 Today, I want to help you become more composed when you're playing. A lot of players have problems with panicking, overthinking, or even freezing and forgetting what they should do on the field, especially when they have the ball at their feet. Now, the same player usually finds himself very confident playing the way they want to play, playing the way they know they should play in a different situation. For example, 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. 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 the past. 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 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 a lot of things are the basic things you really want to think about if you're struggling with being composed is quality of your first touch, where you're actually taking your first touch. So play me a 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 will 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. I don't know if that ball is coming to me. Play that ball. Yeah. I already know. 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 is 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. A few more very simple ideas to help you be more composed when you're playing. Number one is be aware of your breath. Be aware of your breathing. A lot of players, when we start to panic, we freak out. Our breathing gets out of control. Okay. We start panning. We start 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. Slow your breath down. So smooth breath in through your nose, out through your nose. And by simply controlling your breath, you'll become more in control of the situation. Another thing I want you to think about is just plain simple. If you are panicking in the game, so play the ball. A lot of players, they get the ball and they don't know what to do with it. So they over complicate 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 or the first like few months or 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 the 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 over complicating 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 the 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 going to 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.