Beach Soccer

I am a big fan of traditional outdoor and indoor soccer. I was unaware of most other versions of soccer because they are not that prevalent in the United States. I have played futsal a few times, but it is hard to find people who want to play or even know how to play that variation of soccer. I was roaming around on the ESPN website that streams live games of almost any sport that is being broadcast and I stumbled across beach or sand soccer. I watched a few matches and was quite excited about this variation of soccer. It was more representative of indoor because there are few players, usually five, but it seems even more extreme and labor intensive than indoor. The field is short and the goals are even larger so the opportunity to score is always prevalent. The scary part is that the players do not wear any type of shoe to protect their feet. They are allowed to wear an ankle guard though. This could prove beneficial to the amateur player who might be inclined to strike the ball using their toes. It would force the player to address the ball properly, rather than a manner that would prove hazardous to the player. They have three periods like in hockey and the lengths are in twelve minute intervals. They are allowed an unlimited amount of substitutions which seems awkward for any variation of soccer. Overall this game seems like a great way to stay active if you liked close to a breach or ocean.

Goalie Gloves

I do not play goalie that much when I play soccer. I usually feel that it is just common courtesy to take that position at least once during the match because no one wants to play it in the pick-up games. I was playing a few weeks ago and one of the other players brought his set of goalie gloves. I tried them on and they made playing goalie much more desirable. I felt that my hands were more protected from damage and my confidence went way up. Just wearing these gloves added a physiological attribute to the player wearing them, even if the protection was minimal. It made me want to do this blog about goalie gear because I personally do not know that much about the specific gear that is available for that position. I did some research on the ways to purchase new gloves.

1. Find a glove that fits your hand.

It is important that the glove does not move around on your hand. You also want to be comfortable so that you are concentrating on the goalie position rather than how uncomfortable your gloves are.

2. Research the different glove brands for their grip.

I am sure that there are reviews of goalie gloves by brand that can assist you in purchasing a glove that fits your specific needs.

3. Try the gloves on.

It may be hard to do this if you are purchasing these fro the internet, but reviews could aid in this area.

4. Spine or No Spine.

There are gloves with reinforced plastic on the backside of the gloves to aid in protection from the fingers from moving to far back when a ball is kicked at them. I did not know that this technology was available until a few days ago. This add-on would be beneficial to those who are worried about deflections off the tips of their fingers.

5. Glove Durability.

This is important if you are looking to make your purchase last long. Once this product is broken, it can be hard to fix and usually will need to be replaced.

Products that aid in performance

There are multiple factors that can help a soccer player perform better in the game of soccer. I perform better when I am comfortable. Comfort and functionality comes before the way that a product looks, and that should be on the mind of anyone looking to get better at the sport. There are a few products that I have seen and purchased that have helped my performance on the pitch. The one product that I came across today is called a soc-r-loc. It is a small band that goes around the ankle area of the player on the outside of the socks and shin guard. The purpose of this elastic band it to keep the shin guard in place throughout the match so there is no need for adjustment when the game is in progress. I have not personally used this product, but it is a big inconvenience when I have to stop playing soccer to adjust my shin guards that keep shifting throughout the match. It is just a good idea of using these products that can assist what the player already has at their disposal. There might not be a need to go receive new equipment if there are cheaper alternatives to improve the gear that one already possesses. This brings me to the next product that the website sells, which I have tested before. This item is an elastic band that goes over the soccer cleat and provides a smooth, even surface for the soccer ball to make contact with. This product is a little different because it has Velcro instead of an entire elastic band. More expensive cleats have a guard over the laces that act like this product except this product is much cheaper that buying new cleats that have this guard over the laces. The website where these products can be found is at http://www.socrnut.com/.

The goalie position and web promotion

The goalie position is a very difficult position to fill in the pickup games that I play in, largely in part because players, including myself, do not know how to play the position that well. I would say that I am not horrible at the position, but I would rather play another position that could be more beneficial to the team and one that I am more familiar with. I do see that some of the players are afraid to use their hands, which is one of the biggest mistakes that could be made for that position. Another problem that arises is the player does not address the run from the striker if it becomes a one on one situation. They will just freeze in the net and it is an easy score for the striker. Instead, what they should do is close in on the forward to decrease the chance of scoring; it also encourages more mistakes in the striker because he now has to choose much faster whether to shot on the net or to dribble around the goalie. This is discussed more in my article "How to properly play soccer positions" at illinoissocceruniversity.webs.com. While there you may find other links to sites were one can buy great soccer products and read soccer reviews. There are links to other blog as well as an article about other readings that would benefit any soccer player. Other articles can assist players in shooting a soccer ball and different techniques that can be used to add variations to your shooting arsenal.

Adidas Samba Shoe

            I have already done a blog on a few outdoor soccer cleats so now I want to take a look at the indoor side. I have played just as much indoor soccer as I have played outdoor soccer. Indoor soccer is a great way to stay in shape during the colder months in Illinois. You do not need as many people to play indoor soccer as well. The shoes are very important in indoor soccer as they are in outdoor soccer. Some players choose to just wear regular tennis shoes, which are fine for the most part, but indoor shoes are designed with soccer in mind. I currently have two pairs of indoor soccer shoes. They are both made by Adidas and work great. The one brand of indoor shoe that I wear as a tennis shoe and indoor shoe is the Adidas Samba shoe. This is probably one of the most popular soccer shoes that Adidas has ever made. They have been making this shoe for a very long time in a variant of different colors, but the traditional black with the three white stripes is still the highest selling version of the product. The bottom of the shoe is like nothing that I have seen before. The texture and material that the sole is made out of seems to be what is behind the amazing grip that the shoe has. If you ever have the chance to play indoor soccer, go pickup a pair of these Adidas Sambas, you will not be disappointed.

Throw-ins

I have been playing in these pick-up games for the past three years now and the players who have been there since the beginning have all been developing their skills. New players are getting better as they play, but there are a few areas that they lack in. One of those areas is the throw-in, and that is the topic of this blog. The throw-in is a critical part of resuming the game once the ball goes out of play. When we play the pick-up games, the other player’s just brush off the fact that the player does not know the concept behind a throw-in, but it is important if they ever compete in a competition. The throw-in has multiple parts in it. The player must keep both feet on the ground; I prefer to drag one foot because it adds additional distance to the throw. The ball must be thrown over the head, not like a pass of a basketball. The player needs to be facing the field, but that does not seem to be a problem with the group. It is important that the ball touches another player, especially before entering the goal. The goal will not count if the ball is directly thrown in the net, it must touch another player before it can count. The ball must also make contact with another individual before the person who threw the ball in can touch it again. If these steps are practiced, the individual will become much better at throw-ins.  

Kingsley Soccer Service

            There has been little discussion about the service side to Illinois Soccer University website. Those individuals who can make it to Bloomington/Normal can take part in the pickup games located at Kingsley middle school. Players are able to join a group on Facebook to receive updates on pickup games, and if the location has to change at the last minute but in general the location are at the middle school. Anyone can join the group on Facebook and is welcome to come out and play in the pickup games. Any level of player is welcome from beginners to expert players. Games are usually played with eight on eight, but sometimes the games are smaller than that. If that is the case then there are hurdles that the group usually sets up and the game is played without goalies. This game is great because in order for a team to score, the shot must be very accurate. This is an area that seems to be lacking in most of the players that play in this group. The group played yesterday and a majority of the player’s shots were way off target. These shots were just pure power shots without accuracy in mind. How is the ball supposed to make it to the back of the net if it is not shot on goal? This is a big problem with many of the players, but the feedback is great because there are so many different players with many different opinions to help the players get better at soccer.

Away Goal Rule

There is a big problem with the scoring in the game of soccer. I found out about this rule a few days ago. It is called the away goal rule, but before I go into that, the audience has to be familiar with aggregate scoring. Aggregate scoring is usually decided when two teams have won lost or tied a similar amount to where both teams should advance in a playoff or tournament. If Team A beat Team B, then Team A would advance to the next level of play. This covers a wide array of scenarios except for one. This is where both teams, A and B have both played each other and both of those matches resulted in a tie. This is where the away goal rule comes into play. If a match was played at the home field of Team A and the result was a score of 0-0. Then the next match was played at Team B’s home field with another tie of 1-1. The rule is that the winner is the team that scored the most goals away from home, so that Team A is the winners because they scored a goal at Team B’s pitch. This is the rule with the UEFA league, but with other leagues usually decide the victors be a shootout. I like the idea of the shootout because it is then up to the players to decide who the better team is rather than have it decided by that ridiculous rule. It seems like the idea of icing a football kicker before he kicks a field goal.

Loosening Up

I have been playing soccer for some time now and it has been going really well especially since I injured myself as a freshman playing indoor soccer. The shoes that I had just purchased had great grip and I took a turn that was too great for my leg to handle so I pulled my hamstring. Since then I have pulled the same hamstring about three more times and it has been almost seven months since the last pull. Every now and again it feels as though my leg wants to go out and reinjure itself but luckily that has not happened. That is why it is so important to stretch before any physical activity. I have lost a lot of mobility in that leg because of the injury but it has slowly been increasing in flexibility since the last pull, but that is due largely in part to stretching before I begin to play soccer. The two leg stretch is great to increase the level of flexibility in the hamstring. Also the hamstring split stretch is a great way to increase flexibility for the hamstring. For the best results of stretches, it is a good idea to do this three to four times a week. Remember to hold the stretch for twenty to thirty seconds and be sure not to bounce up and down while you stretch. Shake out the limb and joint then repeat the process for two or three sets. Doing this will greatly increase flexibility and help prevent unnecessary injuries.  

Bend It Like Beckham

          I mentioned on my soccer website how to kick a soccer ball. There was a brief section that talked about curving the ball that I just touched on. There are many applications where this shot is very helpful. It can provide a sense of illusion to the goalie because it might take a while for the ball to start to curve. This could result in a goal if there is enough rotation on the ball. The curve is explained by the physics term called the Magnus effect. This is where the object is spinning in one direction and it creates an aerofoil around the object that causes it to move in the direction that it is spinning in. If the object was in something like water, the effects would be easier to visualize because it create a whirlpool type of effect. The new 2010 FIFA match soccer ball was criticized for not having enough Magnus effect capabilities which made it more difficult to judge and caused the ball to travel a farther distance. This soccer strike is achieved by kicking the ball off center with a great amount of force to attain the proper amount of spin on the ball. If the ball is hit on the center, it cannot attain that spin and will not curve. It must be struck on the side to spin enough to curve. This is very valuable in corner kicks where players have the ability to score without any other player interaction simply because they were able to put so much curve on the ball.  

The Big Dive!

I wrote a blog the other day that included judgment calls in the game of soccer. I spoke of a hand balls and the honesty/dishonesty that surrounds it. The one factor in professional soccer that really gets me going is the exaggeration of a foul. What is known as taking a dive, diving, or simulation has become a big concern in the soccer world. The referees can only see so many things at one time on the pitch. They have to make calls that they might not have seen to clearly and if they see a downed player holding a body part in agony, the closest opposing player stands a good chance of receiving a yellow card. These dives can be exaggerated to the point that where they were initially contacted was not the area that they were nursing when the referee comes to make a judgment. The players could have been running side by side and one of the players would contact the other player in the chest. It would not be that uncommon for that player to then take a dive and roll around on the ground holding his face. Simply by looking at the review of the play, which the referee does not have access to, the player is obviously putting on a show. What the leagues are now starting to do is they will give the player who is faking the injury a yellow card if they can prove that they were simulating the foul. It is one way to make the players think twice before they try to pull a fast one on the referees.

Clearer Judgment with Sensors

There has always been a problem with judgment calls in soccer. I really like to play fairly. If a ball clearly touches my hand or I have a better view on the ball that I am dribbling that goes out of bounds, I will make it known in the game that I am playing in. It does not feel right if there was a benefit that derived from an action that should have stopped the play and turned the ball over to the opposition. Well there is a ball that has been engineered with a sensor in the center of the ball to help with those calls. It is currently inside one of my premium match soccer balls and is used in the English Premier League. The ball has a sensor that is stabilized in the center of the ball, and it almost looks like it is held together by rubbery threads to keep it in the center. It must remain in the center of the ball to accurately assess if the ball truly broke any designated plane. This has come into question many times when a player strikes the ball and some fraction of the ball passes the plane. The whole ball has to pass the line and with these sensors on the balls, it makes calling a goal that much easier for the referee. There is a wire that goes around the goal that creates a magnetic field that can retrieve the signal of a sensor in the ball. Other applications can be seen with an application of this wire around the whole field to help justify if a ball goes out of bounds.

Promoting Other Blogs

As far as blogs go, soccerblog.com has a good selection of soccer videos of games that are being played all over the world. It is a great way to keep people up to speed on most of the major games in the world. There are many great highlights and recaps of games so the general public does not have to watch every game to know the general ups and downs of the soccer match. News about soccer matches are also described in short articles on the blog and comments are available for every post on the site. Most of the blog is comprised of these videos of soccer matches, so the content is mostly visual. It seems that most of these videos can be looked up on youtube.com, but it is a great way to see different games other than just ones from the English leagues.

            Another great blog that the public can look into is soccer blogs.net. They have many great reviews on new soccer products and general information about what is going on in the soccer community. They have a couple of reviews of the concave pt+ that I did a review on in my blog. They also did a review on some soccer video games which is a great way for people to pick up on soccer updates for the current team’s roster. These games are able to do live updates for players who might have been trade to keep the teams accurate. It is also a great way to pick up on the rules of soccer if one is not familiar with them all. A few minutes of playing one of these games, and the player will start to pick up on those rules that might have been a little obscure to them.