You want to make it as a pro player? Be ready to sweat, be ready to give everything, prepare to be ALL IN. The life of a young soccer player is and MUST be dictated by the needs of the game. Attend numerous team trainings, commit to individual sessions, rest when others have fun, deal with pressure,.. it takes a lot when you’re young to get that discipline !
In the light of what I’ve said, I will very briefly introduce you a study on Practice instruction and skill acquisition that was presented during the World Congress on Science and Soccer in Japan. The authors of the presentation are Williams and Mark.
They outlined the importance of practice in Elite player development. For example, Elite players from England Soccer academies have, by the age of 16, already accumulated around 7000 hours of practice.
Now let’s see the practice history of a 16 year old player member of an elite academy and on a path to become a professional:
Here you have a strong fact saying that it’s not enough to have a dream. 18 hours a week. More than 2 hours and a half EACH DAY. It takes a lot of dedication and time to get a shot at the professional level.
And once again, skills are acquired. It’s the practice that makes the player !
Take a look at the whole presentation:
Prosoccerway 