How to Juggle a Soccer Ball
For Beginners

How to juggle a soccer ball?

Juggling the soccer ball is one of the most important developmental soccer exercises when wanting to increase soccer skills on the ball.
 
Great players such are Maradona, Ronaldo, Messi, Zidane and many others can be found on the internet juggling the soccer ball while playing with it and using tricks and different parts of their body to keep the ball in the air which is the reason why we witness magic when they play in games.

They didn't just get born with those skills, they juggled and played small sided games constantly to improve their ball handling skills and quick thinking.

Juggling the soccer ball is one of the most important and also fun training exercises for youth players.

Adding juggling the ball 3 times a week to a youth players training routine would mean a lot for the soccer players basic soccer skills such are trapping, passing, shooting and dribbling.

All of these soccer skills have the roots in juggling the soccer ball as you develop the feel for the ball as well as foot/eye coordination increasing most of the soccer skills in a player.

Juggling the soccer ball doesn't have to be work, instead it should be fun allowing the players to have fun with the soccer ball trying to keep it in the air for as long and as many soccer juggles as possible.

Youth player coaches should use juggling as an assignment for their players to do out of practice, and keep track of the highest number of juggles done. 

Juggle the ball with a friend or a teammate, passing the ball to each other not letting it fall on the ground... See how many passes you can do :)

Use different parts of your foot as you get better in juggling the soccer ball including the inside, outside and the top of your foot.

As your skills develop start using your thighs, shoulders and head to juggle the soccer ball and see the maximum number you can do :)

I cant stress enough on how important juggling the ball is for any player wanting to develop great touch on the soccer ball which will also increase the players trapping skills, passing skills and overall soccer ball handling skills.

How to You Juggle the Soccer Ball for the beginner players.

Depending on the age and the skill of the player juggling should be simple enough.

Pick up the ball and start juggling.

If you can not keep the soccer ball in the air for longer than 5 times go to the basics of juggling a soccer ball by letting the ball drop on the ground once before kicking it back up in the air, and don't forget to use both feet.

Repeat until you feel comfortable to juggle the ball without letting it fall on the ground at all.

Another good way to start juggling is to drop the soccer ball out of your hands and kick it back up to your hands, again using both feet to build skill and touch on the ball.

Before long (2 weeks , 3 times a week of juggling 30 min) you should be able to juggle the ball normally.

Be competitive with yourself and try to do as many juggles as you can by keeping track of your maximum and always trying to beat it.

Below you will find a video showing you a demonstration on how to juggle the soccer ball.