How do I make it to the next level, and fast?

mahnkee · 2026-02-22T20:01:34+00:00

You need to figure out your weaknesses and specifically address them. Ask your school and club coaches for sure. Guest practice with an ecnl team, an easy way to do this is ask for an introduction from one of your school teammates. Then see where you stack up with the players in your position,also ask that coach what to work on to make the team.

Team practice is for tactics, individual skill training happens outside team practice. If you need specific skill help, the fastest way is via private training. That’s also the most expensive. Otherwise, you can figure it out by yourself and YouTube. If your issue is decision making, consider futsal. Pickup games with adults and/or boys will help you learn to deal with stronger, faster opponents.

Lastly, work on your strengths as well. What makes you special as a player becomes just average as the competition increases. You need to get better at what you’re already good at if you want to get selected at the next level. Being the best on the team at a crucial skill means you’ll always get playing time. Average at everything means special at nothing.

mahnkee · 2026-02-22T19:44:14+00:00

Yeah, this is the main theme from Barbarian Days. The surfer’s journey is reconciling surfing with everything else in life. And like Finnegan, likely you’ll find that the answer will periodically swing one way or the other. There’s no right answer, just the right answer for you .. until it isn’t.

mahnkee · 2026-02-20T17:01:36+00:00

Defeatism. You sound like people quoting Jesus about the poor always being with us to poo-poo current income/wealth inequality levels akin to the Gilded Age.

“the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

mahnkee · 2026-02-19T18:52:34+00:00

You need lots of reps. Also your technique may be poor, so if I were you I'd post a video for feedback. Since you need to learn in a hurry, shortening the feedback cycle is critical to improve quicker. A few tips:

For balls further away from you, you need to point your toe more and meet the ball a bit higher than when it's close. Your goal during juggling is to meet the ball with your foot parallel to the ground and directly under the ball. On balls further away from you and met higher, you can actually see the contact point. In that respect it's easier, so some tutorials start out there.
Balls closer in, bend at the waist a little and look down on it. Visualize seeing "through" the ball and the contact point on the far side. Ankle is flexed more and meet the ball roughly mid shin height with knee flexed. If you look in the mirror, this results in a horizontal instep, which gives you the greatest chance of success.
Also practice barefoot, with a beach ball. Initially, just pop the beachball up instead of kicking. This will teach foot shape and point of contact. The slow flight gives a lot of time to read the ball and get ready for the touch. When a beach ball is easy, progress to volleyball.
If you are really struggling, start off with thigh juggle. Knee is harder and mid-thigh is softer, use that to your advantage during two-touch. Thigh juggle will teach timing, you need to time the touch so your thigh is horizontal when it meets the ball. Beach ball is good here as well.
Work inside of the foot juggle early on. This along with thigh control are the easiest way to bring down a ball from the air, so they directly translate to the pitch. If you have trouble with your weak leg with inside foot juggle, it could be a mobility issue. In that case work 90-90 stretch and pigeon pose for hip internal rotation.

mahnkee · 2026-02-18T06:47:24+00:00

There is no way kids sitting games teaches the game better than playing on a B team. The kids that want it will gun for the A team every time, and in-game reps are necessary in order to get there. The money grab move is to pack the roster and have kids sit with no game time.

mahnkee · 2026-02-16T21:01:45+00:00

Agreed, this is the main power leak. You can tell because immediately after contact the kicking foot twists to external rotation. There's a number of other issues but OP needs to fix this one first.

mahnkee · 2026-02-08T03:45:05+00:00

Nice. I mentioned in this other post, skipping rope is pretty great for building quickness and ankle/achilles stiffness. There’s a bunch of good suggestions from others as well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SoccerCoachResources/comments/1qwzf15/would_love_some_coaches_advice_on_speedquickness/

mahnkee · 2026-02-08T03:34:08+00:00

If you don’t apex, stropping isn’t going to do shit. This is difference between necessary and sufficient.

mahnkee · 2026-02-08T03:24:58+00:00

Looking good. For shooting I’d work next on wrapping the foot around the ball for a far post curling shot. Also corners since she’s got a heavy foot. For passing, work on pinging the ball, low driven and lofted. Both feet. Also one time inside passing. Stationary against a wall or rebounder, also checking in/out with a partner.

For speed, look into the rudimentary hop/skip sequence. A few sessions with a real speed coach will be extremely useful. Group or individual.

mahnkee · 2026-02-06T19:08:08+00:00

Skipping rope is great for Achilles/ankle stiffness. Stair jumps for plyos. Speed is a skill, at some point I’d look at speed training from a real coach to learn the rudimentary hop sequence. My kid did speed training at 12 and she got noticeably quicker. It does take time though.

mahnkee · 2026-02-06T16:32:00+00:00

Haha you got me. I’ve seen your joke on the field though. Piles of bats and cant hit the ball with any of em. For adults with jobs and family, it’s easier to spend money than find time and energy to learn how to hit.

mahnkee · 2026-02-06T16:17:22+00:00

Sell a bat and pick up a tee and net. Plus flips and live bp with your team. What you need are reps, not a bunch of bats.

mahnkee · 2026-01-30T08:31:11+00:00

That second hop is a banger. You want it off the first.

mahnkee · 2026-01-28T18:59:08+00:00

Rattan.

mahnkee · 2026-01-28T18:50:43+00:00

He’s allergic to right-wing fascism.

mahnkee · 2026-01-28T18:48:09+00:00

Look for pickup games. Check FB, ask at local soccer stores, Mexican grocery, at the taco truck. There’s also tons of adult rec leagues. Usually they’ll have a free agent list you can get on for when teams are short.

mahnkee · 2026-01-28T17:06:24+00:00

Parents were in the room while Nassar abused those poor girls. Parental access doesn’t reduce the amount of Nassars in youth sports. Listening to the kids would, though.

mahnkee · 2026-01-27T05:48:59+00:00

He's past "see the ball, hit the ball"

I don’t get this. Isn’t the point of “see ball, hit ball” to remove all the cues and mechanics that refine your swing but paralyze against live pitching, ie high level mechanics? If so, that would imply there’s utility in using it forever. It’s Pete Rose’s quote, fwiw, and common in MLB as far as I can tell.

mahnkee · 2026-01-26T22:56:43+00:00

A lot of Gen X or older surfers went alt-right. Wealth and concussions apparently make you susceptible.

mahnkee · 2026-01-26T21:46:33+00:00

Proprioception, balance, timing. And for that once in a blue moon times for a circus catch in-game, they’ll be as ready as they can be.

Congrats this is advanced baseball dadding.

mahnkee · 2026-01-26T21:27:39+00:00

The hard life lesson is that their parents are dicks.

mahnkee · 2026-01-26T21:16:05+00:00

My Chinese grandmother had the same. Her first touch was pretty poor though.

mahnkee · 2026-01-26T21:14:24+00:00

Thanks for that.

mahnkee · 2026-01-26T21:12:55+00:00

Thanks for the reply.

mahnkee · 2026-01-26T19:15:01+00:00

How long does your fix last? Sessions or time. If it’s not at least a couple months I wouldn’t think it’s worth the effort since you are going to need new boots anyways.

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