Hey guys,

As some of you know, I manage a gym in the outer east of Melbourne - wondering if you might be able to help me out with a unique situation I have with one of my members.

He's a 22 year old former international level rugby player, around 2 years ago he had an operation to remove a tumor from his brain which has left him unable to make the right side of his body function in an elite sporting sense (he's right footed). He switched over to football recently and has just started playing for a Victorian team that caters for disabled players (mostly CP, but also a couple of brain trauma sufferers like him). He's learning a new sport and learning how to predominantly use his left foot for striking, and looking for some coaching tips that he can take away and learn on his own. I did suggest joining a local amateur club, but he's self conscious of both his physical signs of brain injury and not being up to the same playing standards as any club that he joins.

So, a couple of questions:

What drills can I suggest that he takes home with him to train his brain to transition into left footed play?
What drills can I suggest that he takes home with him to learn basic football skills as an adult?
How can I help him build confidence to join a local club?

Hey mate,

I'm a football convert from rugby league as are most of my lower grade 35's team and TBH most of us play as though we have some sort of disability. I have backed up for AA9's a couple of times and the standard isn't much better if at all. The reason all of us play is just to have kick around with our mates (or meet new ones) and the esky after the game. He should be fine.

That being said there is always one dick in a side that takes it a little too seriously so he probably needs to be a little thick skinned to some criticism. This seems to be more prevalent in footy than it is in the rugby codes. Growing up playing rugby league if we even looked at a team mate sideways we would have got our balls cut off but that sort of negative talk doesn't seem to be frowned upon as much in football.

There was a video on ball techniques I started as a thread, as well as a UEFA one for basic dribbling.

Unfortunately, they've both disappeared from the internet.:cry:

There is a lot of stuff on here, but it is is difficult to determine a sequential order without these two video os as a reference point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om1iQUZ-pfg&feature=related


The Directional Control exercise is always a good one.

Move the cones closer together to start - 2 metres apart. The rugby player may need a partner to start it.

My personal opinion, without knowing the level at which this person is at, I would start right at the basics.

Teaching someone to play with their non-kicking foot at age 22 is a big task no matter the circumsatnces, requiring plenty of application and patience. To state the obvious I suppose.

So we would need to look at basic skill acquisition. I would be looking at simple coerver type moves 1v1, while juggling would need to be a real core part of his training. Juggling is also good because its measurable, and anything that is measurable will encourage and motivate your student.

By being measurable we can see how far we have come, also a video called Blast the Ball may be of assistance to you in teaching him to pass and shoot.

I would also suggest you contact the FFA and ask for Paul Brown, he is/was National Coach of the Pararoos. Met him briefly at the National Coaches Conference in Brisbane 2010 true gentleman.

Secondly Kerry Tavrou at Scope and State CP coach,

http://www.scopevic.org.au/index.php/site/mediacentre/pressreleases/scopesinclusivegymprogram

I hope either or of these gentlemen should be able to assist you as well, don't be shy in contacting them either.

Great question, and as someone who's caoched a fair few no hopers at park level, I have a little bit of experience in this.

Jokes aside, you're trying to build his confidence and his skills. The best way is to start with the skills, and let the mastery of these help him generate the confidence.

When you say "unable to make the right side of his body function in an elite sporting sense (he's right footed)", what can't he do? Can he walk normally? Run normally? Kick right footed but not well due to the op?

If you manage a gym you probably know about proprioception, and this is what you'll need to train in him. If we are talking left foot, the best things to do are the simplest ones.

Are you training him or advising him? If training him, make him sidefoot at least 100 passes with his left per training session. Get him dribbling around cones with his left, no matter how unco he feels - I guarantee he'll get better at it. And then gain confidence from that. Play left footed one-on-one with him - if you're right footed and on this site chances are it's as crap as his...Also get him to juggle with his left.

If you're just advising him, tell him to find a wall and keep working on his passes and shots with his left. Also to incorporate all of the above into his own training session down the local park.

If Daniel Day Lewis (well his character anyway) learnt to paint with his left foot this guy can learn to kick a ball. I don't know the extent of his current disability (you were a touch sketchy on the detailsif it's but if it's fixable then he needs to put the work into retraining himself. He's only 22 ffs.

If he spends the next 6 months training and working on his skills then he should feel confident enough to look at the local paper/online for local park soccer clubs in the area and turn up to a few preseason sessions to see how he measures up. It's not high pressure stuff and he won't be looked down upon - if he is then he's picked the wrong club, most guys aren't dickheads.

Another option is once he's he's done this training for a few months to look around for local kick around games where he'll be able to both test himself and improve that much more quickly.

Put it this way, tell this guy not to expect elite results but that within a year he should be a reasonably competent park footballer. And if his brain/proprioceptors improve then who knows how much he can improve from there.

Best of luck.

Something to remember Matt, this bloke has been an elite sportsperson, you do not forget how to be one. He knows how to train - all he needs is the tools to build with. I wouldn't be surprised if he could more than hold his own against 'whole' players in a relatively short period of time. Follow Arthur's advice as I think it is perfect.

Cheers guys,

I'll get him on some coerver drills and accuracy kicks against a wall. Just to be clear, I'm not training him myself - just giving him some advice to get him on his way.

Fitness wise, he's a beast, he's got nice lean mass and a lot of athleticism still. He'll definitely succeed, it's just about building confidence in him.

yes i agree with arthur.....definately start with juggling.......also a good drill is to use a rebounder....such as a wall or a trampoline on its side or a rebounding net.....and just work on repetitions using both feet but trying to prefer the left.....start a comfortable distance from the rebound surface and as he improves shorten the distance between himself and the rebound surface as he builds confidence......best of luck with it

Edited by batfink: 30/8/2012 12:49:40 PM

I've sent him 3 drill videos and a couple of videos of Nani & Young, Robben and a few other wingers (he wants to be a winger) in action.

The drill vids I sent:
[youtube]RwsUBXrq9UQ[/youtube]
[youtube]kNXef8nJbEs[/youtube]
[youtube]Om1iQUZ-pfg[/youtube]

A player can be effective if they have good vision and be able to hit an accurate well timed pass.
Not sure why if someone is having some sort of physical issues with one side of their body you would want them to bother juggling and dribbling and some of these drills.
Having some rebound wall is good for first touch and short passes not for passing practice for long passes you really need to train with two people and you can vary kicking the ball first time or practicing trapping it.
Most players at amateur clubs would never reach the level that a untrained person could reach in six months with intensive training.
Amateur clubs are good for socialising not for training.

Bang on the money, Batfink.

Another to add is the dribbling round cones that one sees on UEFA and that other link that has disappeared from here that was discovered by one of our club coaches. It was good to see the specific techniques on video.

To start juggling ask him to bounce the ball once if he is having difficulty getting the ball off the ground.

Sage advice.=d>

The kid came into the club yesterday with the biggest cheesy grin on his face. The CP team had a game on Wednesday, he told me about picking up the ball at halfway, trapped, sole rolled around a player, dribbled 20m, changed pace, pull-pushed past another player, dribbled forward, cut in at the box and slotted past the keeper.

He tried to do a cartwheel celebration but his right arm gave out mid way (he doesn't have full control over his right wrist/hand) and went arse-over-tit instead :lol:

He's surprised himself with how fast he's developed his handling skills.

Nice storey Notorganic thanks for sharing it with us.

He might be surprised but I surely am not, great to hear :D

He's been invited to join the national disability team from April next year. Fck yeah, my boy's going to be wearing Green and Gold.

What a freaking champ :D Told you not to under estimate what an elite can do.

27 days after starting this thread, to be exact.

You blokes should be coaching the socceroos.

Have you started re investing in SFC yet Chips?

He's playing a small exhibition match this weekend at halftime during Heart Vs Perth. Considering going, but I don't want to justify a Heart home game.