# Juggling



## zebrafish (Apr 12, 2018)

I now fully understand the depth of character of Mr. Miyagi in my attempts to get my kid to juggle more.

It is a prolonged wax on, wax off situation. 

Except we haven't arrived at the end of the movie part yet.


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## coachrefparent (Apr 12, 2018)

Let us know when s/he's above 200.


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## Sheriff Joe (Apr 12, 2018)

zebrafish said:


> I now fully understand the depth of character of Mr. Miyagi in my attempts to get my kid to juggle more.
> 
> It is a prolonged wax on, wax off situation.
> 
> Except we haven't arrived at the end of the movie part yet.


My daughter really likes to juggle, just as long as it is with me or one of her teammates.


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## TangoCity (Apr 12, 2018)

Juggling is great.  There are many ways to make it more interesting/challenging as you get better.


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## outside! (Apr 13, 2018)

Some kids pick up juggling quickly, most don't. My 02 son had to WORK at juggling. It literally took a couple of years, but now he is comfortable enough juggling such that he doesn't count anymore since somewhere in there he starts trying tricks. DD attended a D1 college ID camp where they had a juggling test. They had to start on one sideline, take 15 touches and then start walking/juggling across the field. If they dropped the ball, they had to start over. When they reached the far sideline, they had to turn around and come back across the field juggling with just the dominant foot. DD was second across the field one way, and then the only one to make it back across before they broke for lunch. Before she was fully across the second time, the head coach started asking her name, etc. While there was more to it than her juggling skills, that test was the first thing that got her noticed by the coach where she will be attending college next year. Some people downplay juggling as a skill, but it does wonders for first touch and can have other benefits. Wax on, wax off!


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## futboldad1 (Apr 13, 2018)

TangoCity said:


> Juggling is great.  There are many ways to make it more interesting/challenging as you get better.


Agree 100 percent...also one of the things that our DDs don't need a lot of space to do so it can be done basically anywhere...well once they get okay at it...my two broke some not so fine chinaware back in the day


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## coachrefparent (Apr 13, 2018)

My kid couldn't juggle for crap at 13 years old (more than 20 or so). The coach made it a point to do challenges for them to work at home with certain "consequences". Within a year and a half, the juggle record is now up over 300.

Any kid that does it every day for 10-20 minutes will able able to get to this point within a year. But looking at all the players, not sure how much this directly translates to play on the field.


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## Surfref (Apr 19, 2018)

My daughter had a similar experience to Outside while attending a college ID camp in Florida. They had the players all in one area and told them to juggle the ball for as long as possible and if the ball hit the ground they had to sit down.  All of the players were sitting and my daughter was still going for at least a minute beyond any other player until the coach told her to stop.  They did it again but changed it up with every third touch had to come off of a body part other than a foot. Once again daughter was still going, but had transitioned to juggling with just her head and shoulders.  Three of the four college coaches pulled her aside to talk with her.

So how did she get to that point? Money at first.  She was around 13 when I offered her $10 for every hundred juggles.  She practiced in the backyard almost daily for a couple weeks before she made it to 100.  We stopped the agreement about six months later when she knocked out over 800 juggles. By this point I had paid her well over $100.  I also noticed her footwork on the field improved.


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## jojosoccer (Apr 19, 2018)

Summer evenings we would head out front of the house and juggle to 25 and we will go to YogurtLand.
Later it was juggle to 50....
Then to 100.... often other neighborhood kids would come outside and join in. Then I took them all to YogurtLand.
Very positive and fun times


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## GoWest (Apr 19, 2018)

Is juggling "over-rated" when it comes to actually playing the game? Early on my DD had a teammate that could juggle probably 600-1000 touches before messing up. Was really not a good player but boy could she juggle. Six years later and she can still juggle like a pro but rarely sees the pitch even on the lowest level team. Am I wrong to think that if my DD can juggle proficiently to say 100 reps or so with maybe attempting a couple "around the worlds" along the way that the juggling criteria is achieved?


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## TangoCity (Apr 19, 2018)

GoWest said:


> Is juggling "over-rated" when it comes to actually playing the game? Early on my DD had a teammate that could juggle probably 600-1000 touches before messing up. Was really not a good player but boy could she juggle. Six years later and she can still juggle like a pro but rarely sees the pitch even on the lowest level team. Am I wrong to think that if my DD can juggle proficiently to say 100 reps or so with maybe attempting a couple "around the worlds" along the way that the juggling criteria is achieved?


Juggling is NOT overrated but is not a magic bullet to making you a star soccer player.  If you are juggling 600-1000 times before messing up then you are not challenging yourself properly.  There are different levels of difficulty in juggling exercises and standing there only using your right/dominant foot is the lowest (but important to master) level.  Alternating feet, alternating body parts and like others have mentioned walking or moving through an obstacle course can raise the level of difficulty.  What my daughter and I will do out in the driveway is do clock juggling together.  One person starts and passes the ball in the air with one touch to the other person - then the other person must take two touches with the last touch a pass back to the person who started - they then must take three touches in the air with the last touch a pass back to the other person - this goes on until you reach twelve and then you work your way back down to one again - and you repeat this process until someone messes up.  If we start to do too well then we make either the first touch or last touch come with our weaker foot.  Believe me this is difficult.  There will be no thousand touches in a row.  And I see a huge correlation between the juggling practice and controlled touches with balls that are in the air during games.  Huge correlation.


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## GoWest (Apr 19, 2018)

TangoCity said:


> Juggling is NOT overrated but is not a magic bullet to making you a star soccer player.  If you are juggling 600-1000 times before messing up then you are not challenging yourself properly.  There are different levels of difficulty in juggling exercises and standing there only using your right/dominant foot is the lowest (but important to master) level.  Alternating feet, alternating body parts and like others have mentioned walking or moving through an obstacle course can raise the level of difficulty.  What my daughter and I will do out in the driveway is do clock juggling together.  One person starts and passes the ball in the air with one touch to the other person - then the other person must take two touches with the last touch a pass back to the person who started - they then must take three touches in the air with the last touch a pass back to the other person - this goes on until you reach twelve and then you work your way back down to one again - and you repeat this process until someone messes up.  If we start to do too well then we make either the first touch or last touch come with our weaker foot.  Believe me this is difficult.  There will be no thousand touches in a row.  And I see a huge correlation between the juggling practice and controlled touches with balls that are in the air during games.  Huge correlation.


Thanks. That's a great explanation and very insightful. You won't mind if we steal your driveway training idea? Appreciate your response Tango!


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## timbuck (Apr 19, 2018)

Similarly the “juggling ladder” with alternate feet.
1 time right foot.  1 time left foot
2 times right. 2 times left. 
And so on and then back down again. 

Can also do low/highs.  2 low/1 high. Or whatever volume of each.


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## outside! (Apr 19, 2018)

TangoCity said:


> Juggling is NOT overrated ...  What my daughter and I will do out in the driveway is do clock juggling together. ...


Luckily mine learned to juggle on their own, so I didn't have to learn myself. It is kind of funny to picture the average soccer parent trying to learn to juggle.


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## silverback (Apr 19, 2018)

Agree that while being a good juggler does not automatically make you a good soccer player, it is almost a guarantee that a highly skilled player is a good juggler. Players must be masters of the ball and be in full command of the ball at all times, making it go exactly where they want it to go with the correct touch. There is no substitute for juggling with regards to this IMO. I think the most important thing I did with my daughter was after she was able to juggle a couple hundred times, she focused on the ladder described above. 1 right, 1 left, 2 right, 2 left, up to 1o and back down to 1. If your player can do this they have a solid foundation with both feet and can keep the ball up endlessly. You can then add to this by having them stand on a line or in a very small area and do the same while staying on the line or in the area. Trick is like anything, to make it fun and not seem like work. I also think it is important to differentiate between different kinds of juggling touches ie... tiny touches with toe coming up producing backspin vs slightly higher touches with locked ankle using laces resulting in no spin or even forward spin. I think the later has the greater benefit in the game.


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## Grace T. (Apr 19, 2018)

Anyone use a tennis ball?


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## silverback (Apr 19, 2018)

Grace T. said:


> Anyone use a tennis ball?


definitely!


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## timbuck (Apr 20, 2018)

Or a wrench?  If you can juggle a wrench, you can juggle a ball. 
"If you can *dodge* a wrench, you can *dodge* a ball." "Remember the 5 D's of *dodgeball*: *Dodge*, duck, *dip*, dive and *dodge*." "Nobody makes me bleed my own blood. Nobody!"


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## Bananacorner (Apr 20, 2018)

We used to play a game where I would give DD a challenge.  I would start small (2 left thigh, 1 right foot, 1 left foot, 1 right foot) and then keeps getting more challenging (2 left foot, 1 right foot, header, 2 right thigh, header, 2 left foot... etc).  Makes it fun and interactive.  Sometimes I would put some money/rewards on harder challenges.


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## pulguita (Apr 20, 2018)

coachrefparent said:


> My kid couldn't juggle for crap at 13 years old (more than 20 or so). The coach made it a point to do challenges for them to work at home with certain "consequences". Within a year and a half, the juggle record is now up over 300.
> 
> Any kid that does it every day for 10-20 minutes will able able to get to this point within a year. But looking at all the players, not sure how much this directly translates to play on the field.


In my kids case at 11 years old she was the best juggler in ODP.  On her D1  college team she has the best touch on her team.  Just ask her teammates.


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## Surf Zombie (Apr 21, 2018)

The coach my 2007 DD plays for is a big believer in juggling as a way to improve first touch. At our club kids on the top U10 team (so last year for her) have to be able to get 50, on video, alternating left and right. 

This year at U11 its 100 and then it’s 500 for the U12s. The older girls, (U13 and up) once they can do the 500, switch to a tennis ball. 

The kids are very competetive about it and when one of them puts up a big number it is a hot top of conversation on their team text message chain.


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## Chalklines (Apr 22, 2018)

Time better spent. Wall ball or juggling? Personally I would rather see 800-1000 touches off the wall then a 100 juggles.


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## LadiesMan217 (Apr 22, 2018)

LOL


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## rainbow_unicorn (Apr 22, 2018)

Chalklines said:


> Time better spent. Wall ball or juggling? Personally I would rather see 800-1000 touches off the wall then a 100 juggles.


Both.  Each has their own (slightly different) merits.


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