Even at the professional level of football, there are players who are afraid to use their weaker feet. It is maddening as a viewer as professional players should be able to use both feet, right? Yet, there are those who cannot cross the ball with their left or right feet since they are the weaker foot.

So, how can you strengthen your weaker foot making you more confident of using it in a game?

1. Weaker foot juggling

Ball juggling is one of the best to make your non-dominant foot stronger. The quickest way to begin working on your weak foot is by tossing the ball onto the floor, letting it bounce and kicking it up using your laces. Practising this for five minutes and increasing the time gradually will help make you foot stronger.

2. Ball control and dribbling

Now that you have got your ball juggling practise finished, let’s work on ball control. Set up a dribbling course with cones. Start out using your non-dominant foot at a slow pace and gradually building up speed. Attempt to use all parts of the weaker peg including the sole, instep, outside and top of the foot. As you get more comfortable dribbling the course, put the cones closer together making it more difficult to dribble through them.

3. Passing and control

If you have a partner to practise passing with, then you can easily work on passing and controlling with your weaker foot. However, you may not have the luxury of another player. So, find a hard surface such as a wall and play easy passes with the inside of your non-dominant foot off the wall. Receive the ball with your weak foot and continue playing passes with it. This will make the foot stronger and improve your mental awareness of using it in games. You can also practise trapping the ball with your weak foot by tossing it up into the air letting it bounce once then trapping it. You can vary the speed and bounce height as you improve your trapping.

4. Shooting

During your weak foot practise sessions, you should finish with shooting as the other drills will improve and prepare your non-dominant foot to take shots. Simply set up a target for this drill. A small goal would be ideal, but you may need to use a cone or something else as a target. Take laces shots at the target to build accuracy and power. You can alternate with instep and outside of the foot shots as you build accuracy and power on the ball.

If you need to improve your weaker foot, look no further than these drills to help you.