April 2, 2020

Ball Games To Play At Home

Everyone involved in sport needs to keep maintaining and improving their skills. Here at Intersport Elverys, we’ve a number of ideas that everyone can do at home. We’ve taken some inspiration from some of the fantastic posts we’ve seen online. Take a look below and see is there anything you’d like to try. *Disclaimer: we do not take responsibility for any damage caused in the attempting of these activities! 🙂

Football

Anyone who plays football needs to work on their basic skills. We have a few ideas below for footballers of all skill levels.

Keepie Uppies: The easiest of them all. Try to keep the ball from hitting the ground by repeatedly kicking it, kneeing it or heading it. Count how many you do and try and beat your record. (By the way, the world record is someone keep the ball up for 26 hours.)

Ball Control Course: Set up a couple of obstacles (cones, bottles etc.) a few feet apart. Dribble the ball zig-zag between the obstacles, keeping the ball under control. The better you get, the quicker you should be able to go.

Shooting practice: We recommend you definitely do this one in the garden. Put a bin, bucket or a target about 20 meters away and try to hit it. To make things harder, try to get the ball into the bin if possible.

The Maradona Seven: This is a hard one, made famous by Diego Maradona. Start by kicking the ball from one foot to the other, then to your knees (one to the other), then knee the ball up to your shoulders (one and then the other) and finally finish with a header. You should only touch the ball 7 times in the process i.e. left foot, right foot, left knee, right knee, left shoulder, right should and finish with a header. Good luck.

Gaelic Football

We’ll take some inspiration from some of the great content already out there from some of the best players in the country.

Hand passing: Stand 2 meters away from a wall, get the timer on 30 seconds and pass the ball to the wall as many times as possible in the 30 seconds. Keep trying to break your record.

Kick passing: Similar to the hand passing, stand 5 meters away from the walk. Set the times to 30 seconds and see how may kick passes you can do in that time. All these drills will improve skill sets and hand eye coordination.

Target practice: Place a bottle 20 meters away on top of a bin or wall, and try to hit it with the ball. This will improve kick passing and shooting.

Fielding: Out in an open space, kick or throw the ball in the air and catch it over your head. This will keep fielding skills sharp.

Hurling

Our hurling skills are the same as our Gaelic football ones, just readjusted.

Hand passing: Stand 2 meters away from a wall, get the timer on 30 seconds and pass the ball to the wall as many times as possible in the 30 seconds. Keep trying to break your record.

Puck passing: Similar to the hand passing, stand 5 meters away from the walk. Set the times to 30 seconds and see how may puck passes you can do in that time. All these drills will improve skill sets and hand eye coordination.

Target practice: Place a bottle 20 meters away on top of a bin or wall, and try to hit it with the ball. This will improve passing and shooting.

Fielding: Out in an open space, throw or puck the ball in the air and catch it over your head. This will keep fielding skills sharp.

Rugby

There are a lot of simple rugby drills that can be set up at home. Here are a few ideas.

Passing: This is better done with two people from your own household. Stand 5 meters away from one another. Set the clock to 30 seconds. Pass the ball over and back as many times as ye can in that time. Try it a few times and see what’s the highest score you can get.

Target practice: Place a bottle on the ground, on a wall or on a bin outside. Stand back and attempt to knock it. Once you hit it move back to a further distance and try to hit it again. Keep doing this, as it will improve passing range and accuracy.

Obstacles: Speed and footwork are vital in rugby. Set up 10 cones, sticks or bottles and zig-zag through them without knocking any. If you have hurdles of any type, use these to improve your jumping and quick feet. Have a ball in hand while doing this.

Pick ups: If you have a garden, roll the ball on front of you, sprint towards the ball and pick it up at pace. This could come in handy in future.

Basketball and American Football

There may be some American sports fans reading this. If anyone has a basketball hoop, see how many shots in a row you can get from 5 meters, then 10 meters, then 15 meters. Keep trying to beat your record. You can use the basketball hoop with an American football also. Try and get the ball into the hoop from as far away as you can. Let us know your record.

Accuracy Equipment

If you do not want to use walls and bins for your target practice, we do have goals and re-bounders, which are ideal for all of the above activities. Check them out HERE on our website.

If you do try any if these skills, why not video it, post it on social media and tag Intersport Elverys. We will give a prize for the best one. All these activities will help keep people active, while improving their skills and hand-eye coordination. Take a look at our website, to find a wide range of balls and much more HERE.