Introduction
I hope everyone enjoyed the first futsal game. It was good fun to watch, and no doubt you have already picked up on some of the differences between futsal and outdoor soccer.
Differences
Futsal is obviously a very fast game compared to soccer, and each player will get many more touches of the ball. This is one of the main reasons it’s such a good training ground for the outdoor game. It’s difficult to improve your first touch if you touch the ball five times in 90 minutes. If you touch it 30 times in two 12 minute halves… well, I’ll leave you to work it out. And everyone plays everywhere, and even gets to shoot!
Many of the world’s best soccer players played futsal in their youth and credit it with developing their technique, and this is why they’re able to control the ball perfectly with any part of the body, and breeze past defenders as though they aren’t there .
The frenetic pace and lack of space means there’s a premium on ball skills, and size and strength are less important than they are outdoors. The techniques used by the best futsal players are also a bit different. The sole of the foot is used a lot more, for trapping the ball and to execute defender-confounding drag backs and feints.
Video – five skills
This video shows five skills that can be used in the close-quarters of a futsal pitch. They are:
- Fake shot sole roll
- Bait la croqueta
- Hidden turn
- Bait and switch
- Basic switch
You’ll recognise them as variants of the skills we were practising during the outdoor season.
Homework 🙂
Pick ONE skill that you fancy, and practise it over and over again until you’ve got it mastered. If you’ve already got some of these down, pick a different one. Use the futsal environment for fun and to improve for next winter too.