How to implement neuroathletics in soccer: Train like Gnabry and Musiala

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In this article, we show you how neuroathletics can meaningfully complement your soccer training! Increase speed, awareness, and coordination through soccer exercises that optimize the connection between the brain and movement. But what exactly is neurotraining, and how can it help soccer players improve their game, gain tactical advantages, and prevent injuries? We'll show you how you, as a coach, can optimally support players with these techniques, or how you can improve as a player yourself! Professionals like LeBron James, Per Mertesacker or Jürgen Klopp have long sworn by this method.

What is neurotraining?

Neuroathletic training, or neurotraining for short, is used by many soccer players to improve their performance. Imagine your brain and muscles working perfectly together – that's neuroathletics! With targeted neuroathletic training, you can train your nervous system and neuronal communication, meaning the exchange of signals between your brain and body.

With neurotraining, you train your senses and motor skills – also known as sensorimotor exercises. They improve movement quality, coordination, and your balance. This allows you to make more precise passes under pressure, change direction faster, or effectively evade tackles.

In addition, neurotraining exercises can improve your body awareness and increase your game intelligence (tactical advantages, situational awareness). To play soccer at the highest level, all sensory systems must work together perfectly. Sensory systems include:

• the visual system (sight),
  
• balance
• body perception.

These three systems work together in the body to reliably and stably control your movements. Only when all three components work effectively together can you perform precise and quick movements. Neurofunctional training helps with this. Sounds complicated at first? It's not!

Why neuroathletics in soccer?

Alex and Simon from Soccerkinetics are experts in neuro-centered soccer training and know from their own experience that many soccer players get injured or do not reach their personal performance limit. Specifically, soccer players on the field often make suboptimal or too slow decisions.

Injuries sometimes occur even without direct contact with an opponent. This is because many players, or more precisely their brains, cannot keep up with the increasing speed of the game.

This is where neuroathletics in soccer comes in. Through targeted neuroathletic training, you as a soccer player can improve your decision quality, speed, and execution. The training improves your neuronal movement sequences in the body, allowing you to perform precise and quick actions on the field. Because in soccer, too, the brain controls every movement and every learning process.

Therefore, it is useful for soccer players to specifically involve the brain in training to achieve faster and more comprehensive tactical, coordinative, and technical progress. This has also been scientifically proven.

Helps the whole team: Why eyes are often underestimated in soccer

Your visual system is essential in soccer. It influences how you move, perceive the game, and how accurately you pass. This includes:

• your eyes,
• your optic nerves, and
• the brain regions that process visual information.

With clear visual competencies, you always keep an eye on the field. This helps you to make precise passes and to make faster decisions. Your peripheral vision allows you to recognize opponents and teammates without losing sight of the ball.

And this is where your sense of balance comes in: only if your balance works reliably can you perform all movements properly. Especially with quick changes of direction.

Thanks to spatial vision, you better estimate distances and ball speeds. In short, a well-trained visual system makes you a smarter and more reactive player through effective neuroathletic soccer exercises.
But how do you achieve this? There are effective neuro exercises and soccer training devices for group and individual training that you can easily integrate into a soccer training plan – for both adults and children.

Some neuroathletic exercises can even be done at home without a coach, using small aids.

3 Neuro-Exercises for Coaches and Soccer Players

We show you how you can train your sensory system with unusual but simple soccer exercises to become faster, more precise, and less prone to injury. Here are three exercises that you can easily integrate into your training.

Exercise 1: Ankle Circles

For this soccer exercise, stand on one leg and lift the other slightly. Now slowly rotate the raised ankle in circular motions, first ten times clockwise and then ten times counter-clockwise. This movement improves your mobility and strengthens your ankle.

Exercise 2: Dribbling with Interruptions

Incorporate so-called interruptions into your dribbling exercises by completing small tasks while dribbling. These could be

• coordinative tasks, such as balancing on one leg,
• cognitive tasks, such as solving a math problem, or
• visual challenges, such as dribbling with restricted vision.

For restricted vision, use an eye patch, for example.

The interruptions improve your ability to precisely control the ball despite distractions, and simultaneously train your cognitive and visual skills. This training makes you more versatile, reactive, and helps you maintain control even in stressful game situations.

In the video, you'll learn another exciting neuro-exercise with an eye patch that will take your ball control to the next level through special juggling in soccer training.

Exercise 3: Eye Mobility and Coordination

For this soccer exercise, stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a Vision Stick with an outstretched arm at head or eye level in front of you. Move the stick back and forth, focusing your eyes on the tip or a specific letter. Move the sticks slowly and controlled in different directions (up, down, sideways), your eyes follow, and your head remains in position. Do 10-15 repetitions.

This neuro exercise improves your eye coordination and reaction time.

In the video, you will learn about other innovative options for integrating Vision Sticks meaningfully into your current soccer training.

Integration of Fitness Neuro-Tools into Soccer Training

BrainBoost Balls: Regeneration

BrainBoost Balls are also fascia balls and help you release tense muscle areas through targeted pressure massages. They are perfect for regeneration and pain reduction after intensive soccer training sessions. But you can also use them during soccer training for effective exercises and combine them with other tools to strengthen your coordination – more on that in the video:

Pinhole Glasses: More Attention and Focus

The glasses with a grid pattern, also called pinhole glasses or pinhole glasses , promote eye convergence (the ability to focus both eyes on a near object) and concentration. They help to improve visual attention and focus in soccer exercises. They support the achievement of more precise movements and an improved spatial understanding.

In the video, you'll learn an exciting soccer exercise with pinhole glasses that helps you improve your shots on goal.

Mouth Tapes: More Endurance and Performance

Mouth Tapes promote nasal breathing during sleep, thereby improving recovery and increasing breathing efficiency. This helps soccer players achieve better performance on the field.

In the video, you'll learn how to use nose breathing with the tape as an endurance booster and which exercise in soccer training helps you improve your breathing. Because: The regeneration phase also plays a role in mouth taping!

Brock String: Orientation & Decision-Making

The Brock String trains your visual control and depth perception. It can help you improve visual concentration and spatial awareness, which benefits soccer players in terms of orientation and decision-making on the field.

In the video, you'll learn how the Brock String can be integrated into game-like soccer exercises to make faster and better decisions on the field.

Neuroathletic Soccer Set: Equipped for all exercises

Do you want to improve your soccer skills on all neuro levels and kick off with new abilities on the field? Then the Neuroathletic Soccer Set is perfect for you. The set, in a practical mesh bag, contains two different trigger point massage balls, an eye patch, pinhole glasses, mouth tapes, four colored Vision Sticks, an elastic Brock String Flex, and the Soccerkinetics book with many helpful soccer exercises.

Conclusion: Become a better player with neuroathletic soccer exercises

Whether you play yourself or are a soccer coach: With suitable neuro-soccer exercises, you enrich every training plan and every training session. This way, with regular soccer exercises, you can improve your peripheral vision, promote your visual perception, get a better body feeling, and give coordination and speed training a new dimension. For better technique, faster decisions, better shots on goal, and fewer injuries.

The best part: Neuroathletics not only benefits the individual soccer player but the entire team. Have fun training!

This article was originally published on May 4, 2025, on artztneuro.com