Driven Soccer Balls

There are a bunch of small details that make up the difference between professional and amateur players. One of these details is driven balls. You can tell the quality of a player in warm-ups just by how he drives a ball to his teammates.
The key to a driven ball is to strike through the center of the ball cleanly with your laces. You want the ball to travel on a straight path about head height all the way to the target. The harder you drive a long pass the better. The quicker the ball reaches your teammate, the more time he/she will have to make a decision.
At the lower levels of soccer players tend to float balls real high in a looping pattern to each other. It's an easier technique to perform, but to make it to the next level you must be able to consistently drive the ball firmly over distance.
Homework assignment, go to a local park that has a wall, tape a box on the wall, and drive balls until you hit the box 10 times in a row.