Soccer Lesson

Fourteen seasons of soccer. That's me. In all that time, never seemed to be able to kick the ball hard enough to shoot goals well or send the ball a long distance. Yesterday I was reading some soccer tips on the eteamz.com site and I learned something I wish I'd known years ago: curl the toes! Yep, that's right, curl your toes under when you strike the ball and strike it with the "laces" part of the top of your foot. I tried it out with this gizmo I have that is a few feet of nylon rope with a handle on one end and a net that goes around my soccer ball on the other. Hold the handle in one hand and kick the ball and it will come right back. At any rate, the difference between the force of my normal kick and the curled toe kick was amazing! So now, starting season fifteen, I will be the mighty late-bloomer on the field. I like to think of it as mature wisdom. Old man, new kicks.