Soft First Touch
Your child passes to a wall and controls the rebound with one touch, on different parts of the foot and on the turn.
At a glance
- A wall, a ball and a clear space. Your child passes to the wall and stops the rebound dead with the inside of the foot.
- Touch into space: your child controls it with a small push forward or sideways, away from where a defender would be.
- Three surfaces: the inside of the foot, then the outside, then the sole. 8 of each.
- Control and turn: your child controls the rebound, turns and dribbles away. Then 10 in a row with the practice foot.
- Progress 1: Time limit: 10 clean controls in 60 seconds. A clean one stays within 2 giant steps.
- Progress 2: Call the foot: shout left or right as the ball comes back, and your child controls it with that foot.
If it's not working: Roll the ball to your child gently instead of using the wall.
Full details: set up, how to play, tips
Set up
- Warm up for 5 minutes: jog, toe taps, sole rolls.
- Find a wall, with a clear space of about 5 giant steps in front of it.
Wall.
How to play
- Your child passes to the wall and stops the rebound dead with one touch (inside of the foot), right beside them.
- Touch into space: your child controls it with a small push forward or sideways, like moving away from a defender. 2 minutes.
- Three surfaces: control the rebound with the inside, then the outside, then the sole. 8 of each.
- Control and turn: control the rebound with a turn, then dribble away. 2 minutes.
- Practice foot: 10 in a row with the practice foot.
Make it easier
- Roll the ball to your child gently instead of using the wall.
- Your child stops it with the sole first, then tries the inside of the foot.
Make it harder, step by step
- Time limit: 10 clean controls in 60 seconds. A control is clean if the ball stays within 2 giant steps of your child.
- Call the foot: shout left or right as the rebound comes back. Your child must control it with that foot.
- Out of the feet: never stop it fully dead. The first touch sets up the next move.
- Smaller target: control the ball into a box of 2 giant steps every time.
Three things to say
- Cushion the ball dead, relaxing the foot at the last second, like catching an egg.
Colts habit
Work hard: little and often beats one long go.
Both feet
Do a round with the practice foot only.
Heads up
Look up between touches.
For your birth year
Pick a birth year to show the tweak for that group.
- 2016 to 2017
- Kill it dead 20 times.
- 2018 to 2019
- Kill it dead 12 times.
Safety: Pick a clear, flat space, look out for traffic and hazards, and stop if anything hurts. Soft ball indoors.
Keeping score: Not counted. Tick the drills they did today.