How does Messi keep the ball close to himself

The science of how Messi keeps the ball close to himself

photo credit: ZaleDesigns

Messi is a magician with the ball at his feet. He's in my opinion the best player in the sense that he can control the ball so well, runs so fast with the ball & changes the direction at full speed like it's a walk in the park.

For starters he started playing very early (at 3) which is crucial if you want to be a good player. In that aspect, he's God gifted as he had dribble skills which is genetic in my opinion.

• Height

He is short which means a low center of gravity so it's difficult to push him off the ball. That's why we see that anyone rarely can topple him down, instead players much larger than him lose possession to him. So his short height suits his style of play & is a blessing in disguise.

• Change of pace

Messi changes his pace really well. He starts slow and runs directly at the defender which means the defender has to stop & focus on him. When he reaches near enough to the defender, he changes his speed and goes full throttle at a fraction of second, buying enough time to lose the defender.

• Change of direction

Another skill of his is the change of direction. He changes his direction frequently and effortlessly at great speed which is almost an impossible task. He wrong foots the defender for fun.

• Muscle memory

One thing that makes him very superior to his peers is the phenomenon called muscle memory. He has acquired it with practice over time. It means that he works in reflex and doesn't need to think as what's he's going to do next. His trained muscle reflexively takes action without involving his brain so he acts faster than other players to incoming tackles and other external stimuli.
So, his muscle memory is very superior to his peers and it immensely reduces his action time.

• Vision

Even while running at a high speed, he has developed great vision which enables him to visualise the changes in the positions of players and he passes the ball to unexpected areas when all of the defence is focussed at him, opening up the opposition defence.

• Accurate Shooting

Messi has great shooting technique. He passes the ball through small gaps (with adequate power) to the back of the net rather than taking the orthodox power shots. He hits the ball really low in either corners which makes it difficult for GK to bend and dive that far and low.

So, due to these qualities combined with a lot of hardwork, Messi does what he does.

This answer was originally given by Sanjay basnet on quora follow him for more