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The Latest Trend in Soccer Training

By Asia Mape, I Love to Watch You Play, 07/20/17, 9:30AM PDT

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I first heard about the latest trend in soccer training in November. It’s called Toca training.

I first heard about the latest trend in soccer training in November. It’s called TOCA training . Both of my Sister-In-Laws separately mentioned their kids have been training weekly at a TOCA facility near their homes in Newport Beach, California.

I had never heard of TOCA, but was intrigued, especially since the Orange County area is a mecca for top soccer clubs and players. Two weeks later, I dragged my friends and their kids and drove nearly ninety minutes to our closet TOCA facility in Torrance, CA.

TOCA was the brain child of Eddie Lewis.

When Lewis was playing for UCLA, he discovered the Bruins basketball team often trained by shooting into smaller goals. Although already a top player, Lewis wanted to get even better, so he put the basketball theory to test in soccer. He began using a tennis ball machine to fire tennis balls at himself – the small balls, repeated in mass repetitions, elevated his game quickly.