Turned TV on and soccer am is on with former premiership footballer Jimmy Bullard showing us how to stop a football being rolled slowly towards you. They passed the ball to him really softly and his reply 'no, on my right foot please' with no attempt to stop the ball because it was on his left foot. Any footballer who cannot or will not kick or stop a football with their weak foot should be cleaning bins as a career. Reminds me of mcfrail almost costing us promotion by refusing to use his right foot
Good point ST. When I first started playing football if you kicked with one foot only, they blew the ball up rock hard, put a football boot on your weak foot and a carpet slipper on the other. It hurt that much kicking with that foot ,you automatically reverted to kicking with your weaker foot. From memory, I honestly can't remember many top players who were not able to control the ball or shoot effectively with either foot.
Down to sports teachers at school. From 8 years old our Sports teacher made all those who normally played with a dominant right foot, play on the left and vice versa. As a result by the age of 11, we had no problem in playing different positions.
Many years ago in Germany, young children in early school were taught to write with their right hand, irrespective of whether they were right- or left-handed. My wife, who's left-handed, still writes perfectly legibly with her wrong (ie. right) hand to this day. It's no longer like that, but it does show that it's possible to learn to control your wrong hand, with practice. I'm sure the same applies to feet.
I am an awful footballer. Absolutely dreadful. But I can pass, shoot and control the ball with both feet. I have absolutely no idea how a professional footballer can't. Forest had a chance against us the other week, their striker opted to hook the ball with the outside of his left foot when using his right would almost certainly resulted in a goal. Instead he missed by 10 yards from 6 yards out.
Errrm, because he was trying to demonstrate how the ball could bobble over his right foot if he tried to control it side on...
Best two footed player I saw for Barnsley during my almost fifty years of watching the reds was Ian Banks
Do balls only bobble over the right foot then? My point stands. If footballers weren't so weak as possible they could do the basic stuff that he was doing with any foot. I know 5 year olds who can put a foot in front of a ball with both feet