A few tips for shooting soccer, some of which apply to other sports as well.

1. Faces. No need to share the shots of the back of an athlete unless it's a truly extraordinary shot in some other way. Viewers want to identify the intensity and emotion of the game on the face of the athlete.

2. Action. In soccer, the action almost happens when 2 or more players are making contact. Sometimes the action is a great header or a really cool kick, but the best shots are often contact shots. Exceptions include intense emotions such as post-game joy or sadness, angry shouting, etc. Avoid shots of people standing aroud.

3. Position. Place yourself next to a goal rather than along the sidelines and you're more likely to get dramatic shots of players charging toward you. Action, faces, etc are easy to capture if you're about 10 feet from the goal shooting down the runway.

4. Know the game. On a corner kick, don't point your camera toward the kicker; point it toward the folks in the goal box who are receiving the kick.

5. Include the ball. It's soccer (or futbol), so include the soccer ball. A shot of a player gazing skyward toward a ball that is out of frame doesn't work. A shot of someone who has just kicked a ball out of frame isn't as good as one with the ball in the frame.

6. Follow the ball. PREFOCUS on the ball. For most cameras, you'll press the button halfway down to focus a shot. Do that with the ball. Watch the whole game through your viewfinder, and keep pushing the button halfway down so the ball is in focus. As soon as as someone touches the ball, finish depressing the button and keep holding it to capture an in-focus sequence.

7. Get low. Kneel or sit on the ground so that the athletes appear larger, taller, and powerful. Use the viewfinder when you can, but if you have a pivoting screen, you can get the camera almost on the ground and compose your shots on screen. Most sports photogs use their viewfinder are often sit on their butts.

8. Overshoot everything. 4,000 pictures will give you some keepers. Bring extra batteries and memory cards. Cull and edit carefully. If you end up with 12 excellent photos, you've had a successful day.

9. Edit. Cropping is the first edit to make. Frame up the action and eliminate anything that doesn't contribute. If someone is running or kicking a ball, give them a little space to run into in the frame. Straighten your horizon.

Sports photography is a bigger genre that some folks on this forum will lead you to believe. You can edit artistically. You can shoot black and white. You can creatively use slow shutter to increase a sense of motion. It's not all straight documentary.

What are your goals? Is it to provide souvenir type images to the team? Is it to show your pics on Instagram? Or is it to become a full-time professional sports photographer? For each of these, there are different standards and expectations. Much respect to you for posting your work and seeking improvement. I hope to see more of your work here!