I get several messages every day about people asking me how to get started with football freestyle. My answer to all the queries is always the same - get a ball and start juggling. That is just what you need to do.
The beauty of football freestyle is that you neither need a big ground nor any fancy types of equipment. All you need is a football and the desire to learn something. Do not worry about the kind of shoes you have or the quality of football you are using. All these do not matter in the beginning.
If you are an absolute beginner, you might want to start off with learning how to juggle a football, the most fundamental skill in football freestyle. Back when I got into football freestyle, I used to juggle the football for hours. I distinctly remember my entire summer vacation of 2011 was spent on learning how to juggle.
I have an in-depth tutorial for this skill, that you can find on my YouTube channel. I have other football skills tutorials in Hindi also listed on the channel that will definitely help you learn and get better at football freestyle.
Once you get comfortable with juggling, you might want to learn a few tricks to impress your friends, at least that is what I wanted to do. The first trick you could try your hands on, rather your legs on, is the ‘Around the World’ or 'ATW'.
The easiest way to learn the Around the World is by starting with a bounce and a foot stall. I won’t go into the details and steps of the move but it is essential to master it since a plethora of harder tricks are basically variations of the ATW.
Balancing act
Balancing the ball on various parts of your body is also a huge part of football freestyle, the most basic being - Head Stall. I can bet that you must have seen some famous footballer (Messi, Cristiano, Maradona, Ronaldinho) doing this trick.
A head stall is simply the act of balancing the ball on your forehead. It’s one of the easier tricks to learn when you are beginning.
So, there you go. These are the very basic steps to be a football freestyler.
Juggling
Around the World
Head Stall
Now that you know how to begin, it’s time to pick up your ball and start training.
And the next time some asks you how to start football freestyle, this blog will be the answer.
Comments