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Tip: Receiving / Controlling
the Ball
The ability to control or receive the ball is one of
the most important and often neglected techniques in the
game. To have any chance of scoring goals consistently,
your team must be able to gain control of the ball routinely.
Therefore, each player must be comfortable and confident
when receiving the ball no matter how it comes to them
and the ball can come to a player in a variety of ways.
For example, the ball can be played on the ground, in
the air, bouncing, with a lot of pace, barely rolling,
spinning, curving, while the player is standing open or
when tightly marked by an opponent, etc. Great players
are able to control the ball in all these situations quickly
and confidently. In essence they can "make the ball theirs"
with their first touch consistently. Young players need to
devote a lot of time and repetition to developing their
first touch and "feel" for the ball.
As a youth coach in the South Florida
area, I constantly notice players who are insufficient
in their ability to control or receive the ball well
and consequently struggle when they play the game. Youth
coaches often fail to devote enough attention to this
vital area of player development in their practices.
The following are some general guidelines and tips when
practicing the art of receiving / controlling the ball:
Quickly judge what type of ball your dealing with (ie:
hard pass on the ground, spinning ball in the air, etc.)
Decide quickly what body part would be best to use when
taking your first touch of the ball (chest, thigh, inside
of the foot, sole of the foot, top of the foot, etc.)
Decide what direction you want your first touch to be
Take small, rapid steps to help get your body into position
to receive the ball while maintaining good balance
Take a small "hop" and exhale at the moment of contact
with the ball to allow your body to relax.....this will
help keep the ball from "jumping" away from you
Players should practice receiving different types of
balls (on the ground, in the air, etc.) and use as many
different body parts as possible (chest, thigh, various
surfaces of their feet, etc.) to develop their confidence.
One final note. Since soccer is a dynamic sport that involves
constant movement, coaches should attempt to do activities
in their practice sessions that require players to receive
balls on the move and under some type of pressure. These
types of activities will allow their players to develop
more quickly and make them more likely to use their receiving
skill in a game situation.
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Soccer Tips from Eric
