Will training with a small ball or a size 1 soccer ball still get you to improve? Yes, definitely. I love incorporating a smaller soccer ball in my first touch sessions or tight space dribbling sessions to improve my touch and control of the ball. Now, you shouldn't ALWAYS train with a small ball, because I'm a firm believer in that you should practice how you play, but still there are huge benefits to training with a smaller sized soccer ball especially in terms of developing control/touch.
Use a Tennis ball with these drills to get your brain and body in sync so that when you go back to using a normal Soccer ball, you will feel comfortable and be able to perform ball mastery skills even better than before.
Yes, a tennis ball is much smaller than a soccer ball, but the idea behind these drills is not to learn how to shoot or dribble. These tiny balls will get your feet used to staying in tune with each other. Of course, the biggest benefit of these drills is that regular soccer balls will seem huge in comparison, making ball control that much easier.
Professional academies use these drills with tennis balls at an early age to perfect ball mastery, start doing these drills at home to keep up with what the professionals are doing and be ready for going back to training.
LJ Soccer is a coaching service based in the Augusta Margaret River region. Our mission is for everyone to have the opportunity to play soccer, have fun and at an affordable price for ALL families.