Though football is one of the most physical sports played, players need a balanced set of both physical and metal football skills in order to take the competition head on and win. The ability to meet the physical demands of the game is important, but improvising mid-game or even mid-play is what will make all the difference between the winners and the losers.

“All the drills in my workout pertain to what I try to get my body and mind to do on the field” – Saul Patu (interview with BodyBuilding.com)

One way to strike this balance between both physical and mental skills is to create and include a regime of football drills that target that balance into your training sessions.

Here are a few drills that will help you improvise quickly on the field.

1. Acceleration Sprints

This particular drill is great to do on the field, as it requires a distance of 100 yards, but you can also practice this drill by marking a 100 and 50-yard mark. The idea is to run from one end to the other, gradually increasing your speed until sprinting. To get started, start at one end and head toward the other – you should reach full speed by the 50-yard mark and continue sprinting until reaching the other end. Slow to a jog when you reach the end and be sure you’re properly recovered before performing the drill again.

This football skill drill improves your ability to increase your speed when necessary during game-play, enabling you to improvise to the situation and execute the best move possible.

2. The Old Weave In, Weave Out

This drill will increase your agility, thereby enabling you to move laterally with more speed and ease. To get started, place four cones in a line about four yards apart. Place another four cones in-between each pair of cones four yards to the left or right of your initial group of cones. Starting at one end, sprint from one cone to the next, touching each with your hand. The idea is to reach the cone with the least amount of adjustment necessary – instead of turning to face each cone before running toward it, consider smaller side-steps and little upper body adjustment.

This will help increase your agility, which in turn can increase your ability to out maneuver the opposing player.

3. Calculating Possibilities

Much like playing chess, a football player can maximize his ability to improvise and overcome the opposition by calculating every possible move the opposite player, or team as a whole, might make. Though coaches will often develop strategy that gears toward this type of method, each player can do his part play-by-play, thereby creating a much more engaged offense or defense. To do this, simply imagine what the opposing player will do and prepare a set of reactions. This is where your agility and ability to increase speed will come into play, as you will likely need to improvise to the player’s move. Though you will likely be one step behind the player as you improvise, the goal is to minimize the time it takes you to react.

By implementing these three simple things into your training, you will increase both your physical and mental football skills.