How can I practise football at home?

What can you practise about a movement before performing it on the pitch again?

A pass begins with more than contact with the ball. You perceive a situation, make a decision and prepare a movement. This article on mental training asks how you can also rehearse such sequences in your imagination.

The examples make the approach tangible: picture a match situation, describe the movement and pay attention to important details. This adds a question to your training plan: which specific action would you like to understand more clearly and then test in practice?

Even when you cannot train actively, you can still improve your football performance. Use the power of imagination: mental training lets you prepare movements and game situations deliberately and deepen your work on the pitch. What do you need to do? Simply imagine that you are training — in your mind!

Mental training improves sporting performance

How is this possible? Vividly imagining a movement engages processes of movement planning and control that also play a role in performing it. Renowned surgeons, pilots, elite athletes and even the US military use this technique to improve performance. World-famous golf coach Alex Morrison developed a mental training programme based on visualisation. People who vividly imagine playing golf achieve significantly better results in the actual game. Many sport psychologists confirm the value of mental exercises. Elite athletes use these internal sequences to prepare movements, decisions and competition situations.

How does mental training work?

Imagine your training as vividly as possible, as though it were really happening. Include every sense. Close your eyes and visualise your movements, such as a pass or shot, in as much detail as possible. Mentally place yourself on the pitch and feel the movements throughout your body. Imagine the effort realistically. If you visualise strength training, for example, imagine how heavy the weights are and make an effort. That is how you can mentally prepare a movement sequence.

Mental training in an experiment

In 2016, Tony Kay of the University of Northampton investigated mental muscle training for Michael Mosley’s BBC programme “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor”. Seven previously inactive volunteers over 50 imagined targeted muscle contractions over four weeks. Audio guidance supported their home practice. The example illustrates the idea that mental preparation can also train the control of a movement.

A published study by Ranganathan and colleagues supplies specific measurements: 30 healthy young adults participated in a twelve-week experiment. In the mental-training groups, measured strength increased by 35 per cent for the finger movement studied and by 13.5 per cent for elbow flexion. The results show the potential of targeted imagery for those strength tasks and provide a good reason to combine mental practice consciously with physical training.

Who is mental training suitable for?

There are many further studies on this subject. Mental training is ideal when you temporarily cannot train, or as a complement to regular training to optimise results. We recommend exploring the subject more deeply. This particular resource can explain exactly how to improve performance through the power of the mind:

20. Choose role models and compete — above all, with yourself!

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