Dribbling and running with the ball

 

Everyday during my training or before the game, I always start with basic stretching and juggling. It is very important- to avoid injuries and improve our performance/flexibility. I Spend 30 minutes running with the ball in my training. This is because it can improve my touch, close control and also increase my stamina at the same time. I vary this with two type of drill, one with slow jog and the other with 70% speed. I only do with 70% speed 2 times a week because we cannot put so much stress to our muscle everyday. After running with the ball, I continue with crossing the ball about 30 minutes and then shooting practice also about 30 minutes.

 Final session of my training is a 30 minutes of dribbling session. I practice all the moves which I use during the game to make it quicker until it becomes my second nature. My favorite dribbling skills are the scissors, step over, roulette, elastico, reverse elastico and the ronaldo chop. Mostly, I learn these moves from TV and youtube of my favorite players. In order to be good in dribbling, we must practice the moves every single so that it can become our second nature. The most important thing is we must try to apply them in our match. There are no magic formula or short cut to be good in dribble. It is a skill, so the only way for us to be good at it is to use/do it everyday. Practice, practice and practice!

Players who inspires me part 1

I love to watch my favorite players on youtube. Learn their tricks and techniques and try to apply them in my game. It is important for us to have our own idols or players that we really adore.

 

This is Rivaldo, I started to like him during his days in Barcelona. He plays as an attacking midfielder and also as a support striker. What I like about him is that he was very good in dribble and running with the ball at speed. He can strike a very powerful shoot outside the penalty box with his left foot. He fully used his left foot all the time not like some other great player who mostly good at both feet. He's quite an individual player but I really like his style of play.

Getting ripped in football

It's important to have upper body strength because nowadays football is demanding. We need upper body strength to keep the ball, shielding and while running shoulder to shoulder with a defender. Other benefit, when we have more muscle, it easy for us to burn more calorie even when we sleep. Basically, football players have a lean body because of high level of endurance and aerobic training. They also do weight training in the pre-season. That is why when you are a great shape, you can perform at your peak performance. These are some of football players which I really adore their shape and upper body muscle.

 Diego Forlan

Adrian Mutu

Hidetoshi Nakata

Instep drive

I have perfected my instep drive recently. For your info, instep drive is the most powerful shot in football. Mostly, we use it when taking shot outside the penalty box to strike the ball with power. You have to hit the ball with proper technique to get it right. Use your instep and strike using your lace and the center of the ball. Hit it and squeeze (press the ball down). These are some of the illustration that would help you to understand it.

Keep your head cool

During match or training, I always prepare my head with positive thought. I must have a clear head, good mind set and play happily. Actually that's the purpose of the game, we must enjoy the game so that we can play well. It doesn't matter whether we really good in our technique and fitness, if we let the situation or pressure affect our head, it's hard to focus and play good. Never bother if you make mistake earlier in a game, try to think positive, just carry on playing and be confident to yourself. If you let your mistake disturbed your mind, your performance will be affected.

Sometimes the opposition try to make you angry by saying bad words. Some using hard tackles so that you will be afraid to dribble past them. What ever your opponent said and done to you, just go on with the game. There's a saying, "Do you you afraid to do, Go where you afraid to go". You must attack your fear to overcome it.

Crossing and shooting using the other leg

Now that my shooting and crossing have improve, I planned to work on my other leg. This is to give me add advantage so that I can shoot/cross using both feet in any situation. I believe that it would take some time but the result will really pay off all the hard work. Now I focus more to the technique, until I can get it right. After that, I will put more power on it and try to create some drills to challenge myself. I'm looking forward for today's training because our grass has just been cut by the gardener. Maybe after 2-3 days I will start sprinting after making sure that my knee is fully recovered.

Aerobic activity

I started my training last Wednesday. I didn't make any sprint training and I planned to work more on recovery of my stamina and  from my knee injury. I'm happy with the progress and I'm planning to start weight training after Fasting Month. In the Fasting Month, I will go on training as usual but reduce the time maybe 1 to 1 1/2 hours only.
Now my crossing has improved, I try to concentrate more on dribble technique and speed. I want to make it more smooth and quick.

Road for recovery

I'm happy with the recovery of my knee injury. I rested 4 days without any training or workout. Hope to get well so I can start training this afternoon. I want to keep my stamina/fitness level at good level. I plan to start on slow jog. No more sprint for this week as I want to avoid pressure on my knee. Hopefully everything goes well as planned.

Thurday game

I started yesterday's game in the 2nd half with my other 10 friend. All the starting eleven were replaced by us! The 1st half ended with 2-2 draw. During the 2nd half, I had many good position chance to score but our striker took his own chance. I tried to be positive with my team mates although some of them did not treat me well in the game. I didn't complain because I don't want our relationship getting worse. Many of my team mate were good with me. They give me support, compliment and encourage to play better. I just want to play my best on every game and try to compete with myself. I also gave cooperation to all my team mates because I believe that sooner or later, they will accept me and treat me well. The game ended with 5-4 victory. It was very tough game and my friend said that it feel like watching a final game in competition. We played very seriously and both were aggressive.

F50 football cleats!

Currently, I'm using F50 adizero. It's light and I feel very comfortable using it. I've been using it about 3 months since April. Before this, I was using Nike Mercurial Vapor III, Adidas (forgot the model) and Predator. I also have some futsal cleats of my collection. The first one is Line7(forgot the model). When I started to play futsal regularly in 2006, I decided to buy Nike Mercurial III(futsal version) blue coloured. It was the best futsal cleats I ever wore, very light and comfortable. I think the price is about RM 400 plus, I bought it at the Nike store, Centre Point Sabah. During that time, I was playing 2 futsal matches in a week on Monday and Thursday night at 9 p.m. I also bought the white coloured Adidas Predator Absolute (Beckham) and had been using it about a year. Then after that, the latest one is mercurial vapour citron (apple green). I only wore them between 3 to 4 times because my team had stopped playing. Many of my team mates move to other place and some went back to their home town. I really missed our special moments and team glory together. We still contact each other and I hope to play again with them in the future. Currently, as you know I'm more concentrate on football rather than futsal. But, if there is invitation from my friend, I also can join them. 

2 assist for another victory!

Yesterday, I played on the starting eleven. It was raining a little. I played on the left flank as usual. I had a wonderful game, very good movement, and I managed to dribble past the right defender easily despite the wet condition of the field. We start the game with 2 goals within the first 15 minutes, by our striker Pui and Wan. I created the third goal after a through ball from my bro, I dribbled then cut inside and square the ball to Pui, but their defender have to take him down before he took the shot, so we were given a penalty. The fourth goal, came when Azman passed the ball to space, I ran and crossed the ball with my inside foot. The keeper had no chance and Wan just volleyed the ball without challenge. I'm very happy with the cross. I curled it without trapping the ball and it went on target. My everyday cross practice really paid off. Yesterday, my mind set was very positive and confident because of that I could dribble past the opposition easily, accurate passing and good close control. I could have scored 1 goal yesterday if Wan square the ball as I was in front of the goal without any defender marked. He got 2 defender in front of him and took the shot without looking at me. I was a bit disspointed but I just let it went without argue. Yesterday, I involved in every attack and also went down helping our defender. My teammates gave me compliment about my game and I decided to not to play on the second half. The game ended with 6-4 and our team only created 2 goals on the second half. Hope to resume training today if my knee fully recover. I was surpised because last night I was not so hungry. But this morning, I feel starving! I woke up about 7 a.m and went to breakfast downstairs. I had my coffee without cream, 2 plates of fried rice and some sausage.

Winning Eleven AKA Pro Evolution Soccer (PES)

I'm always a fan of Konami Winning Eleven or PES. Since playing the game on Playstation I think on 2000, I would buy the latest version which came out every year. I don't like EA's FIFA, because if you compare it to PES, the movement and players stats are more realistic! The gameplay of PES is far-far greater than EA'S FIFA.

Currently, I play PES on my desktop. It is easier to download new patch or update the faces, jersey or boots when using the PC version. At youtube video (above), is Winning Eleven 2002 Intro. It is probably the best intro ever for PES. My son also likes this video a lot!

Monday match!

I missed to watch Brazil game this morning 3 a.m. It was a surprise result of 0-0 draw! I'm hoping for a sunny afternoon because we got a match today. Hopefully, I could make it on time to the field because our match usually starts on 4.45 p.m.
Last time, I used to do a full body strength training everyday at hope using dumb bell and free weight. I learn it from Men's Health magazine and other fitness magazine/books. 3 years ago I was over weight, I was 76kg and my waist was about 35! 25 July 2008 was the first today I made commitment to lose my body fat by building muscle. About 1 year later I trim down to 64kg and my waist was 28. On the first week, I went to the gym to learn about lifting technique from my friend, Mick. He also explained to me to watch on my diet that is what I should eat. About 1 month later, I tried to add cardio to my training schedule. On the early stage, I only slow jog in the morning and doing strength training on afternoon. After my stamina increased, I tried to do interval training to replace my jog as suggested by the magazine/books. Interval training are more intense and burn more calorie than long distance jog. What I did on interval training was 30 seconds of full sprint and followed with 1 minute of walk. Each week I try to increase my sets of interval to challenge my body.
But now, I still finding the right time to start my strength training because of my tight schedule. It's because my friend Jelius advised me to focus more on football training. That's why I spent about 2 hours daily on football training. And the good thing is, I can eat what I want now, I no longer have to watch over my calories or cutting my carbs intake. I eat a lot these days because I believe that my metabolisme has increase, and I feel good about it ( I can eat what ever without getting fat! Haha!). I'm really happy with my progress because I am in good shape that is lean without using any protein powder! Just a little more time to get ripped.

Football position

When we talk about football position, my favorite and current position is on the left flank or side midfielder(SM). I also can play left forward or left wing ( LW) when my team using 4-3-3 formation. My specialties are dribbling, close control, powerful long distance shot and cut inside the penalty box. I'm also good with free kick whether I use instep drive or curl it above the wall. Now, I put my focus on improving my crossing and dribbling speed. I really-really wanted to improve my cross because when I can deliver the ball with pin point accuracy, it would be my greatest asset.
On some occasion, I also play second striker depends on the situation of the game. I'm not so good in playing Top Striker/ Center Forward because of my weakness on headers. My favorite players are Harry Kewell, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Ronaldinho and Adrian Mutu. Everyday I watch them in the youtube, to learn new tricks and techniques. My most favorite striker would be Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima. I try to apply all his moves and dribbling during my game including the way he score. Sadly, he is now retired because of his knee and overweight problem.

It's Copa America 1st Day!!!

My favorite team is of course Brazil (the Selecao). Today I watched the the Opening Match of Copa America, Argentina Vs Bolivia and very disappointing display from the Argentine who only manage to get a 1-1 draw. I expected to see some magic moves from Lionel Messi but all his assists failed to be converted into goals by his teammates.
But, I was so happy to see beautiful volley from Sergio Kun Aguero on the 2nd half after coming off from the substitution.

Getting into peak shape & fitness

After 3 months of consistent training, I finally manage to drop my weight and get lean. Although I haven't get ripped yet but I'm closed to it. My training lasts about 2 hours of playing football. It consist of running with the ball, crossing, shooting and dribbling. I also notice that my stamina is improving during our match. I have match with my friends on every Thursday at the town. Sometimes we have 2 games in a week, Monday and Thursday. I usually rest 1 day after the game for recovery and prevent injury. I think that's all for my 1st post. I 'll try to update this blog everyday with my football progress.


See ya!