The topic of this post is on how to implement double wall rebounder drills into your home training routine. When it comes to practicing on your own you have to spend most of your time on the key elements. First touch & passing are the skills we use most in games. Shooting and dribbling are other pieces you want to work on. Therefore, what I recommend players practice most is this 2 wall set up where you work on multiple elements in one drill.
Strikers and attacking center mids
Every position is different… Strikers and CAM’s have the least amount of time due to being double teamed and surrounded by defenders.
When you don’t have much space or time it’s important that you know how to trap and pass different ways.
Turning quick or having a defender on your back means you’ll sometimes need to trap with the outside of your foot.
If money isn’t a problem → get this rebounder – larger size
“The more you train at the right things, the better you get.”
Your training setup
At your home, set up your rebounder/walls at 45° or 90° angles… In some of the videos ↓ you’ll see me using a rebounder and railroad tie at about 90°
180° also works, as you’ll see Cole training in a parking lot – video down below ↓
When practicing at home, I recommend using the driveway/concrete vs grass.
Why concrete is better for double wall rebounder drills:
- The ball moves faster.
- After a few weeks your grass will die, UNLESS you can move your rebound nets/boards easily.
I understand that we all have different homes/yards… Therefore, everyone’s setups will vary.
Either way, you’re going to benefit greatly. The discipline and amount of time is most important!
Outside of the foot turning drill ⇓
“Discipline is what gets you to reach your goals.”
Training at parks or schools
Parks and schools often have buildings that you can use for a wall. Then, to do the double rebound wall drills all you need is a light easy to carry rebound board…
Boards/nets < brick/concrete walls
Neither boards or nets are as good as concrete/brick walls because the ball doesn’t come back as strong. Although, you can put something heavy behind it to keep from moving. Also if you stabilize it you’ll get a faster rebound.
Wet turf is going to make your passes faster, which is good. Therefore, if you have a portable rebounder maybe you can take it to the local high school on days where it just rained.
Defenders need these 2 drills
Center backs need to switch the field more than any other position, with the exception of some Center Mids.
If you or your CB doesn’t switch the field it’s easy to say your team doesn’t possess the ball very well.
Even though defenders & CM’s need these skills important skills, every player position should practice them.
When it comes to receiving the ball and passing in a different direction, you want what’s practical.
Watch the pros and notice how they trap the ball in various situations… Under pressure is different from when they have time/space.
Reliable & budget friendly rebounder
2 best drills ⇓ for switching
Why are these drills so good?
The pros trap and pass these 2 ways a lot!!
Receiving the ball with the inside of your back foot and being able to pass with both feet is arguably the best skill you can become great at.
When you trap like this it gives you twice as many options in terms of angles to pass.
In addition, if you want to be great with ball control/dribbling do my courses 10-30 mins per week… It’s not a lot of time, but it’s enough if you stay consistent throughout the year.
Quantity and quality
The great Brazilian, Pele used to practice 7 hours per day…
Most of Pele’s time was spend manipulating the ball. Physically light, but technically heavy.
When you work on dribbling, short passing, different ways to control the ball out of the air you don’t cause injuries…
So why are kids age 11 getting injured so much when they don’t play as much as Pele did? Because nowadays some club teams are going too much fitness/running/weights and too many games. Excessive fitness causes injuries.
If you want a rebounder that helps you receive out of the air and volley ← this one will work.
Like I’ve said before, a brick wall is the best, so if you have one use it. In addition, put your rebound net/board where you can work on the double wall rebounder drills.
When you train have fun, use your imagination… Put yourself in game scenarios.
2 ways to improve:
- Do drills where you intentionally trap and pass with a certain foot.
- Freestyle training where you don’t plan anything. Instead, just let everything come to you.
Go for 1-2 minutes at a time with small breaks between.
Curbs and buildings make great rebounders
At one of the facilities we train, there’s a perfect setup waiting for us on rainy days/weeks…
To protect our fields (when too wet) we’ll have players bring indoor/flats for shoes and train on the concrete.
If you haven’t spent much time playing on hard concrete, you’d be surprised how challenging it is…
Dribbling, trapping and passing are all much harder when it comes to controlling the ball. Therefore, you should spend time practicing on this type of surface because it will make you better.
WHY IT’S HARDER:
- Dribbling on concrete is tough because the ball moves faster, making it hard to control. Although, you quickly adjust and show improvement.
- Trapping out of the air is very stimulating because even if your touch is good the ball will continue to bounce, unless you settle it perfectly.
- Passing on the ground will expose you if you can’t connect down the middle of the ball on the correct part of your foot. If you can keep the ball on the concrete and hit the curb vs going over, you’re going to pass better on grass.
Video ⇓ below shows coach Cole training in a closed parking lot.
Passing the ball against a curb is more difficult than you think!
Most players find out rather quickly that if they don’t connect on the equator of the ball it will pop over the curb.
The advantage of being able to pass the ball on the ground is that you will give better passes to your teammates feet, rather than their shin or knees.
Indoor training ideas I use
If you only have 1 rebounder/wall ↓
A rebounder I use at home is this sklz one… Although, I only use the shorter side because I don’t like the bigger side + it takes up more room.
Since I use it in my indoor training studio I put the rebounder against the wall – like this to keep it in place.
For indoor practice it might be harder to use the 2 wall rebounder drills, but you can still get in good work with one.
This rebound net & drill keeps the ball low, which is good for small spaces and give you tons of repetition.
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