Soccer Ball Control Drills
Every soccer player dreams of making it big! He/she dreams of being the star player. Follow our Soccer ball control drills and become the star player of your dreams! Take your team to the top! We recommend you to follow these ball control drills at every training session.
We emphasize that you should practice all the drills on a regular basis at training sessions. Watch the videos of individual drills and the last one which has many more drills that you can practice. Visual guidance may be useful to fully understand the notes we have written for you describing the ball control drills.
Contents
Soccer ball control drill guide
1. Toe Touches / Toe Tap
We are going to become experts at touching the ball with our feet. Pulling and rolling the ball comfortably is an important part of playing good soccer. A good and efficient way to do this is by toe touches or toe taps as it otherwise called.
Start by lifting the knee and touch the top of the ball with your toes. Now take that leg down and lift the other leg to touch the top of the ball with your other toes. Keep repeating this. At first, you will be slow, but with regular practice, you will pick up speed. If you have a partner during the drill, he can touch one side of the ball with his toes while you do toe taps on the other half of the ball.
2. Happy Feet
Here you practice moving the ball between your feet, from one foot to the other. Becoming good at Happy Feet means that you can avoid tackling effectively, learn to use the inside of your foot to shift the ball to the other foot. This way you can make a pass or a shot that could win your team the game!
While first learning this move, you may be frustrated by the loss of control when you touch the ball too much in front or if it happens to get caught between the feet. But keep at it and soon your feet are going to keep the ball in place for as long as you wish!
3. V Rolls
This soccer ball control drill movement will help you to get the ball away from your opponent and move in the other direction away from him.
Here you are going to get the ball forward with the foot touch, get it across your body and use the other foot to get it forward. Your movements have to be minimal. It’s best to use the toes and move with a hop to your place foot. Your movements will be slow at first but with practice will get quicker and form a pattern or rhythm. This drill is a bit complicated but rewarding when you learn it well.
4. Sole Rolls
If you become an expert at Sole Roll, you will be able to take the ball away from the opponent and move the ball away, enough to make game-winning moves.
You will roll the ball with one foot and get the other to roll it to where it was. You should also practice stopping the ball using your inside touch and then only roll it again. This is an important move that will teach your place foot to move quickly and to be light enough to hop doing the movement.
5. Out In Out
Here we are going to become an expert at moving the ball around the field. The practice session starts with moving the ball out using the outside of your foot. You use the inner side of that foot to move the ball across so that the other foot can now move the ball using the outer part of the foot out again. And the inner side of this same foot now moves the ball back to the other foot. This way you can move around the field smoothly.
6. Cutting and pulling
Here we are going to practice controlling the ball and turning it in a different direction, tricking your opponent. Practice this soccer ball control drill to dazzle your opponents. You will pull the ball behind you by not turning, use the inside touch to touch the ball with the inside touch of the same leg. Though it may seem difficult, a pattern will soon emerge and you will become an expert.
7. Pulling And Turning Drill
Here your sole and outside touch will get a good workout. You will be pulling the ball back and making a smooth cut to the side or pulling back. This way you will be able to pass the ball away from an opponent.
Recommended: Training Program to Improve Soccer Skills
Conclusion
Keep practicing the footwork, or the soccer ball control drills and you will soon be on your way to tricking, passing and totally controlling the soccer ball. Your opponents will be left far behind as you reach the goal. The important thing is to keep practicing and getting the foot to follow your every command.