METHODICAL PROGRESSIONS OF STRIKING AND RUNNING WITH THE BALL: No

2018, Croatian player Luca Modric took home the prize as the world´s best player; Ballon d´Or. The midfielder won the Champions League with Real Madrid for the third consecutive time. Luka then led Croatia to the final of the World Cup in Russia. His and Croatia's successes has not passed any football lover. By studying Luka Modric´s ingenious passes that are disguised with the outside and the inside of the ankle is one of the success models in the Croatian football school. The methodology in the book is inspired by the tradition of the Croatian football school where you start organised football training at the age of 9-10. During the first two years, the focus is on completing the entire education on methodical progressions of striking and running with the ball. There is a differentiation process around the psycho-physical motor skills. This periodisation is adequate for the learning process where the player learns new patterns of movement which develops into precise dynamic movements found in very difficult technical elements of the game. Psycho-motor skills are specific movement patterns that is continually repeated through exercise, which creates a general representation called motor program. There is a pre-packaged series of connections. For example, in football, beginners have poor motor skills and must take one action at a time. The motor connection is the bridge between planning and control. Pair structural movements with specific psychomotor susceptibility that is dominant in moments such as running with the ball in high speed. An understanding of sports biomechanics is particularly important in soccer because physical laws govern player’s abilities to move rapidly to catch an opponent, jump to head a ball, apply force to the ball, pass the ball with high accuracy or velocity, and create swerve while striking ball. Therefore, an understanding of bio-mechanical principles is required to enhance performance, from beginners to elite players. If we gradually develop specific bio-mechanical skills, the coordinative skills of the technique will eventually pay off. The connection of several technical elements such as, receiving the ball, running with the ball and striking the ball all have different variables in training and in the match. They can all come in different orders. Gradual progressions of specific psychomotor units such as receiving the ball at high speed, rapid change of direction with the ball and precise striking of the ball are some of the things we will teach in this book. Read more