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Frinkahedron posted:Any tips for avoiding friction blisters? I need to get new socks for sure, mine are pretty ratty and old now, but I'm still breaking in my new boots. Is that something that'll just go away as they break in? I haven't worn a new pair of boots in probably 4 years. Cotton socks are the number one cause for blisters in any shoe, so avoid cotton like grvm says. I usually use a poly/nylon/rayon/whatever blend in the smallest size comfortable. But even better, just this last week I also discovered Band Aid Friction Block, which is pretty drat amazing. It's basically shortening, as far as I can tell. Just rub it on where you usually get blisters and then don't get blisters.
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Jun 7, 2012 03:28
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Lazlow posted:Cotton socks are the number one cause for blisters in any shoe, so avoid cotton like grvm says. I usually use a poly/nylon/rayon/whatever blend in the smallest size comfortable. I'll pick up some nylon socks, but I'll keep this in mind, thanks!
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Jun 7, 2012 03:59
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I've joined up for a amateur division, which is basically just for fun with my fellow students at my uni. Thing is, though, I've always been crap at football. I played it when I was young, but when I started getting called out for being so bad at it, it didn't exactly fuel my interest for the sport. But, thing is, I've never really worked at it. So the last week I've been going to a place nearby with a wall, and have just been taking shots, running with the ball, doing the "1000 Touch Practice" (or atleast some of the excercises) and practice juggling, running with the ball alternating touches with my feet, etc. I just want to know if it's possible to get into an okay playing form when starting in about 2 and a half months? If I practice this poo poo everyday, when can I expect to see improvement? I realize it take alot longer than that to get good, but is it possible to work up decent ballcontrol during one summer? What experience do you guys have with this?
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Jun 7, 2012 11:53
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Frinkahedron posted:Any tips for avoiding friction blisters? I need to get new socks for sure, mine are pretty ratty and old now, but I'm still breaking in my new boots. Is that something that'll just go away as they break in? I haven't worn a new pair of boots in probably 4 years. Also, just put a little bit of tape on each of your nipples to avoid nipple burn.
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Jun 7, 2012 12:17
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Frinkahedron posted:Any tips for avoiding friction blisters? I need to get new socks for sure, mine are pretty ratty and old now, but I'm still breaking in my new boots. Is that something that'll just go away as they break in? I haven't worn a new pair of boots in probably 4 years. Liquid bandage. Play with some good socks at first and when you feel the points where the blisters would form, put some of that poo poo over them before you play. Works like a charm.
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Jun 7, 2012 14:53
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Baibai Kuaikuai posted:I've joined up for a amateur division, which is basically just for fun with my fellow students at my uni. Thing is, though, I've always been crap at football. I played it when I was young, but when I started getting called out for being so bad at it, it didn't exactly fuel my interest for the sport. Of course it's all relative to just how bad you are and how good the other players are in that "just for fun" league, but poo poo, dude, if you practice any of that every day for an entire two and a half months, you'll be fine. If you really do it every day you should see some real improvement in just a few days, I'd think. Meaning: It'll get easier and easier for you every day - whether or not you're doing the moves well (or even correctly at all) is another matter, but as long as you're not having to chase the ball with every single touch and it remains under your control you're okay. Ball control by yourself is not at all like ball control in a game, under pressure, though. Of course the solitary touch practice will help but knowing when to pass, making accurate passes, and your movement/positioning while off the ball only comes with actual playing (or team practice). But if you can receive a pass and move a bit without losing it with your first touch you're light years ahead of some people I've played with. In other news, I played what could've been our last game in my company's intramural 7s tournament. We didn't do so well in the regular season and were seeded low for the playoffs, lost our first game 2-1 and went into the losers bracket. Last night we played the worst team in the group, who had lost every single game - but mainly because all of their players were either injured or didn't show for whatever reason. So last night they had everyone, of course, including subs, while we were short and had to grab a pickup player to play in goal, which meant I FINALLY was able to keep the gloves off and play some outfield. We went down 0-2 by the half, but their goals were flukey tap-ins that resulted from our mistakes rather than any concerted attacking effort on their part. First 10 minutes of the second half we scored 4, the first being a crazy half-volley, off-balance, top-spinning shot by me from just outside the area on the right that went over their goalie and dropped into the far upper corner. I have no idea how I managed that since I was falling backward at the time, but we were stoked. Our strongest midfielder stroked in another a couple minutes later from a rebound off a defender. Our third was a header off a beautifully placed throw-in. The fourth was insanely lucky, it ricocheted off of at least three or four players in the box before we slotted it in. I even managed a fifth about three minutes before the final whistle: Their goalie, who is very good at diving and blocking but quite literally cannot kick the ball with any kind of control whatsoever, caught loose ball and then set it on the ground between him and a defender, assuming the defender would take it and go. Well, the defender assumed the goalie was about to clear it. They both turned their backs on the ball and trotted off in opposite directions, so I sprinted the couple yards to it to have a go. The defender yelled "Uh oh" as I ran past, the goalie heard him in time to turn around and raise his hands and yell "OOOOH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT" at the top of his lungs (he did that a lot, dude's hilarious) and I cranked it hard, it smacked right through his hands and into that same corner I hit earlier. A very nice comeback indeed, and we're through to the next round. AND I don't think they'll put me back in goal again. Sweet. Fake edit: And this weekend I'm playing in a tournament, we have three games on Saturday and at least one on Sunday, possibly two if we do well enough. I'm seriously wondering why I agreed to this, or why any of us thought it would be a good idea. It's in Beaumont, TX. In June.
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Jun 7, 2012 16:32
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britishbornandbread posted:I play two or three nights a week in Manc. interested? Ah, excellent. PM'ed you
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Jun 7, 2012 17:57
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Baibai Kuaikuai posted:I've joined up for a amateur division, which is basically just for fun with my fellow students at my uni. Thing is, though, I've always been crap at football. I played it when I was young, but when I started getting called out for being so bad at it, it didn't exactly fuel my interest for the sport. If you practice everyday, and are as bad as you say, you'll see improvement in a couple of weeks probably. You'll notice in a game you suddenly seem to have a lot more time with the ball as you improve. Also, do some fitness stuff as well
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Jun 7, 2012 19:03
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Argh... no football the week before last due to maintenance, none the week after because it's closed on bank holiday, everyone's cancelled this coming Monday to watch England lose, then the week after I'm on a stag do in Portugal then after that ive got a late meeting and probably won't get back in time... New boots are going to have an inch of dust on them
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Jun 7, 2012 22:08
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stupid question ahoy what type of boots will I need for a usual season of eleven a side English winter? soft ground or firm ground?
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Jun 8, 2012 10:13
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britishbornandbread posted:stupid question ahoy Both. Soft ground to start, then firm once it freezes.  More seriously, you'll probably want to start with firm, then go to soft as the pitches deteriorate. If you only can get one pair of boots, try and get ones with replacable (screw-in) studs. Replacable studs suck (buy extra studs), but they suck less than trying to play on a rock-hard pitch in long studs. Alternatively if you can't get replacable studs and can only afford one pair of boots, I'd go with firm-ground boots since playing in soft muck in short studs is less likely to lead to a broken ankle than playing on rock-hard ground in long studs. Or - ask your teammates, they'll know how quickly your pitches go to poo poo. If you have two games on decent pitches then 20 in pig-wallows then long studs may be a better choice.
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Jun 9, 2012 05:27
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thanks for the reply Thel would these do a job? http://www.sportsdirect.com/umbro-speciali-sg-mens-football-boots-199013?colcode=19901340
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Jun 9, 2012 10:31
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In the northwest you can probably get away with just soft ground boots considering the amount of rain you get. Those should be fine, but I would still try to get some FG boots if you can find any on sale or if a teammate is willing to sell a spare pair, just for the odd game where the pitch is dried out. As for position, with your height you'll be expected to play centre back or target man, if you can't head accurately then more towards centre back but you'll still need to be able to get your head on the ball for clearances. Accuracy doesn't matter too much. If you're fit and half decent with the ball at your feet then centre midfield might be better but you need good understanding of tactics and positioning to play there well. Baibai Kuaikuai posted:I've joined up for a amateur division, which is basically just for fun with my fellow students at my uni. Thing is, though, I've always been crap at football. I played it when I was young, but when I started getting called out for being so bad at it, it didn't exactly fuel my interest for the sport. With some practice you'll probably learn to control the ball and pass half decently, but you'll probably struggle a lot to do the same under pressure in a match. To accomplish anything under pressure you need to be good enough at it that you can do it without thinking or concentrating. To that end, practice as much as possible without looking directly at the ball - dribbling with your head up, playing sidefoot passes looking at your target rather than the ball. Proper technique for using your laces has you looking at the ball anyway so it's not as relevant for shooting with power, but being able to make a basic pass while under pressure will make you far more effective on its own than anything else.
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Jun 9, 2012 12:51
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Goddamn, we lost 4-3 yesterday after our defence gave away two ridculous goals. On the brightside I shoulder tackled one of their attackers with all my strenght and the little dude couldn't get up.
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Jun 9, 2012 19:33
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Scikar posted:With some practice you'll probably learn to control the ball and pass half decently, but you'll probably struggle a lot to do the same under pressure in a match. To accomplish anything under pressure you need to be good enough at it that you can do it without thinking or concentrating. To that end, practice as much as possible without looking directly at the ball - dribbling with your head up, playing sidefoot passes looking at your target rather than the ball. Proper technique for using your laces has you looking at the ball anyway so it's not as relevant for shooting with power, but being able to make a basic pass while under pressure will make you far more effective on its own than anything else. The position I want to be able to play would be midfield, though I was a defender when I was kid. I'm not a tall, imposing guy, so I don't feel like I can do a good job defending. What kind of abilities does one need as a midfielder? I guess ball control and being able to pass decently is key, but like you said Scikar, if you need a good understanding of tactics and positioning, then midfield is sort of out, unless that's something you can read up on. How much understand of tactics is really necessary in a superlow divison?
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Jun 10, 2012 22:06
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Positional sense is key for most midfield play. Unfortunately, the only way to get that is to actually play regularly. At the moment I'd recommend you try and get as fit as possible - if your positioning and technique are poo poo, maybe you can make up for it with work-rate in a bad league. Being able to get through a game without spending half of it loafing around with your hands on hips will make you stand out in a lot of leagues.
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Jun 10, 2012 23:21
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Don't worry too much about learning a position right now either. Play in a few positions for a while and let yourself discover where you feel most comfortable. This might take some time, but being willing to play anywhere isn't a bad thing, and learning different positions will give you new insights into how the game moves.
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Jun 10, 2012 23:40
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Baibai Kuaikuai posted:Thanks for the tips guys, everything is useful to know! I've been working at mostly just getting used to having the ball at my feet, some shooting and some juggling. I'm still very much crap, and I mean absolutely terrible, but hopefully through the summer things will get abit better. I figure things can't get much worse, anyhow. Well it's not the end of the world if your positioning is a bit suspect, but it makes a big difference in how effective you are in midfield. If you're great at passing but you're never in space to receive the ball, then your ability is wasted. If you're a great tackler and almost impossible to get past, then that isn't much good if you get caught too high up the pitch and the opposition just pass it around you. All that said there's only one way to learn, and playing as a defensive midfielder is useful for that because all you need to concentrate on is the space in front of your defence. You don't have to worry about the offside line, you don't have to worry about making clever runs, and as mentioned if your fitness is good you'll be able to compensate for poor positioning with work rate. In a lower league it tends to come down to individual battles anyway so if you just identify their best attacking midfielder and shadow him you're halfway to doing your job already. Your manager/captain should be able to give you some specifics on what he wants you to do anyway, or at least he should. Sadly a lot of lower league managers seem to expect players to automatically understand their role even though the same position can be played very differently depending on the system. If you're paired alongside someone with more experience they should be able to keep you right.
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Jun 11, 2012 00:43
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I finally found a team to play on for my stay in Minneapolis. I'll be splitting time with another keeper and playing field the rest of the time. We had a scrimmage last night where I played forward, which quickly devolved into "lump it to the big guy (me)". Fortunately, I am not Andrew "Andy" Carroll. Perhaps more fortunately, the opposition center backs were both about 5'9". Strangely, it sounds like I might end up playing right back, which is entirely new to me. I don't think I've ever seen a guy my size (6'3", 210) play right back before.
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Jun 11, 2012 23:43
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Bobby Digital posted:I finally found a team to play on for my stay in Minneapolis. I'll be splitting time with another keeper and playing field the rest of the time. We had a scrimmage last night where I played forward, which quickly devolved into "lump it to the big guy (me)". Fortunately, I am not Andrew "Andy" Carroll. Perhaps more fortunately, the opposition center backs were both about 5'9". I played right back in high school/college and I'm 6'4", and at the time (ahem) I was a gangly 195 pounds. Your big stride will help you, but short attackers are a nightmare to deal with.
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Jun 12, 2012 03:56
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Baibai Kuaikuai posted:The position I want to be able to play would be midfield, though I was a defender when I was kid. I'm not a tall, imposing guy, so I don't feel like I can do a good job defending. Height is not necessarily required in defense. I'm 5'6" and I've found left back is where I'm most effective. I play more of a wingback, which requires speed and stamina more than height (Dani Alves and Patrice Evra are 5'8", Philipp Lahm is 5'7"), and those are easy abilities to develop. If you're set on midfield, you'll probably be more effective on the wings than in the center. As others have said, play with other people as often as possible. Listen to your teammates on the pitch. In either defensive midfield or defense, positional awareness and containment are key. Just stay between the attackers and the goal, don't lunge or over-commit, and while you're still working on your ball control, you can just hoof it away as far up-field as possible in the meantime.
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Jun 12, 2012 04:33
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I want to play football but I'm a fatty and afraid none of the local mini league teams will accept me 
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Jun 12, 2012 04:35
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nolifefriendshope posted:I want to play football but I'm a fatty and afraid none of the local mini league teams will accept me Every team needs a left back.
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Jun 12, 2012 04:48
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Ras Het posted:Every team needs a left back. I was thinking goalie.
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Jun 12, 2012 05:07
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nolifefriendshope posted:I was thinking goalie. One of the teams in my league used their big fatty as a center forward to just freight train his way through the opposition. They lost every game and finished the 10 game season with a GD of -33. nolifefriendshope, don't play center forward.
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Jun 12, 2012 09:20
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Played a tournament this past weekend, three matches on Saturday and one on Sunday. 'Twas brutal. Played forward all weekend and only managed to win one, but it was a nice one (and the losses were close, too, so we didn't totally suck). My first touch of that one win was a goal - perfect pass from the left wing set up a side-footed shot that nutmegged the keeper. Gotta love those. Had another one a little while later, he managed to get his hands behind my first shot but it rebounded back directly in front of me so I buried it. Was really hating the scoring limit for guys (coed league rules) that game, I had at least two more chances after that but had to either hold up or look for a pass. Pro tip: Always bring extra gear to out-of-town tournaments, because some rear end in a top hat will invariably forget his entire kit and have to buy new boots, socks, etc. the day of. Dumbass.
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Jun 12, 2012 16:18
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Lazlow posted:
this. i always have an extra pair of shin guards/socks on me. as well as a light/dark shirt. people are always forgetting their poo poo. especially the shin guards if you have extra gear for a person who forget theirs, you're a hero
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Jun 14, 2012 11:07
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woo, finally won my indoor league. been playing there for 2 years and lost in the final 3 times prior. feels good, man!
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Jun 15, 2012 10:05
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Bobby Digital posted:
I'm about the same size and don't really feel comfortable anywhere except for center back or target man. GravityDaemon posted:Your big stride will help you, but short attackers are a nightmare to deal with. This, pretty much.
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Jun 15, 2012 20:36
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nolifefriendshope posted:I want to play football but I'm a fatty Some of the best guys on the league I play on are overweight
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Jun 15, 2012 20:39
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nolifefriendshope posted:I want to play football but I'm a fatty and afraid none of the local mini league teams will accept me How else are you going to fix that? I played a pickup game and 10 minutes in I was WIPED. It was great.
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Jun 16, 2012 04:17
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nolifefriendshope posted:I want to play football but I'm a fatty and afraid none of the local mini league teams will accept me The absolute without question best person in my league is a 5'2" guy who has to weigh in at like 180-200. Dude can't run for poo poo, but my god he can deke anyone and shoot from 30 yards like a boss. Point is, you don't need to be super in shape (although it sure does help) unless you have some boss as gently caress skillz. Also, I bet there's a lower friendly division that is open to completely new people coming in. I had never even touched a soccer ball 2 years ago. Thanks to that league I think I can at least hold my own in rec leagues.
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Jun 16, 2012 04:29
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Bobby Digital posted:Strangely, it sounds like I might end up playing right back, which is entirely new to me. I don't think I've ever seen a guy my size (6'3", 210) play right back before. I'm a little shorter than you guys and a little heavier (6'1, 215-220) and I'm not comfortable in the middle. I like to play on the right wing, despite being literally the slowest person ever I'm quite effective there. I have seriously zero pace, so many injuries over the past 3-4 years have killed my game. I used to be a good CB, competent defensive mid, and I filled in at RB pretty regularly. The key was to not ever step in on those short quick guys, you have to force them to make a move and if their move works, uh, foul them. Make sure they're outside the box though. That was my tactic at least, people didn't like it (including on my own team) but I'll be damned if it didn't save my team a points more than once. Sadly I've become entirely to slow and have become a liability in the back line. fake edit: oh yeah, if you're league is anything like the ones I've played in you're going to be left in a lot of 2/3 on ones from the wing. I'd never step on those, in fact I'd never even pressure unless they'd try to cut in. Your goal is to slow down the attack in that situation and let your support get back. And when they don't get back because they're lazy shits your new job is to berate them. I swear 80% of what I had to do as captain was shout until my players tracked back. Also, don't commit to far forward, most goals in my leagues happen when defenders surge to far forward and leave huge space for an easy ball through.
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Jun 16, 2012 05:00
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Sigh, my team which is 8-1 this year and dominating has been enveloped by a racism problem. A player whose brother is captain was (allegedly) racially abused and now it looks since the club can't prove it and disciplinesince since the other player (since nobody heard it) is denying it. I really don't want to change team again, especially when we're so successful. Stupid politics...
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Jun 16, 2012 07:43
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Pretty bummed at the moment since I should have played a cool tournament this weekend, but I got a fever on tuesday and had the flu since then. It got better on Friday but there's no way I could play today. There will be a huge BBQ afterwards and free beer for every player. 
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Jun 16, 2012 10:25
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Played in a bog today, they switched grounds because the original one was too poo poo to play on. It must've been pretty bad because this one was loving diabolical. I hit a pass that would've gone 30 yards on a dry day, but it whomped into a puddle and stopped after 10 yards (right in front of one of their dudes). Also we had an amazingly poo poo penalty called against us, one of our guys slid in, won the ball then collected their guy (remember, playing on a soggy pitch, so any slide tackle is a long-term affair) and the ref (from their team) called a penalty from halfway. Div 15 football. 
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Jun 16, 2012 10:31
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Brandy Alexander posted:Some of the best guys on the league I play on are overweight There's a guy who plays in our league who is huge, he plays the game holding an inhaler the entire time and we all call him Bale. His close control and his positioning are great, he's great at getting his head to stuff too, hes better than well over half of the people there. So don't let having a few extra kg's (metric supremacy) put you off.
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Jun 16, 2012 10:38
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Also I haven't played for 4 weeks due to the resurfacing of the pitch, bank holidays, meetings and this Monday coming im in Portugal for a stag do so it'll be nice to actually play a game.
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Jun 16, 2012 10:39
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You should call him Bane imo.
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Jun 16, 2012 10:39
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Bain-marie maybe.
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Jun 16, 2012 10:46
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