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8 Underground Tips to Become a Professional Soccer Player

1/8/2017

2 Comments

 
I was recently asked by the father of a soccer player, how could his son make the most of his training, and it catalized this list of my top ideas about starting out a pro career as a young Canadian (or american). Check it out!
Hi Zak,

My son Jonathan and I had a nice chat with you at Paul A's Whisky boot tournament over the holidays. You were relating some of your stories of playing in Germany, Australia and Brazil. My son is keen to take it as far as he can in soccer and so would love to know more about how you trained to be able to play at that level. 

Thanks,

Paul
Here's my best response:

​1. Training + Player Development | Become Elite

This is the basics. Train hard. This guy in the video has a journey + philosophy REALLY similar to me + he's implemented it/achieved it/packaged it to share with others.
I'd suggest following him, getting his training programs (I have, and it's really good), and working diligently on developing the mindset it takes to be a professional soccer player such that doing those training programs helps you improve incrementally and allows you the resiliency to develop. 

2. Mentorship | ProPerformance & Coach.me

Depending on your budget, something like this could be really beneficial: https://properformance.guru/

A football mentor can
 share their authentic experiences, encourage personalized athletic development, and build valuable skills into your life!

If you want to work with Pro Performance, I can give you a 10% discount to that!

*do it on a budget at ​https://www.coach.me/ with a habit or goals coach.
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Crushing my coaching in Germany

3. Personal Growth | OPTIMIZE.me

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Accurate graph of your personal growth
My side biz (that I've worked for for 3+ years) has lots of content that could be used for soccer players (it's geared towards anyone looking to improve their lives.. it's really really good stuff. 10,000 members and counting!)

---> www.optimize.me/membership

Start by checking out all the content tagged for sports, mental toughness, and peak performance. Investing in yourself is the best thing you can do.

We also have an app and lots of free content (sample below).

4. Network Like Crazy ...then network some more | Fieldoo

This industry is messed up. get in the faces of people who need to see you, get your story told, get your buzz up, find a way to connect to pro team academies, push for it.

At least reach out to local clubs, coaches, parents with connections. You don't want to miss out on an opportunity you don't know is out there.

Agents on www.fieldoo.com could help with that.. not sure about age related situations. It's free to try anyway.
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You if you don't network

5. Add Experience | TOVO Academy

A. It's vital for resume building. Many places won't look at your without a good resume. So getting national teams, trials with pro club academies etc. are all good to add to your resume. Start early, you don't want to be 25 while trying to build your resume.

B. Growing and learning from smart people/coaches (Like this). TOVO has a summer program and other camps run by Todd Beane. He's a friend (and he's Johan Cruyff's son in law) get good coaches, get on good teams, and play as much as possible. Let me know if you want an intro to Todd.
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This kid looks hella experienced

6. Get Footage + Get Tactical | SoccerSpotlight & YTA

Start compiling video footage for your games (see Matt at SoccerSpotlight for help). This will help with your resume, but it will also help you do something that very VERY few players (even at the pro level) take advantage of.

A personal tactical analyst will help you LEAP over the competition by working with you on your situational tactical development.

I've worked with Loran at Your Tactical Analyst and have grown a TON from it. ​I highly rec. working with someone on your football intelligence.
​
(If you want to work with Loran or Matt, I might be able to get you a discount!)
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This is not Loran or Matt

7. Trial and Error | Don't give up

Maybe it makes no sense but failure = success. It really does. 

Get a thousand doors slammed in your face before you even consider quitting. I like many other people have been told no more times than they can remember, but there's always a yes somewhere. So take your No's as Not yets.

8. Community = Key | Get Gritty friends

If you want to be successful, whoever you're hanging with, they better want the same thing for you or themselves. Support is super helpful. People who want to lose weight together are more likely to do it. so with that in mind, if he wants to push for it, find other players that do too and get close to them. 
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Friends that play together, stay together. (they also succeed more)

9. What did I miss? What's your best reccomendation?

2 Comments

Using Nootropics to boost Soccer Performance | Becoming Limitless 

1/1/2017

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    Zak Drake

    I love helping players optimize their soccer careers + lives through actualizing their potential.

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