeah,” Ced said, “I'm drafting you next.” Sports editor Rich Tijerina, a four-time champion in our league, wowed everyone when he took three quarterbacks — Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson and Philip Rivers — for $22.20, almost half his budget, in a defensive ploy to keep them off other teams. I am not going to second-guess him.

8. Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to rugged running back Darron Norris, who chronologically speaking filled in for a suspended Eric Metcalf in the opener against BYU and then made for a very good tailback tandem. Norris, like another fellow Longhorns running back who later had great success, hailed from California and specifically Oceanside, which also produced stud defensive back Bryant Westrook known for his big hit against Notre Dame.

9. Rented “Set it Up.” Cute movie in what could be considered a romantic version of “Horrible Bosses.” Total fluff. Gave it five ducks.

10. Crazy prediction: Dez Bryant will never catch another touchdown pass in the NFL.

Maryland football is four days from season opener

Maryland will open its football season in four days, like most teams in the country. But interim head coach Matt Canada, his staff and players are preparing to face Texas on Saturday while navigating a situation without compare.

“We're helping each other,” Canada told reporters before practice Tuesday regarding program upheaval in the wake of offensive lineman Jordan McNair's death in June from heatstroke suffered during a team workout. “When somebody's having a tough day, we try to help each other out. I think everything that they've dealt with, they've done the best job they could possibly do. I think we're as ready as we can be, given the situation that we're in.”

Canada met with reporters for the second time since he took over the job on an interim basis Aug. 11, a day after reports broke alleging a toxic team culture. Canada answered — and in a couple of cases dodged — questions about separate investigations into McNair's death and the program, and about his communication with Coach DJ Durkin, who remains on administrative leave.

The only topics that did not in some way point back to the recent tragedy and ensuing controversy were about Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger and the competition between Kasim Hill and Tyrrell Pigrome to start at quarterback for the Terrapins. Canada said Tuesday that he has chosen a starter but would not say who.

“I'm glad those two quarterbacks are back. I'll say that,” Canada said of Hill and Pigrome, who suffered torn anterior cruciate ligaments three weeks apart early last season. “I'm glad they're back and healthy.”

During the period of practice that was open to the media, Hill rotated first during most quarterback drills. Pigrome, however, also had a few turns at the front of the line toward the end of the period.

The Terrapins have tried to separate their focus on the game from the loss of a teammate, Canada said, while recognizing that grief over McNair is “never going to go away and we're not asking it to go away.” The game against No. 23 Texas at FedEx Field will feature a moment of silence, and players will wear helmet stickers with McNair's No. 79.

Maryland players were not made available to comment Tuesday, and other than two instances have not been made available to reporters since the spring game more than four months ago. Offensive linemen Johnny Jordan and Ellis McKennie delivered a joint statement to reporters last week addressing how the team plans to honor McNair during the season, but they did not answer questions. The only other public comments made by players about McNair's death or the upcoming season were when Derwin Gray, Darnell Savage Jr. and Taivon Jacobs answered questions at Big Ten media days in Chicago in late July.

Maryland's preparations Tuesday stood in stark contrast to those addressed by Texas Coach Tom Herman during the Big 12 Conference's weekly teleconference. Herman responded to a more typical array of questions — how the team has looked on the practice field, handling external expectations and the importance of an opener against a Power Five opponent.

Herman said Maryland's offseason problems have had no effect on his team's preparation. During preseason camp, Herman said his staff reminded Longhorns players that “this isn't a team that thinks they can beat us. They know they can because they have,” alluding to Maryland's 51-41 upset win at Texas to open last season.

In reference to Texas's cycle of disappointing results — as well as changes in university presidents, athletic directors and head coaches — in recent years, Herman said: “Any time you have that much instability in such a short amount of time, that's not usually a recipe for success. We've got stability.”

Big Ten football is poised for a strong season while mired in offseason scandal

The on-field happenings step into the spotlight this week, at least for those inclined to partake in a form of intentional amnesia. And the usual suspects — Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin, all of which but Michigan has claimed at least one Big Ten title since 2013 — are set up for strong seasons.

In a different time, maybe it would have had the potential for an, ahem, legendary season. Ultimately, though, that's a poor description of the off-field happenings likely to be most remembered about Big Ten football's 2018.

West Division

1. Wisconsin (No. 3 nationally, 13-1 in 2017): The Badgers have three great advantages, all of which make them a strong playoff contender. First, they own one of the strongest offensive identities in the country, and capable returnees at tailback (Jonathan Taylor) and quarterback (Alex Hornibrook). Two, it feels like they've been superb on defense for forever, lending a sense of invulnerability even in a year when there are significant graduation losses to replace. And three, a place in the Big Ten West.

While the Badgers' defense probably won't match last year's, it will be fine. They haven't allowed more than 350 yards a game since 2007, and even some minor regression won't put them close to that figure. While the top half of the division should be better this season, Wisconsin still resides in a comfortable neighborhood. There's an obvious path to playoff: Split games at Michigan and Penn State, roll through the rest of the schedule and win the Big Ten title game. Easier said than done, but it's plenty plausible.

2. Northwestern (No. 35, 10-3): Not to pick on the Wildcats, but a lot of things went their way during an eight-game winning streak to close last season. Four of those victories came by one possession, and three in a row at one point were earned in overtime. It was a fortunate team.

But it's also a program that has become more talented in recent seasons. The defensive front is especially strong. Clayton Thorson could become the school's career passing leader with a good senior year, though he is coming off ACL surgery. Wildcats career rushing leader Justin Jackson graduated, but replacement Jeremy Larkin had 112 yards in the Music City Bowl against Kentucky.

In other words, a similar season isn't out of the question. But it might require a similar degree of success in tight games to match last year's record.

3. Iowa (No. 36, 8-5): Whose turn is it now to have their season ruined at Kinnick Stadium? Two years ago, things went sideways on Michigan. Last year, the Hawkeyes effectively knocked Ohio State out of the national title picture with a 55-24 drubbing. This year's candidates to curse a trip to Iowa: Wisconsin (Sept. 22) and Northwestern (Nov. 10).

As usual, you know Kirk Ferentz's team isn't going to be the most exciting bunch on offense, but they'll be technically sound and opportunistic on defense. They're also the most likely team to clock in with a sub-three-hour game in the early-afternoon television window. Iowa is hardly ever bad, excellent once every five years or so and rock-solid the rest of the time. Go ahead and put the 8-4 in the bank now.

4. Purdue (No. 48, 7-6): The funny thing about Jeff Brohm's first season at Purdue is that while the first impressions suggested the Boilermakers got much better on offense, their greatest progress was in more effectively stopping opponents. That was especially true in preventing the run, an area Purdue was downright inept at the entire decade.

There's some rebuilding to do this season on defense, but that's easier to gloss over after making a surprise bowl appearance in which the Boilermakers held Arizona to 26 yards on the ground. Offensively, the same two quarterbacks who split time last year (David Blough and Elijah Sindelar) are back and vying for time.

Count Purdue among the teams with the most intriguing schedules of the first month. The Boilers will see Northwestern, Missouri, Boston College and Nebraska, and anything from 4-0 to 0-4 in those games is a reasonable prediction. The better the start, the brighter the immediate future for a team that's trended up ever since Brohm's arrival.

5. Nebraska (No. 55, 4-8): Sept. 22 could be the time the “Scott Frost: Returning Hero” story line runs into harsh reality. The Cornhuskers will visit Michigan that day, and will later travel to Wisconsin, Northwestern, Ohio State and Iowa, with no sign of Indiana, Maryland or Rutgers among the cross-divisional games.

Frost will get a mulligan if necessary, in part because he's a former Cornhusker quarterback who helped Nebraska earn a share of the 1997 national title and in part because he guided Central Florida to a perfect season last year.

It will probably be necessary. A true freshman, Adrian Martinez, will start at quarterback in the opener for the first time in program history. Nebraska ranked 119th nationally in rushing offense last year and was No. 114 against the run. That's almost an unthinkable combination for the Cornhuskers, and they aren't going to become good at both overnight. A more reasonable expectation for Year 1 is adequate, and that would probably be enough to win two or three more games and earn a bowl invitation.

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