Soccer Training Wall Drills to Boost Your Skills in Just 15 Minutes Daily
You know, I was watching a post-game interview the other day where a professional athlete said something that really stuck with me. It was something like: "Give credit to the other team. Rain or Shine is a good team, has a good coach. I think we lost to a better team. But there's no excuse. We have to be better. I have to be better. However painful it may sound, we will learn from this experience." That mindset – taking ownership of your development regardless of circumstances – is exactly what separates good players from great ones. And honestly, that's the same attitude I adopted when I started incorporating soccer training wall drills into my daily routine. The beauty of these drills is that they don't require a partner, a fancy facility, or even good weather – just you, a ball, and any solid wall. I'm convinced that committing to just 15 minutes daily with these soccer training wall drills can transform fundamental aspects of your game faster than you might think.
When I first started, I thought it sounded almost too simple to be effective. But let me walk you through how I structure my sessions. I always begin with the basics: passing and receiving. Stand about five yards from the wall and pass the ball firmly against it with the inside of your foot. The key here isn't just to kick it mindlessly; focus on controlling the return with one touch, settling it, and then playing it back with a clean, accurate pass. I try to do this for a solid three minutes with my right foot, then switch to my left for another three. It’s monotonous, I won’t lie, but the muscle memory you build is incredible. After a few weeks of this, my first touch in actual games became noticeably softer and more reliable. The ball just seems to stick to my feet now in a way it never did before. I remember thinking after one particularly frustrating game where my touch let me down – there are no excuses, I have to be better. And this drill was my first step toward fixing that specific weakness.
Then I move on to volleys, which is where things get more dynamic and, frankly, more fun. I start by tossing the ball up in front of me and striking the volley against the wall before it bounces. I work on both my instep for power and the inside of my foot for accuracy and direction. I'll do ten with my right foot, ten with my left, and then mix in some half-volleys where you strike the ball just after it bounces. This part of the session is crucial for improving your timing and coordination. It’s not about brute force; it's about connecting cleanly. I probably look a bit silly to any neighbors watching, but the improvement in my aerial control has been worth every awkward moment. I'd estimate my success rate on connecting cleanly with volleys has gone from a shaky 40% to a confident 75% in about two months of consistent practice.
The third part of my routine is all about turning under pressure. This one is my personal favorite because it directly translates to in-game situations. I pass the ball firmly against the wall, but instead of receiving it straight on, I let it come across my body and use the sole of my foot or the inside of my foot to roll away from an imaginary defender before passing it back. I practice turning to both the left and the right. This drill teaches you to shield the ball and change direction quickly – a skill that's saved me countless times in tight midfield spaces. I spend about four minutes on this, and I always try to visualize a real opponent. It makes the drill feel less like a solo exercise and more like a real game scenario. It’s in these moments I remember that painful lessons on the field are just opportunities to learn, and this drill is my way of ensuring I carry those lessons over to the next match.
A couple of things to watch out for: first, pace yourself. When I began, I was so eager I’d go full power for the entire 15 minutes and be exhausted. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. The goal is consistent, quality reps. Second, mix up the distances. Don't just stand at five yards. Sometimes I move back to ten yards to work on longer passing power, and sometimes I move in to two yards for quick, one-touch passing that sharpens your reflexes. And finally, listen to your body. If your touch is off on a particular day, don't get frustrated. Just like the athlete in that interview acknowledged a better opponent, acknowledge that some days the wall might feel like a better player, and that's okay. The point is to show up and put in the work.
So, if you feel like your game has plateaued or you're making excuses for your performance, I can't recommend these soccer training wall drills enough. They have been the single most effective tool for my own development. That 15-minute daily investment is a small price to pay for the dramatic boost in technical skills you'll see. It’s a humble, focused practice that forces you to take ownership of your progress, with no one else to blame or credit. Just you, a ball, a wall, and the determination to be better.
We are shifting fundamentally from historically being a take, make and dispose organisation to an avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle organisation whilst regenerating to reduce our environmental impact. We see significant potential in this space for our operations and for our industry, not only to reduce waste and improve resource use efficiency, but to transform our view of the finite resources in our care.
Looking to the Future
By 2022, we will establish a pilot for circularity at our Goonoo feedlot that builds on our current initiatives in water, manure and local sourcing. We will extend these initiatives to reach our full circularity potential at Goonoo feedlot and then draw on this pilot to light a pathway to integrating circularity across our supply chain.
The quality of our product and ongoing health of our business is intrinsically linked to healthy and functioning ecosystems. We recognise our potential to play our part in reversing the decline in biodiversity, building soil health and protecting key ecosystems in our care. This theme extends on the core initiatives and practices already embedded in our business including our sustainable stocking strategy and our long-standing best practice Rangelands Management program, to a more a holistic approach to our landscape.
We are the custodians of a significant natural asset that extends across 6.4 million hectares in some of the most remote parts of Australia. Building a strong foundation of condition assessment will be fundamental to mapping out a successful pathway to improving the health of the landscape and to drive growth in the value of our Natural Capital.
Our Commitment
We will work with Accounting for Nature to develop a scientifically robust and certifiable framework to measure and report on the condition of natural capital, including biodiversity, across AACo’s assets by 2023. We will apply that framework to baseline priority assets by 2024.
Looking to the Future
By 2030 we will improve landscape and soil health by increasing the percentage of our estate achieving greater than 50% persistent groundcover with regional targets of:
– Savannah and Tropics – 90% of land achieving >50% cover
– Sub-tropics – 80% of land achieving >50% perennial cover
– Grasslands – 80% of land achieving >50% cover
– Desert country – 60% of land achieving >50% cover
