Ball control for beginners

There are two key elements of good ball control:

a) The receiver’s first touch should protect the ball from challenging players and not give them a chance to regain possession,

b) the receiving player should play the ball into available space to allow for the next touch and to gain or keep momentum.

A poor first-touch will risk taking the momentum out of play and increase the possibility of losing possession. Some players make the mistake of killing the ball dead and not concentrating on getting it out of their feet. The first touch should ensure that a time wasting second touch is not needed to get the ball out ready for the next action.

The general technique for controlling the ball requires several simple skills which can be acquired through correct training practices.

1/ The first element of ball control is to place the controlling surface into the ball’s line of flight. The body weight should be well distributed so it is possible to move forwards, backwards or sideways. Keep the head steady and watch the ball carefully to judge it’s flight and speed. It is difficult to keep one’s eyes permanently on the ball and better players are able to take a quick glance to know what is happening around them before contact is made.

2/ The second step is making an early judgement in choosing the right technique and body surface to control. Wedge control involves a more rigid surface where the player attempts to force the ball downwards or into space so he can move onto it. A cushioned control involves taking the sting out of the ball. This involves pulling the surface back just when the ball makes contact (the body becomes elastic) so that it simply drops at the players feet. This particular technique is very useful when closely marked, for example a forward receiving the ball on the chest with his back to goal.

The different body surfaces often used in controlling the ball are: The foot (sole, inside, outside, instep), thigh, chest & stomach and head. Generally, the part of the body used should preferably be large, flat and able to take the weight of the incoming pass.

Control also requires good mental abilities such as confidence and total concentration. A composed player is one who is calm, relaxed and unhurried in his movements. Confidence does play a big part in this as players who know what they can do and are confident in their ability are more likely to show great technique and succeed. Those who do not have confidence, will be indecisive and their technique hurried.

When training, players can exaggerate the movements to get the feel of the right technique. Younger players can learn from the coach who should demonstrate the technique, break it down and practice the individual elements and eventually, practice the whole technique. Only once the basic techniques have been mastered should a coach move onto more advanced situations. These should concentrate on improving control in pressure situations (defenders coming from the side, front, back), control while moving at pace, control which involves an immediate layoff and controlling the ball for a team mate. The ball should be received from all angles, speeds and heights and all surfaces constantly used.

Some common problems when controlling the ball are described below along with a training method than can be used to improve technique:

Problem 1 – Ball path has been misread and the player has missed the pass.
Corrective procedure – Repeated practice using passes from different distances and vary intensity. The coach must encourage player to keep their eyes on the ball at all times and get their body in line.

Problem 2 – Player is indecisive when choosing controlling body surface.
Corrective procedure – Player shouts the type of body surface they will use and the server provides the pass and vice versa until the player gets the right feeling for the choice of technique.

Problem 3 – The player does not get the ball out of their feet and needs a second touch.
Corrective procedure – Encourage the player to relax and exaggerate the movement. Repeated practice using passes from different distances and vary intensity.

Problem 4 – The ball bounces off the player and control is lost.
Corrective procedure – Again, encourage the player to exaggerate the movement, especially the relaxation phase, firstly without the ball and afterwards using gentle service (eventually building up service difficulty). Try using smaller or lighter balls.

How to kick a soccer ball

I am often asked for advice on how to strike a ball properly, especially to hit the ball over a long distance, or to shoot it really hard.

Here is a progression that I like to do with practically any aged player. I have recently used variations of this with a group of U-10 players as well as with the U-16 National Team. Being able to drive a ball over distance, so that the ball reaches its destination with pace and accuracy is a skill that is necessary to compete at the higher levels. There is nothing like seeing a ball “crashing” in to the back of the net, or a pass being made to a wide open player that is waiting 50 – 60 yards away from the play. So, listed below is a progression to follow to teach you the fundamentals of this skill. Emphasis is placed on getting the proper “surface” of your foot involved in the process… the “laces”. Once a player establishes the proper “feel” for the ball with this part of his or her foot, then the rest is just a matter of practice and developing strength and timing. This comes from hours of work, alone with the ball.

Start way back with the basics….

Take off your shoe and sock. Sit on the floor, with both feet on the floor… knees inside your arms…start by kicking the ball out of your hands (like a punt).

But, just do it lightly so that the ball only goes up about 2 feet or so.

Make sure that your toe is pointed and that you keep your ankle “locked”. Strike the ball with the “laces” part of the foot. If your ball goes up without any spin…or with a little “top” spin… then you are doing it correctly. If the ball comes back towards your face…then try again. Keep doing this over and over…it will develop a good feel for what it is like to hit the ball with your laces. After you have managed that…try hitting the ball twice with the foot. But, make sure that there is still a proper spin…ankle locked…toe pointed.

When you get good control it is time to stand up.

Now, do the same thing… kick the ball out of your hands (like a punt) but have the ball only go up in the air about 6-7 feet high. Look for the ball going up with no spin again. Keep your foot in that good position. Your knee needs to be slightly bent as well. Kick the ball straight up in the air. Again, you are just trying to get a good feel for the ball. The ball’s spin tells you if you are doing it correctly.

Then, try to do it with a bounce between each kick. But, still only have the ball go up about 6-7 feet high. It is important that you do this with control instead of power. This is almost like juggling, but let the ball bounce each time. Then, can you do two touches…(each one going up without backspin) between each bounce?

Now…progress where you are letting the ball bounce on the ground, then kick it to a friend or against some wall. Still with bare feet! Make sure that you strike the ball when it is on the way down. Hit it with your “laces”. Toe pointed, ankle locked. Now, the ball should have “top spin”…and should not go higher than your head. Keep working on this for MANY times. See if you can now work on accuracy and some power. Again, you should be getting a real feel for the ball with your laces.

After you do this…it is time to put your shoes back on and try from the ground again. See if there is any improvement… there should be. You should have a real feel for the ball by now!

One warning…this takes time!!! Some players that I have worked with on this need a whole season to work things out. Practice correctly!!! It is more important to “practice perfectly” than to kill yourself working frantically and too hard. Take your time.

My last suggestion is to watch high level games. Watch how the real good players strike the ball. Watch them, then try to copy them!

Bend it like Beckham!

We’ve all seen players such as Beckham, Ronaldo and Zidane bend the ball round a wall and into the net from free kicks taken anything up to thirty yards away from goal.

We’d all like to have a player who can do that on our team!

So how can we teach our players to ‘bend it like Beckham’?

It’s a matter of using the right technique and lots of practice.

The technique (for a right footed player):

Approach the ball from the left at a slight angle. If you run straight at the ball you can’t strike it correctly.

As you run up, keep your eyes fixed on the base of the ball.

Strike the ball on the right side of the base with the inside of your right foot and hit across it from the inside to the outside.

This will generate a right-to-left swerve.

The non kicking foot should be planted on the left of the ball and slightly behind it. The further back the non kicking foot, the higher the ball will go.

Keep your head still and don’t look away from the ball until you strike it.

Now it’s time to practise

To do this, use a full size goal with a keeper and line up your players about twenty yards from the goal. Your players can now practise swerving the ball around a wall (that’s you or a willing parent:) into the goal.

Watch their technique and correct as required.

Bending the ball is a skill that requires hours of practice. Encourage your players to work on it at home and show you how good they have become at the next coaching session.

Side to Side

Age group: all age groups

Set up

Use a 10 by 10 yard square grid marked out with a cone at each corner.
Put players in groups of three.
One ball to each group.
Two players with the ball (players 1 and 2) are positioned on one side of the square and the third player (player 3) faces them on the other side.

Action

The player with the ball (player 1) passes to the player on the opposite side of the square (player 3).

Player 3 receives the ball with the inside of the foot and takes the ball a couple of yards to the side in one action.

On his next touch he passes the ball with his other foot back across the square to player 2.

After two or three minutes change player 3.

Coaching points

Remind players that it’s important to give a good pass so it is easier for their team mates to receive the ball and control it away with their first touch.

Allow two touches to start before limiting players to one touch.

Remind the receiving player to move toward the ball.

Ball control for young players

Basic ball control drill to develop players’ first-touch soccer skills

Age group: All ages

Set up: Cones, 1 ball per group of 3 players, players are in groups of three with a ball to each group, two players with the ball on one side of the square and the third player on the opposite side

Action

Player 1 (the player with the ball) passes to the opposite player (player 3) and sprints around the back of him.

Player 3 taps the ball to the side, first touch, as the sprinting player 1 comes around him.

The sprinting player passes first or second touch to the player facing him (player 2) who repeats the action.

After a couple of minutes change player 3.

Coaching points

Make this drill competitive by seeing how many passes each group can make in a minute or how long they can go without making a mistake.

Juggling and ‘keepy-uppies’

Warning!! Learning to juggle is not easy!

There are not many “shortcuts”. It can be very frustrating to new players and they just want to quit trying. Take it slow with lots of encouragement for everything. Many times they will begin to show significant gains but seem to lose all of those gains the following practice. Go slow. The time and effort it takes a player to progress from 2 touches to 4 touches may well be the same as from 20 to 40 juggles later on. Work in games like soccer tennis to keep it interesting.

Start with a decent but expendable football that you can use on pavement and not mind the scuffs. You may find that if you under-inflate it just a tiny bit, it will allow for more control. Repeat all the skills with both feet.

Hold the ball out in front of you with both hands and drop it onto the pavement for a bounce. After the bounce, tap the ball back up to your hands with the shoelace or instep part your foot. Catch the ball and repeat several times with each foot. We need to learn how to describe these movements so the teacher can lead some beginning jugglers through these skills. (I would call this a “bounce-foot-catch”.)
Now, drop the ball for a bounce, tap it softly up towards your hands but let it fall back to the pavement for another bounce. Then tap it up to your hands for a catch. (I would call this a “bounce-foot-bounce-foot-catch”.) Repeat this several times, again with both feet.
Next we will drop the ball directly to the foot for a tap back to the hands for a catch. (This is a “foot-catch”)
Now drop the ball to the foot for a tap but let it bounce, then use the foot to tap it up to the hands for a catch. (This is a “foot-bounce-foot-catch”.)
Keep adding on touches and bounces alternating a foot touch with a bounce and ending with a catch. It’s important to end with a catch to maintain control.
Finally drop the ball for a bounce and tap it up with the foot but before it bounces try to tap it up again for a catch. ( This is a “bounce-foot-foot-catch”.) This is the beginning of “real” juggling! This is a big step. If it seems too difficult for the player, do not hesitate to back up and work on the 1 touch exercises again with bounces in between.

Continue to try different variations of bouncing and 2 foot touches. Don’t try to go to 3 consecutive foot juggles too soon. Getting from 2 juggles to 3 is a very big step as well. Instead try to link lots of 2 juggles together with bounces. Try a bounce-foot-foot-bounce-foot-foot-catch. Later on link together a several of these 2 touch juggles with a bounce between each one. In fact, see how long you can keep it going with 2 touches and then a bounce. Have a contest.

It may not be the first day, but eventually you are ready to go for 3 juggles. Warm-up with single touches and work up to 2 touches linked together with bounces, just as I have described above. Then try a bounce followed by 3 foot juggles and a catch. (This is a bounce-foot-foot-foot-catch.) Encourage alternating feet during the 3 touch juggle. Once they get the hang of this, start using bounces to link together more 3 and 2 touch.

You can drop the ball directly to the foot without a bounce, to start the juggle, once they begin to develop some control.

Approach thigh touches and head touches the same way, but wait until they have some control with their feet so they can “dig” it up for a catch at the end. Also they will often find the thigh touches easier and tend to overwork them thus neglecting the feet. Start with a thigh-bounce-foot-catch combo and then keep adding on. Try a thigh-thigh-bounce-foot-catch and then a thigh-thigh-foot-foot-catch and now now they are up to 4 legitimate juggles!

Once you have made it this far you should encourage less bounces between touches, but I still like to see players use the bounce to keep the ball moving. I think it is better that they keep touching it back up even with bounces, as opposed to getting frustrated and stopping.

Now it will take time and practice to learn how to keep the ball airborne. Once again, introduce games and contests to keep it interesting. A great game for juggling skills and improvement of all first touches is “soccer tennis”! I highly recommend it.

There will be breakthrough days when the player finally juggles 3 in a row or much later, gets to 10 for the first time. These are often followed by frustrating days where nothing seems to work. Then much later, when they finally get to about 20 juggles, the “lights” seem to come on. Juggling actually becomes a fun thing to do and they begin to attract attention and compliments from other players, coaches, and parents. Now if they keep at it, they can break 50 in “no time”.

Good luck!

Key elements of good ball control

There are two key elements of good ball control:

a) The receiver’s first touch should protect the ball from challenging players and not give them a chance to regain possession,

b) the receiving player should play the ball into available space to allow for the next touch and to gain or keep momentum.

The general technique for controlling the ball requires several simple skills which can be acquired through correct training practices.

Some common problems when controlling the ball are described below along with a training method than can be used to improve technique:

Problem 1 – Ball path has been misread and the player has missed the pass.
Corrective procedure – Repeated practice using passes from different distances and vary intensity. The coach must encourage player to keep their eyes on the ball at all times and get their body in line.

Problem 2 – Player is indecisive when choosing controlling body surface.
Corrective procedure – Player shouts the type of body surface they will use and the server provides the pass and vice versa until the player gets the right feeling for the choice of technique.

Problem 3 – The player does not get the ball out of their feet and needs a second touch.
Corrective procedure – Encourage the player to relax and exaggerate the movement. Repeated practice using passes from different distances and vary intensity.

Problem 4 – The ball bounces off the player and control is lost.
Corrective procedure – Again, encourage the player to exaggerate the movement, especially the relaxation phase, firstly without the ball and afterwards using gentle service (eventually building up service difficulty). Try using smaller or lighter balls.

Ball control skills for U6 – U10

First touch and passing skills

I suggest that from U6 to U10 you should be spending 90 per cent of your soccer drill sessions on activities that will improve your players’ first touch and passing skills.

Group games are good but you should also take the time to talk to your players individually about their ball skills.

Five minutes spent discussing ball control skills with an individual player after a soccer training session will pay massive dividends.

Not only will this help improve their skills but their self-esteem will also get a big boost. And players with high self-esteem will win matches for you.

So watch your players and make notes.

Do your players get in line with the ball quickly or do they tend to let the ball run past them?
Is a player’s first touch of the ball hard (the ball runs away from them) or is it correct (the ball is pushed a little way in front or to the side and in a good position to make a pass or to shoot)? The ball very rarely needs to be stopped dead.
As the ball approaches, do your players get their head up and get a picture of where their team mates are?

Work on this with simple games such as Through the gate:

How to play Through the gate

Mark out small (20×10 yard) grids, one for each group of four players in your squad, with a centre line dividing the grid into two halves.

Place a small gate (about 2 yards wide) in the middle of the centre line.

The object of the game is for each pair of players to pass the ball through the gate to the other pair.

The rules: both players must touch the ball before it is passed through the gate and the ball must never stop.

If the ball does stop, or the players fail to control it before it leaves their side of the grid, a point is awarded to the other team.

Play to a specific target (for example, first to ten wins) or challenge your players to play for a set time without making a mistake.

Key coaching tip: To stop players trying to blast the ball through their opponents’ half of the grid, insist on side-foot passes only.

Progression: When your players are comfortable with the basic game, allow them one or two touches only to control the ball before passing.