How To Improve Your 5-A-Side Skills
5-a-side football is a perfect way of keeping fit. It's fast paced, competitive and a great way to socialise with your friends. It's an easily accesible sport and doesn't need any fancy equipment, a football and a pair of trainers if often all thats needed. Some leagues require the use of shin guards but if it's just a casual game you can often get away without that expense. But, play without shin guards at your own risk. I've compiled a great list of tips to help you become an awesome 5-a-side football player.
Check out the tips below.
How To Improve Your 5-A-Side Skills
First thing you need to understand is that to improve your 5 A Side game you'll need to work on your cardio. The best 5 a side teams tend to have fitter player. Encouraging your teammates to improve their cardio will help hugely. I've seen quite a few "good" teams fall apart late in 5 a side match because they are exhausted abd can't keep up with the pace of the game.
So, that's the first tip out of the way, here's a bunch more to help you improve your game.
Enjoy the sport
It may sound unimportant, but having fun can really make a difference in the game of 5-a-side football. If you’re not enjoying the game, and you’re instead frustrated or annoyed, you’re likely to perform worse in the game as a result. So keeping the game fun is definitely something to focus on. make sure everyone on the team is getting along and enjoying their time.
Use proper formation
Going into a game with no strategy, or not even assigning roles to players, is the worst thing you can do. Although it can take a fair bit of effort to organise a team into proper 5-a-side formation, the preparation will pay off when your team has the advantage. The formation can become chaotic shortly into the game, however it’s still a great starting point for success as a team. It can also seem like it’s taking the game a bit too seriously sometimes, but a more organised game will usually end up being much more enjoyable.
Maintain good communication
Effective communication can be the difference between winning a game and losing a game by a long shot. In 5-a-side, having the keeper do most of the talking is a common strategy that has served the test of time. Since the pace of the game is so fast and the keeper is the only one with some occasional downtime, the responsibility falls on them to keep the team updated with everything that’s happening on the field. The last defender can also contribute here in some situations. The main point is that your team needs to be on the same page at all times with full knowledge of the current situation.
Always position a defender at the back
Since most players are intent on attacking, it’s common in 5-a-side football for the keeper to be left alone during an attack. This is far from ideal since any fast breaks during the counter attack will be left undefended. If your team leaves a defending player positioned at the back during an attack, all possibilities will be covered. If this last defender ends up in a 2 on 1 situation, the best strategy is for them to obstruct the pass between them while waiting for the team to help.
Keep the ball moving throughout the game
In 5-a-side football, passing is a major element of the game. A team with the perfect passing technique is a force to contend with since they can use fast passing manoeuvres to surprise the opposing team and expose an open shot to score. If you focus on passing in your training, your team will have the ball moving all over the field and any team will be hard pressed to prepare for your strategies. That being said, with good passing skills, your team still needs to have the game sense to know when to pass.
With these tips in mind, you and your team will be well on your way to success in 5-a-side football.
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