Finishing / Shooting / Scoring

[smithxi]

I'm really good at getting around people. I can make moves on 90% of the people on the field all day long. I can even get myself in the perfect position for a shot after deeking a few people. my problem is finishing. i keep telling myself i need these lightweight shoes to perform better, but i don't know or believe if i do. it just feels like i'm missing that extra step to hit that ball correctly into goal. i'm pretty small so the shoe thing keeps running through my head. do you guys think the shoes will make a difference or do you simply think i need to practice at finishing/shooting? Gimme some ideas here. I'm tired of dominating the field and not getting the goal. Running around people isn't fun without the goal. Here are my stats...

height - 5'6''
weight - 130
current shoes - copa's and world cups.

just tell me the truth. will shoes make a difference? or do i need to improve?

[Dizzee Wahil]

***K NO!!!

Dont use shoes as an excuse. Cant stand that, just practice.

[Dizzee Wahil]

Besides Copas r very light as it is

[smithxi]

shit, hardly. i'm about to swap the studs in my world cups for these real thin long aluminum ones. i figure i'll loose a couple ounces. i wanna find a friend who has a pair and try his, see how i like em, and then decide. the ones i bought and returned to the store hurt my feet really bad, so it was hard to say, but i'd say i got a pretty good feel for the ball. maybe not as good as a k-leather shoe, but pretty dang good. (vapors)

plus if nike's claim is true, then i'll be a foot and a half ahead of the people. man plus i'm small so it might benefit even more.

[Hollister_13]

I had the same thing going through my mind too. I play striker and the start of my season wasn't what I planned it to be, (and my old Predators were giving me blisters) so I resorted to setting my mind on getting the Vapors. I always told myself I would be faster, and all that other good stuff. But to tell you the truth, it takes a while to get used to the Vapors. My first shots were almost always WAY over the goal and sometimes my passes were 5 feet off. But after a while, I got used to them and they are perfectly fine. (except for the fact that I didn't really sense myself faster) Every 50-50 ball I had, I reread in my mind the little pamphlet that comes with the boots. "...1 foot and a half faster on a 40 m course. Yeah, only small numbers, but when you have your next 50-50 ball, we're giving it to you." And everytime I would win the ball. :D :D :D BUT!!! I've just gotten used to lace shots and my Vapor shots are weak usually, but I have a pair of AZ 90 III Turf shoes, (I had no idea about all this soccer shoe stuff then, plus I was in Paris, or I would have gotten the AZT 90 III's) and those have a PERFECT lace shot. I was amazed by it. This is an awkward way to end this but, I have nothing more to say.

[smithxi]

so basically you're saying get em and over time they pay off.

[Hollister_13]

Well, yes... I would rate them a 8 out of 10 on all over traits. It's hard to explain. They are good, but they have downsides. Look at all the pros who were them, (even though they might be payed to wear them, they still are amazing) just to name a few: Donovan, Ronaldo... (ok, ok, maybe I don't know all of their names, but every game I've watched on T.V., I always see at least 3 guys wearing them) I haven't ACTUALLY seen Ronaldo play live, but Donovan takes all the corner kicks and has an amazing curve. (even thought he doesn't have Predator vamps :D ) I don't know really what to say... it's up to you I guess.

I have to the burnt orange ones :D

[Rema]

Predator vamps do nothing for curve - it's your OWN skill that helps to curve a ball. Same with any other boot. If you can't shoot, getting a pair of boots will NOT help you.

You need to just get out there and practice. For some reason I have the similar mindset you have because I was scoring more goals last year than I was this year. But I KNOW it's just a whole confidence issue and now that I have this mindset it's just really screwing me up. Just get out and practice. For example, in about 1 hour I have an individual session with my coach and a few others because I wanted to actually work on my finishing and 1v1 because i'm not happy with it at all this year. Make the effort to go practice, don't waste money on new boots (ESPECIALLY when you have a great pair already like the copas).

[Dizzee Wahil]

Think about this, when Pele was young did he go out and buy every single pair of new boots that every claimed they were the newest greatest phenomenom? ***K NO! He juggled a grapefruit barefoot. Do you think the kids in the French Ghettos went oooh and ahhh when Zidane rocked up with new flash new boots? NO! Coz he never did, coz if you wanna get to the top its not about the shoes you wear.

I'm so sick of ppl on this forum thinking about boots 24/7!

I know they're nice to have, and I too get that urge to buy new ones, but u hafta get over it.

[Hollister_13]

Hey Dizzee, not to start a commotion or (semi-relationship), but can YOU curve a soccer ball with flip-flops on? Or would you rather prefer some normal soccer boots? Same thing except some 40 dollar Pulsados are the flip-flops and the 200 dollar Pulses are the boots.

[Rema]

Hey Dizzee, not to start a commotion or (semi-relationship), but can YOU curve a soccer ball with flip-flops on? Or would you rather prefer some normal soccer boots? Same thing except some 40 dollar Pulsados are the flip-flops and the 200 dollar Pulses are the boots.

I can curve a soccer ball barefoot... it's not exactly a hard thing to do IMO.

Dizzee, I thought he juggled oranges? In any case, same argument applies. But I must say, if you're sick of seeing these posts, simple solution don't open the thread :p.

[SaberWolf]

I'm so sick of ppl on this forum thinking about boots 24/7!
Thats like going into war and saying you're sick of hearing about guns. The gun does effect how accurate the person is, but a good marksmen, adjusts to any gun! Just some things to think about...

:cool:

[Dizzee Wahil]

Good point Rema but, Thread Title: "Finishing / Shooting / Scoring".

Hollister, no commotion started. But to say
40 dollar Pulsados are the flip-flops and the 200 dollar Pulses are the boots
is a bit farfetched. The difference between the 200 dollar and 40 dollar version of boots is minimal and neglectable. The only real difference is wear and tear plus a few oz hear and there.

The point I'm tryin to communicate is time spent training would benefit much more than time spent thinking about boots.

[Hollister_13]

LOL, sorry Dizz. I always do that when I'm trying to prove points. I can never come up with something as clever as Sabey's so I go WAAAAAY too farfetched all the time.

Hey Rema, could you help me out on curving barefoot? And maybe curving in particular?

[SaberWolf]

Hollister, your post was the one that inspired me to write what I did...But for curving put your planting foot right beside the ball.

[LABANE]

I agree

[Hollister_13]

Hollister, your post was the one that inspired me to write what I did... That's touching... :'(

[Rema]

Hey Rema, could you help me out on curving barefoot? And maybe curving in particular?

When I curve, I connect with an area near my bigtoe.. I guess i'd say it's my lower instep. It's sort of on the top/sort of on the side of my foot. Really hard to describe where it is :p. Erm, here: http://www.footcaredirect.com/images/anatfoot.jpg. If you look at that picture, it'd be the connecting at the big outer bone just above the "joint" on the top photo. Ok, with me there I hope! I also run at the ball at an angle when I connect so i'm whipping my leg "around" the ball when I connect and not going straight through it. I think it's important to not run straight onto it. Maybe when you're first starting you could make an exaggerated angled run (possibly even making a 90degree angle between you, the ball, and the net). And as for the plant foot - that just really determines the height i'd say. Closer or beside will keep it lower. A bit behind and it will go higher. So, that's all difficult to explain but I feel that when I curve, it's all about how I connect and the angle from which I came to the ball at. Sorry if that wasn't helpful at all :D.