TeloframeTeloframe
Features
For CoachesFor ClubsPricingLibraryDrills
Sign inStart free
Teloframe

The Coach OS for football. Plan, run, observe, reflect, develop, one loop, one tool.

Product
Tactics boardDrill editorSession plannerMatch dayPlayer developmentClub workspaceAI assistantExport and sharingAll features
Explore
Tactics librarySession plansDrill libraryFormationsGuidesVideo tutorials
Use cases
Coaches and academiesContent creatorsSession planner softwareTactics board software
Company
PricingFAQContactOpen Teloframe
© 2026 Teloframe. Built for serious staff.PrivacyTermsSafeguardingSecurityDPASubprocessorsCookies All systems normal
TeloframeTeloframe
Features
For CoachesFor ClubsPricingLibraryDrills
Sign inStart free
/
/
/
Teloframe

The Coach OS for football. Plan, run, observe, reflect, develop, one loop, one tool.

Product
Tactics boardDrill editorSession plannerMatch dayPlayer developmentClub workspaceAI assistantExport and sharingAll features
Explore
Tactics librarySession plansDrill libraryFormationsGuidesVideo tutorials
Use cases
Coaches and academiesContent creatorsSession planner softwareTactics board software
Company
PricingFAQContactOpen Teloframe
© 2026 Teloframe. Built for serious staff.PrivacyTermsSafeguardingSecurityDPASubprocessorsCookies All systems normal
TeloframeTeloframe
Features
For CoachesFor ClubsPricingLibraryDrills
Sign inStart free
Home/Training Drills/Dribbling Drills/The Nutmeg (Panna)
DribblingAdvanced

The Nutmeg (Panna)

Beat a defender through his legs. Invite him to plant his feet, slip the ball through the gap, and accelerate around him to collect it on the far side.

Create your own drill
Live animationDRI
Duration
8 min
Total drill time
Players
2
Recommended
Pitch
40 × 24 m
Setup space
Level
Advanced
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U13-U14
Any format

Setup & instructions

The player drives at a defender, waits for the feet to split, pushes the ball through the gap, and runs around to collect it. Emphasise reading the defender's feet, disguising the intention, only going when the gap is there, and exploding around to reunite with the ball. Practise both sides. Rotate the roles.

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

The nutmeg has a reputation as showboating, which undersells it. It is a legitimate solution to a specific problem: a defender who has planted square with his feet apart has closed the outside lanes and opened the one straight through him. Reading that picture is a real skill, and it is the part worth coaching.

The move is decided before it is executed. A defender jockeying properly, side on with feet staggered, has no gap and cannot be nutmegged, and a player who attempts it anyway simply passes the ball to him. A defender who squares up to make a tackle, or plants to change direction, gives you a window that lasts about as long as his weight stays even. The instruction is not learn the nutmeg, it is learn to see the gap.

Inviting the plant is the advanced version. A slight slow-down, or a touch that looks like it is about to be taken past him on one side, brings a defender square and gets him to set his feet. That is the difference between waiting for the gap and creating it.

Weight of touch is where it usually fails. Too soft and it catches a shin. Too hard and it is through his legs but also thirty yards up the pitch with a defender between you and it. Firm enough to clear him, soft enough to reach first, and then get round him immediately. The most common sight in youth football is a perfect nutmeg followed by a player watching his own ball run to the opposition.

How to run this drill

  1. Learn to read the feet first. Coach the picture before the skill. A defender side on with staggered feet has no gap. A defender square with weight even has one, and only for a moment.
  2. Invite him to plant. Slow slightly, or show the ball as if going past on one side. That brings a jockeying defender square and gets him to set his feet, which is what opens the lane.
  3. Disguise the intention. Keep the head and hips neutral. A player who looks down at the gap before playing it has told the defender to close his feet, and the window shuts.
  4. Push it through firmly, not hard. Firm enough to clear his legs, soft enough that you reach it first. Too gentle and it hits a shin, too strong and the ball is gone with him between you and it.
  5. Explode around and collect it. Go the instant the ball leaves your foot. The most common failure in youth football is a perfect nutmeg followed by admiring it while an opponent collects the ball.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Read the feet, go only when the gap opens
  • Invite him in so he plants his feet
  • Push it through firmly, not too hard
  • Explode around to collect it, do not admire it
  • Disguise it, do not telegraph the nutmeg

Common mistakes

  • Going when there is no gap, hitting his legs
  • Pushing it too hard, cannot collect it
  • Telegraphing it, the defender closes the gap
  • Not accelerating around to reunite with the ball

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Against a live, tackling defender
  • Nutmeg into a pass or a shot
  • Both sides and from a moving start

Regressions

  • Defender holds a set stance with a gap
  • Walk the timing of the push and the run
  • No pressure to groove the touch
Equipment
Cones×2
Tactical principles
nutmegpannahow to nutmegbeat a defender1v1 dribbling movefootball skillsmegsdribbling drillstreet football skillu14 skill move
Audience
U13-U14

Make it yours

Save this drill to your private library, then tweak the animation, swap equipment, or drop it into a session.

Explore more drills

LIBRARY
All Dribbling drillsAll drill collectionsDribbling for U13-U14

Ready to run this drill?

Save it to your private drills, then change the animation, adjust positions, swap equipment, or drop it into a session block. Or start from a blank pitch and build your own.

Library Create your own drill
Teloframe

The Coach OS for football. Plan, run, observe, reflect, develop, one loop, one tool.

Product
Tactics boardDrill editorSession plannerMatch dayPlayer developmentClub workspaceAI assistantExport and sharingAll features
Explore
Tactics librarySession plansDrill libraryFormationsGuidesVideo tutorials
Use cases
Coaches and academiesContent creatorsSession planner softwareTactics board software
Company
PricingFAQContactOpen Teloframe
© 2026 Teloframe. Built for serious staff.PrivacyTermsSafeguardingSecurityDPASubprocessorsCookies All systems normal