The Jimmy Ball

The Jimmy Ball
by Kevin Farley


Recently a parent was speaking to me and asked me a question. The parent said, “Coach, I know you have a career that has spanned over various levels of soccer, so I have a question for you.” The the parent asked, “What are some of the common themes that you used at each of those levels?”

Great question.


Having coached at the youth, club, high school and college, several thoughts came to mind.


However, the first thing that came to mind is very simple. Nothing is a better teacher or coach than a soccer player getting more touches on the ball. At every level, a soccer player is going to improve more when they touch the ball 5,000 times than when they touch the ball 50 times.


This simple thought is what makes The Jimmy Ball such a great soccer training tool for soccer players at all levels.


There are many training balls (on a chord) out there these days. There are training balls where the players hold the chord in their hands. There are training balls where the players attach the chord around their waste. Then there is The Jimmy Ball.


The Jimmy Ball connects around the shoulders. Having the connection around the shoulders allows natural arm and body movement.


This quick story is just one of many that could be shared about The Jimmy Ball...


A close friend of mine has a five-year-old boy who is just getting into soccer.  The family are avid soccer fans. So, obviously, they are introducing him to soccer. For a couple of weeks, they took the little boy into the backyard to play “kick” with him.  Each time they did this, the boy would attempt to kick the ball about five time before he would depart his “training” and head for the swing set.


One evening, while sitting on their back “Partio”, they asked for my help. “Coach, do you have any tricks that would help our grandson to learn soccer? He just doesn’t seem interested.”  Without hesitation, and without saying a word, I marched out to my Jeep and grabbed The Jimmy Ball.  The little boys eyes lit up because he was curious. Then I adjusted it and helped connect it around the little boys shoulders. He spent the next 35 minutes kicking the ball before heading into the house.


Not only did he “kick” the ball hundreds of times the first time he tried The Jimmy Ball...but, he was still wearing the ball when he went into the house. The grandparents were very surprised and happy.


The great thing about The Jimmy Ball is that it’s a great training aid at all levels. It’s all about getting touches on the ball.

The less time you spend chasing...the more time you spend touching.

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