In this video, we practiced filmmaking skills by doing our first ever mini-documentary. This mini-doc is called “learning freestyle football”. It’s no secret that soccer or football, as it is called in most of the world, is very popular. In fact it’s probably the most popular sport globally.
Soccer is played on fields, beaches, and streets in every country around the world. It’s played from childhood through to adulthood. You can choose to play just for fun, or be really competitive. Football athletes can be largely unknown and poor, or extremely popular and wealthy. Point being, soccer is for anyone and everyone. But, have you ever considered learning freestyle football?
What Is Freestyle?
Freestyle football, or freestyle soccer, is juggling a ball in short. But, it has become a global phenomenon and a true art form. Learning freestyle football has become a past time, a passion, and even obsession for many. You can play a little bit for fun, or a lot to try and improve. And, just like any sport you can become a competitive athlete in Freestyle.
How Does A Competition Work?
For the tournament itself, a classic setup is similar to rap, or dance battles. There is a tournament bracket with athletes, or pairs working their way to the championship by winning along the way. Each individual match is three minute minutes in duration, during which the two sides alternate performing thirty seconds on, thirty seconds off. After three minutes a panel of judges decides the winner who moves to the next round.
While freestyle is relatively new, there is a huge culture and community you can learn from. There are many freestyle tournaments around the world, and more and more organizations are created each day to help build the sport. Do a quick search if you would like to get involved in your local organization, or want inspiration from global freestyle brands.
What Are The Different Moves?
Ground moves take place with the ball on the ground and using your feet to move it around. The athlete can maneuver the ball in impressive ways to excite the crowd as part of their routine.
Lowers use the feet and legs while standing. This is the traditional bounce of the ball with your feet juggling. “Around the World” is one of the most popular moves, where the athlete circles up and over the ball before returning underneath again.
Uppers are performed with head chest and shoulders. Stalling the ball across the forehead, back of the neck, or bouncing from shoulder to head are typical moves in the upper category.
Sit downs include any trick performed while on the ground. This includes juggling with any body part, but doing so while on the ground. A popular move is lying on your back, legs in the air and doing a bicycle with the ball transferring across the feet.
What Equipment Is Needed?
This is one of the great things about learning freestyle. You don’t need much. Having a soccer ball is one of the obvious things you do need. Although don’t let that limit practice. If you have a couple of minutes make a paper ball, or use a cup. The act of practicing knows no limits.
As you progress in the sport, or if you want to be prepared like the pro’s from the get-go you can invest in shoes that make it easier to perform the tricks. Puma is the company that you will often see, but there are other shoes as well. But, please remember, you could do this barefoot, or in boots. So, don’t make any excuses, just keep learning.
Here are a couple of affiliate links that might help you get started:
PUMA Freestyle Shoes
ADIDAS Soccer Ball
Just Keep Learning Mindset For Learning Freestyle
When it comes to learning freestyle football, it’s all about sticking with it. If you want to improve anything in life, apply the just keep learning mindset. So, what does that look like for freestyle specifically?
Have a growth mindset by appreciating that you will really be terrible at first. Your motor memory, feet, and legs will feel awkward, but the more you practice the better you will get. Get inspiration and feedback by watching the best in the world. But, don’t judge yourself in comparison to them, because they were where you are at one point too.
Build habits that allow you to improve as efficiently as possible while focusing on the process. Be sure to choose something that you know is consistent and clear. It’s always better to create a habit that you can achieve with one hundred percent certainty. Then, if you choose to do more that’s great, but you won’t ever break your habit. For example, practice every single day before bed for five minutes. Keep it simple and straightforward and build up from there.
Keep perspective in mind when the going gets tough. If you are setting big, audacious goals, that’s great, but remember that it’s all a bonus. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. We are all really lucky to be alive at all. Therefore, we should take the pressure off. Just be grateful for the fact that we have an opportunity to set goals when it comes to a sport. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t strive to be the best in the world. In fact, it actually helps that, because regardless of results, you’ll stick with it.
Focus on freestyle if it is important to you. Our mental bandwidth is limited and so is our precious time. If you have goals for learning freestyle football then you have to make sure it is in your top five priorities. If we try and learn too many things at the same time, it can be hard to learn quickly. By focusing significantly, almost obsessing over the sport for a couple hundred hours you will not get side tracked by other learning opportunities. You will develop both skills, and knowledge much quicker.
Why do you want to practice Freestyle? Knowing why you are taking on a challenge is important because it will help us push through the difficult times. Ask yourself why you want to practice freestyle. There are no wrong answers, but the more connected you are to the purpose the better you can get. Perhaps you want to show off to your friends, maybe you want to be able to compete and inspire other young kids. If you want to push yourself to do something really difficult and overcome obstacles, then make sure you remind yourself when it gets tough.
Vulnerability can really help you improve a physical sport like freestyle. Sharing your goals, as crazy as they seem, builds potentially helpful pressure. Try things like learning from coaches, or other athletes who are better than you are. Create content that shows how passionate you are about learning freestyle and share it. Film yourself practicing and ask for feedback. Finding public places to practice can increase your nervous energy. This will both help you prepare for competition and force you to focus.
Having big dreams is a really good life hack for learning something like freestyle. Take the time to brainstorm all of the amazing things that would exist in a dream world. Would you be world champion? Would you be able to be a full time freestyle athlete, travelling the world to showcase your skills? Think as big and dreamy as possible, because no matter where you end up, it will help push you. Many people avoid this activity because they think it’s useless. If this is the case, then you shouldn’t take up the craft, find something else that you are willing to dream about.
Fast feedback makes learning exponential by allowing you to set personal goals. We can all practice and hide our talents from the world, but we waste valuable time, trying to take the next step when we don’t know what that next step should be. Everyone deserves a very tailored, specific plan to improve their skills. This plan will be unique to the individual and the only way to know what should happen next is through getting feedback. Put yourself out there in an attempt to achieve, get feedback, practice and repeat.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading. We want to see you crush your goals! Freestyle soccer is a pretty cool sport and if it interests you, then you should go at it full speed. We love helping other people learn, no matter what it is. If you want any help with learning a skill, feel free to reach out @JustTries on any social media platform. Be sure to check out the Youtube channel, subscribe, and pass it along to someone else it might help.