If you have to panic - do it right!
Nothing cramps your style like a shitty panic pass half way through a tackle. Teach your mind that the best way to panic in an uncomfortable situation isn't to fling the ball towards your own team and hope for the best - you hold on for dear life! If opponents are everywhere and it looks like they're gonna rip your throat: run into them, assume fetal position and pretend the ball is your teddybear - help will come. If you hit the ground that's great, just place the ball towards us, your friends. If the other team steal it from you, at least you didn't look like an idiot.
AND
If you screw up - make it right!
Everyone drops the ball once in a while, even the captain, the national team players or (dare I say it) the coach. If the ball is loose on the ground, someone needs to dive on it. Take the opportunity to redeem yourself: if YOU dropped it, I suggest you make sure that someone is you. It might seem pointless to fight for a ball that the ref will give to the other team, but have this in mind: 1) maybe the ref didn't see anything, 2) maybe the ball went backwards, not forwards, or 3) maybe the other team will quickly pick it up and score if you don't.
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ps. This isn't just match rules - do it at training too!
