Learning to kick the Football with both feet

"I never knew just how handy it was to kick effectively with both feet until I scored a goal with my left foot and set up another"

by Melanie Wright

I remember the first few times I attempted to kick with my left foot, there was too many air swings to count and a few giggles at just how awkward it felt! As an athlete I never like standing still, so much as to say I aim to better myself at whatever life skill that may be and generally I'm not the kind of charactor to give up without a red hot crack at something..

Learning to kick with your left foot or non dominant foot is difficult but not impossible. The more you practice the easier it gets and before no time you're gobsmacked at how the left foot is now pretty similar to the way in which you strike the ball with your right. And there is the trick, If you're just beginning to learn to kick and pass etc with your non dominant foot you're going to need to be patient as it doesn't happen overnight (nothing worthwhile ever does unfortunately). But, if you're like me you'll make it one of your football goals to master over a period of time and trust me it will come in handy at some point!

If you have a reasonably good right footed kick, then try to implement the same technique using your other foot; begin with passing/dribbling etc then move to mini chip kicks. This enables your body/brain to try and figure out how to implement what you do with the other foot and apply it to your non dominant too.

Practice and practice often is the key to getting better and if you can film yourself kicking with both feet you might be able to break down the video into slow motion and see what you look like kicking with both feet and adjust accordingly to improve your technique. Once you've mastered the technique it won't leave you (quite simply it will be the muscle memory of aquiring that skill - add it to your bag of tricks!). Only when you score or put over a cross that leads to a goal, is when you understand that it was in itself, a rewarding process to master something you once struggled with, and with perseverance you can attain just about anything.

The other upside is that unless you already have left footed players amongst the playing group, you might get rewarded in postions you didnt expect because you are able to feed balls/crosses and score goals with both feet.

When you've mastered the non dominant skills with your football you'll be amazed at just how handy the use of both feet/hands can be in numerous other sports plus how quickly you'll master those too...

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! You're Welcome ;) Melanie.