Physicality and its impact in FOOTBALL.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Physicality: what does it even mean? According to Google, you'll see: "the fact of relating to the body as opposed to the mind; physical presence or the involvement of a lot of bodily contact or activity."

Let's look at what Big Mal had to say about this. Who is Big Mal you ask? According to the book, "Big Mal: The High Life and Hard Times of Malcolm Allison, Football Legend", he was one of the most controversial figures of the last half-century of English soccer. Leader of the famed West Ham Academy, his playing career was cut short by the loss of a lung to tuberculosis. When asked on what he would do with the USA soccer team to improve their results, he said: "Get the biggest, tallest, and strongest basketball/ American football players and put them on the field and they will beat any national team in the world."

This may not be completely true. However you get the point. These harden athletes are go-getters, their physicality will help them achieve their goals.

How do we teach physicality? As with most things, starting younger is always a great idea. Not all of us realize our potential at a young age though, which is totally fine. If you happen to have a chance to teach a young one, I would recommend this: Even if you are small, you can play big. Keep the pressure on the opponent. Swarm around to steal the ball. Teach them two basic skills: shoulder charge and shielding.

Shoulder charging is a type of tackle that is legal in soccer. The main point is to try to gain possession of the ball. Shielding is used to keep the possession of the ball by keeping the player's body as a barrier between the ball and the opponent.

While physical drills are important, but mental drills are just as important. Sit with your team and discuss ways to practice physicality within the sport of the game, and possibly in their day-to-day life. A thought that I keep to myself is: Tarzan lived in the jungle, and he too had to learn to survive against all aspects of the jungle. I bet he believed that all physical aspects can be improved. #soccer #football #coachingtips #soccerblog