The Soccer Specialist

Inside you'll discover: the one fear you must overcome to become a great player.   the one thing you must do if you want to become a great player. the secret ball skill progression you have to use if you want to control the ball like Marta or Messi! a announcement that could change your game forever!

There's a lot that goes into reaching your potential and becoming the best soccer player you can be on the pitch.  The 4 P's talked about in this episode are crucial to helping you do exactly that.  Take 15 minutes and discover how to accelerate your development and become a much better player than you are right now.

Soccer tryouts are a very stressful time.  But there are some simple things you can do to help yourself stand out and play with confidence.  Take a listen to the latest episode of The Soccer Specialist Podcast to learn more.

I answer an important question from a parent who doesn't want to mess up their child's development.  I also talk about the most important thing a player can do to become great and discuss the many different aspects of their game they need to embrace.  Look, there's just a lot of goodness in this episode okay?  Go listen!

There are a lot of different aspects to good 1v1 play from completely beating a defender, to keeping the ball under pressure until you can escape and make a pass, to simply unbalancing a defender a bit to create a good shooting or passing angle.  In this episode of The Soccer Specialist podcast we take a look at three different 1v1 games that cover a wide range of 1v1 skills you need to be a...

Nutrition for your youth soccer players matters a lot more than most people think.  Good nutrition doesn't matter less because they are running around burning calories, it matters more. They don't only need good calories for the physical aspect of the sport but for the mental part of the game as well.  Check out this primer on nutrition for soccer players and learn how nutrition can help...

Apparently this is episode 50 of The Soccer Specialist Podcast.   Time really does fly!  But don't worry, we've got fireworks, a huge cake, and world famous guests.  Okay, well, we don't actually have fireworks, a huge cake or world famous guests.  But it's still an amazing podcast episode filled with goodness.  Your life will be pretty empty if you don't listen to it...

One of the biggest obstacles for most players (and a pet peeve for coaches and parents) is training on their own.  Listen in and learn how much training you should be doing, how to make it easy, and how to turn it into a habit that will help you long past your soccer playing career.  Good times!  And there's an appearance from Carli Lloyd, too!  Well, she doesn't actually speak...

Touting multi-sport playing as the holy grail of athletics compared to the pure evil of playing one sport seems to be all the rage nowadays.  But is any of it actually true? Let's find out!

Development versus winning is an ongoing debate.  Some focus way too much on winning.  Some say it doesn't matter at all and if you're focused on winning with young players you're hurting their development.  But what if it's not that simple.  What if winning does matter?  But what if it's about HOW you win and the message you send when you don't?  It's a fascinating t...

In many past episodes I've talked a lot about all the important things you can do as a player that will allow you to be great without being fast.  It's all true.  But it doesn't mean speed isn't important in the sport of soccer.  It is.  The good news is, no matter who you are, you can increase your speed for soccer.  Combine increased speed with all those other skills suc...

We talk a lot about how winning doesn't matter at the young ages because it's development that's important.  Is that true?  If so, why? And if not, how come?  Can knowing the difference and the context help you become a better player?  Is losing a lot a good thing?  Is winning a lot a good thing? Learn all the secrets of the (soccer) universe inside!

One of the great things about the sport of soccer is that all types of players can excel.  There are so many things you can do that can make up for not being the biggest, fastest or strongest player on the pitch; soccer IQ, technical skill, anticipation, awareness, vision and more. In fact, I talk about them on this episode of the Podcast How to Become an Elite Soccer Player <<== That b...

Confidence is crucial to success in soccer.  Just ask any player who has to take a penalty kick in an important situation.  Inside you'll discover just how powerful the mind is by walking on a balance beam.  You'll also learn the #1 confidence builder and how to use it to boost your own confidence and performance.  The great thing is, it's completely under your control.  W...

It's that time!  New year, new you! Better soccer player!  One thing I've found that youth soccer players don't do nearly enough of is setting goals and putting together an actual plan to achieve those goals.  Take a listen and find out how you can set the right type of goals and use a 90 day action plan to achieve those goals and skyrocket your soccer development.  And get you...

Can you believe it's almost 2021?  Thank goodness, right?  Good riddance, 2020!!  In today's episode, we're going to talk about all good things you can do to get a jump on 2021 and skyrocket your development.  Inside are the keys to more confidence, better performance, and becoming the best player you can possibly be! Listen now! DO IT!!  Don't make me send Bella over ther...

Here is part 2 - It's a two parter because the file was too big to upload.  Crazy, I know! We're going to continue our deep dive into my player development philosophy and discuss what I believe are the two most crucial skills you need to mater to become a great player.  You'll also learn the challenges in doing so within the current youth soccer landscape and why you can't rely on your o...

This is a big one.  It's a two parter because the file was too big to upload.  Crazy, I know! We're going to take a deep dive into player development philosophy and discuss what I believe are the two most crucial skills you need to mater to become a great player.  You'll also learn the challenges in doing so within the current youth soccer landscape and why you can't rely on your or...

Here is Part II! The Power of the 7 day mental diet - Simple NOT easy! What good free throw shooters can teach us about the key to proper development How framing training makes all the difference The keys to the Dutch kingdom of Total Football and what it means to you. Why Billy Wagner's recruitment matters to you as a player Are you the next Jaime Vardy and what you need to find out if you are. A...

This episode of The Soccer Specialist Podcast has so much goodness in it, I had to break it up into Part 1 and Part 2!  Here's just some of what we are going to cover! The Power of the 7 day mental diet - Simple NOT easy! What good free throw shooters can teach us about the key to proper development How the words you use in framing training makes all the difference The keys to the Dutch kingd...

It amazes me how many young soccer players are afraid to dribble.  They don't want to be considered a ball hog, or selfish, or get yelled at by the coach because they lose the ball.  Yet, mastering the ball is the key to development.  Without it, you can't play the game.  But we as adults actively discourage players from dribbling!  We are actually hurting them with this n...

Creativity is the backbone of why soccer is known as the beautiful game.  It's a problem solving sport that looks for creative solutions within its patterns of play.  Without that creativity, teams become predictable and unable to create opportunities against good defenses.  But by understanding the rules of this particular genre of music you can learn how to become a better, more c...

There are a lot of things you need to be able to do well on the pitch to excel at soccer.  Physical qualities like speed, quickness, explosiveness, and endurance.    Then there are the technical skills like a great first touch, taking the ball out of the air, a variety of different passes, shots and dribbling skills. Not to mention a high soccer IQ, great decision making, visio...

A member of The Soccer Specialist Private Facebook Group was talking about the idea of parents of very young players, 7-9 or so, chasing rankings and things like "elite" etc. Sadly, that does happen a lot and with players of all ages.  On this episode of The Soccer Specialist Podcast we are going to talk about why it shouldn't. This isn't a be all end all list but nail these and you're well o...

Take a listen and find out the 2 movements every soccer player must learn, and strengthen, in order to help prevent injuries while at the same time improve overall athletic performance.  When you include these two movements within a properly designed training program you'll improve your strength, your overall athleticism and help prevent injury.  You'll become stronger, faster, quicker,...