Looking at North Macedonia's obscure warmups heading into its match against Ukraine, there is no surprise it later lost. As fun as it looked, with the players racing up the pitch and passing the ball between each other using upturned cones, it didn't seem like the appropriate warmup for the Euro 2020 Group C match on Thursday.
It's the first week back at pickup soccer after nearly a year off. Maybe you got some touches in at the local field or in your backyard, maybe you didn't. But whatever workouts you did (or didn't do) are no substitute for actual game play.
That first pickup session or game after the spring thaw is always painful after the lack of cardio in the winter. You come in expecting pain, but somehow the pain is always worse than you imagined.
Skills Lab Wundschuh has created the ultimate footballer experience to help perfect accuracy and reaction time while implementing real-life game situations to help you level up your game.
This virtual training style could be the future of personal training and is definitely something everyone would want in their homes. As of now, the sports facility is located in Wundschuh, Austria, but if it makes its way to the U.S. it will give golf simulators a run for their money.
Over the past 20 years, static muscle stretching has gotten a bad rap. Once considered an essential part of any sport or exercise warm-up, static stretching has now been removed from the picture almost entirely.
This move followed extensive research showing that static stretching — where we stretch and then hold the muscle at an extended length for seconds or minutes — can reduce muscle strength (reflected in things like lifting weights), power (for example, jump height), running speed, balance and other capacities for a short time after the stretching.
There are few feelings better in the soccer world, and dare I say world at large, than cruising by an opposing player with a nifty piece of footwork. Obviously, 1v1 moves are extremely dependent on the situation you’re in - you can’t expect a singular go-to move to take you by a defender regardless of where you are on the field and what’s happening around you. Speed and acceleration play a huge role in the proper execution of these moves, so keep that in mind.
The "ping" ball is one of the most sexy and soothing visuals in the sport of soccer. Here's a quick run through of one of the fundamental skills that every soccer player needs to know.
In this episode of Raise Your Game, The18’s own Grant Conybear shows you how to correctly hit a knuckleball. The general technique of a knuckleball starts with aiming to strike the ball directly in the center. Using the knuckle part of your foot, about where your laces are, approach the ball straight on and use a short backswing while striking the ball with a locked ankle and locked leg.