 instead of being confident, instead of enjoying playing, instead of focusing on what you want to do with the ball, you start thinking about all these negative things. You start thinking about screwing up, letting your teammates down, making mistakes. You have to be constantly shoulder checking the whole time, catch it, first of all, catch yourself ball watching. If you don't react now and make a decision now, you've already made your decision. It doesn't matter if you have vision, if you're too afraid to take that opportunity. If you don't know about me, I used to be a huge underachiever, but through obsessive self-improvement, I found my success. Earned a college scholarship, played for my national football team, a YouTube channel with over 100 million views, I've helped players worldwide, and I'd love to help you improve faster and achieve more. A lot of players, they get the ball and they don't know what to do with it, so they overcomplicate or they take too much time. If you are really struggling and you're making too many mistakes, all you have to do is simplify your play. So maybe for the first few minutes of the game, until you build this confidence, you just want to think about playing very simple. Do not give the ball away. So play me a pass again. So as that ball comes, I'm just thinking about, boom, receive it, pass it to my teammate, move into space to support him and get it back again, okay? If you are overcomplicating the play, you're losing the ball far too often, you have to start building up your confidence, and you can do that by playing very simple. So play me a ball again. So focus on that good first touch, pass it to your teammate. Now, obviously I want you to be a good attacker, I want you to be creative, I want you to feel that you can take the responsibility to dribble, to create chances. But if you don't have this basic foundation of keeping the ball and being calm on the ball, then you're not gonna be able to get to the next step. So first of all, just very basic play and pass. You know where your teammates are, you just want to be very simple, get the ball, pass the ball to a teammate, move to support. Maybe you are playing with your friends at school or you're playing with your brother in the park. You're in a situation where you're comfortable. The only thing different between that situation and this one where you're panicking, you're struggling in is the way you are approaching, the way you're thinking in your mind. You're still the same player. You have the same body, you have the same legs, you have the same amount of skill, you have the same level of experience. The only thing different is the way that you're thinking. I will send the better in one day soccer blueprint to anyone who comments hashtag soccer on this video. Instead of being confident, instead of enjoying playing, instead of focusing on what you want to do with the ball, you start thinking about all these negative things. You start thinking about screwing up, letting your teammates down, making mistakes. So first of all, you need to take responsibility for your thoughts. Realize that all these thoughts in your head, you are responsible for them. So if you feel negative thoughts, you're aware of negative thoughts creeping into your mind, you need to change them. So what I mean by that is a lot of players, play in a pass. When the ball's coming to them, what are they thinking about? They're thinking about having a bad touch. They're thinking about the defender coming to close them down. They're thinking about their teammates and coaches screw or yelling at them if they screw up. So what you need to do is focus on the positive. So as the ball's coming to you, I'm thinking about the positive. I'm thinking about having a good touch and exactly how I'm going to have a good touch. Focus on your technique, focus on what you can control. Do not focus on things you can't control. So focus on positive things. Think about, hey, I want to have a good touch. I want to take my touch into space. I want to take my touch away from the defender, play me again. I want to think about protecting the ball. I want to think about all these things that I want to do well. So if you start thinking positively instead of negatively, focusing on what you can do, you're going to be more successful right away. So if I am just ball watching, which a lot of players do, as the ball travels, the only thing that they're focused on and the ball won't be in my hand, it will be out there. But let's say the other player is on the ball, even my own teammate, all I'm doing is standing there flat-footed, focusing on him. Okay, I'm not aware of his teammates making runs in behind me. If that's my teammate on the ball, I'm not aware of where my teammates are if that ball comes to me. So I'm just ball watching. If this is the habit that I'm in, the mistake that I'm making, when that ball does come to me, I have no idea of what's around me, where I should go. So if you want to play quicker, you want to be faster, you want to know where the pass is before that ball even gets to you, you have to be more aware of your surroundings. Yes, I'm moving to get into space for the pass. You can play me a pass right here, but I'm always aware of where the space is around me, okay? I'm thinking about where are the opportunities? So if I do get the ball, where are the opportunities for me to either dribble into space or the opportunities for my teammates to make a run so I can play them a pass? If I don't know that, play me the ball again, and I'm just focused on the ball, I get it, now I turn or now I'm dribbling. People are already closing me down. I don't know that my teammate was on a breakaway if I just played him the pass quickly. If you want to improve faster and achieve more this season, use the Soccer Success Planner. It's 100% free, players all around the world have already used it to improve. You can download it right now. There's a link in the description below. You have to be constantly shoulder checking the whole time. Catch it, first of all, catch yourself ball washing. If you ever, now that you're aware of this idea, catch yourself making the mistake of just ball watching and not being aware of everything that's going on around you. Where are you first touch? Where are you actually taking your first touch? So play me the pass. If I know a defender is here, I want to take that pass, that touch away from him so I can get turned. I want to be more aware of my surroundings and where the space is, where I should be going before I actually get the ball. Play me again. A lot of players, they'll get the ball, they'll stop it dead in their feet. People are coming to close them down. Now they get their head up. Now they're making decisions. First of all, they're thinking about everything that could go wrong. Now they get their head up. They notice that people are closing down. They start to panic. They don't know where to play the ball or what to do. You need to think about where you want to play the ball or what you want to do before the ball actually even comes to you. So in order to do that, I have to be aware of my surroundings. If you are making a big mistake that a lot of players do, which is just ball watching, I'm just focusing on the ball. I'm not looking at where my teammates are. Say if I want to get the ball, I already know. Boom, I'm going to play that one touch to my teammate over there, or I don't know where the defender is. I'm just focusing on the ball. So I'm not aware of my surroundings. If you become aware of your surroundings by constantly shoulder checking, being aware of the space, being aware of the danger, being aware of the opportunities, then you're going to be able to make a better decision. So when that ball is coming to me, play that ball, yeah. I already know. Boom, I'm going to play my teammate for a breakaway, I'm going to play him into space. Play it again. I already know this defender's there, so I'm going to turn and I'm going to get into space where I want to be. So in order to make better decisions to be more confident in your ability to play, you need to be aware of what you actually want to do. So start thinking ahead of the game. Don't react as the ball is played. Do you play me? Don't react now and make a decision now. You've already made your decision. You already know where the space is. You already know where you want to play the pass. You already know where the defenders are around you. So attacking, I'm focusing on opportunities, spaces for my teammates, spaces for myself. Play me one more time. So even spaces for myself to dribble, okay? The vision is also being able, understanding where to dribble. But defensively, I need to be aware of where the danger is. So if I am, again, watching the player on the ball, just hold it for now, just watching the player on the ball, I only know where he is. I don't know that that guy's making a run in behind me. I didn't know that this guy's showing to space, okay? I didn't know that, hey, I have to help out because it's a three on one back there. So when you're defending, yes, you need to be aware of where the ball is, but you also have to be aware of where the danger is. Okay, this guy's making a run. I have to stay with him. Or my teammate needs help at the back post. I have to get there. Okay, but if I don't know, I have to be aware of where the ball is. But if I don't know where the danger is, then I'm not gonna be able to get there. So I'm sure you've heard it before. Your coach has told you a million times, play with your head up. And this is when players get in the bad habit. When they dribble, they're just like this. The only thing that they can see is right here. So they just end up dribbling into trouble or maybe they even beat a few players or they're good at dribbling, but they can't see that, hey, it wasn't time to dribble. I should have played a pass then. Okay, so you need to get in the habit of whenever you have the ball, your feet dribbling with your head up. Now eventually, you'll be able to do it naturally. In the beginning, it will feel awkward for you. You may have to look down at the ball every time you touch, but get in the habit of getting your head up so I can actually see where the space is, where I should dribble, where my teammates aren't a better opportunity than me so I can play them the pass quickly before the opportunity is gone. Get in the habit of getting your head up. Now, it doesn't matter if you have vision, if you're too afraid to take that opportunity. So you may be able to see that pass and a lot of players will see the right pass, but they're not confident in their ability to play that pass or they're too afraid to play that pass because they think they'll make a mistake and everyone will yell at them. So having vision is the first step. Having the confidence, the bravery, the courage to actually try and play that pass to your teammate. Well, that's the second step. So play me a pass again, please. So whether you are trying to dribble into space, you're trying to play a nice through ball or you're trying to get a shot off, get a shot on goal. Okay, you need to have the courage and the bravery to actually try that. So vision is the first step, but when that opportunity is there, take it. If you make a mistake, if the pass doesn't get to where you wanted to go, your shot wasn't a good one like that or you dribble, then you made a mistake, at least you tried. You can take that experience and you can learn from it. When you're nervous, when you're afraid, when fear strikes you, you start to panic, what happens? Your breathing changes. So you need to be aware of your breathing. You need to start controlling your breath. So if you feel yourself getting out of control, panicking, panting, getting worried, slow your breath down. Be aware of your breath, start to come back to your breath, control your breath. Start to calm your heart rate down, slowing your breath down. So smooth breaths in through your nose, out through your nose. And by simply controlling your breath, you'll become more in control of the situation. From moving up divisions to making national teams, players who use the Online Soccer Academy get results. Access elite level coaching and training, become a complete player, make a difference on the field and get noticed when you play. Limited spots available, apply today, start improving tomorrow. Link in the description below.