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Home/Training Drills/Passing Drills/Touch It, Then Play It
PassingBeginner

Touch It, Then Play It

Separate controlling the ball from moving it. Players get repetition of close manipulation at their own station and of a clean seven metre pass, so a poor first touch cannot be hidden behind a rushed pass.

Create your own drill
Live animationPAS
Duration
10 min
Total drill time
Players
3
Recommended
Pitch
Full Pitch
Setup space
Level
Beginner
Skill required
Intensity
Low
Physical demand
Age band
U9-U10
Any format

Setup & instructions

Set three poles in a triangle with sides of about seven metres and put a player at each. Receive the ball, take three or four close touches around your pole, then play the full side of the triangle to the next player. Keep the touches genuinely close, within a metre. Work one direction until it is smooth, then reverse. Add a second ball once the rhythm is reliable, so two players are working at once.

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

A first touch has two jobs and most drills only test one. It has to control the ball, and it has to put the ball somewhere useful for whatever comes next. Practices that go straight from receiving to passing let a player get away with a poor touch by hurrying the pass, and the touch never actually improves.

This exercise pulls the two apart. The working touches at the pole are pure control, done close and with both feet, with nowhere to hide because nothing else is happening. The transfer afterwards is pure passing, over a fixed seven metres, which is long enough that a scruffy ball is obvious. Doing them in sequence rather than simultaneously means a player can be told which of the two let him down.

The reason to keep the touches within a metre is that this is the range where control is genuinely difficult. A touch that takes the ball three metres away looks tidy and is actually easier, because the ball is no longer near the feet that have to manage it. Tight manipulation is uncomfortable and it is the thing that transfers to a crowded midfield.

Three players and three poles also makes this one of the few genuinely useful drills for a session where numbers are short, or for a player working alone with two teammates before training. The equipment requirement is nearly nothing and the space is under ten metres square, which matters more often than coaching books admit.

How to run this drill

  1. Take the first touch out of your feet. A touch that stops the ball dead leaves you standing over it with nothing available. Move it into the space you are about to work in.
  2. Keep the working touches within a metre. Pushing the ball three metres away looks neat and is easier. Tight manipulation near the feet is the uncomfortable version and the one that transfers.
  3. Use both feet, deliberately. Left alone, every player will do all the work with the strong foot. Alternate on purpose or the weaker side never improves.
  4. Look before you transfer. The pass is seven metres and it should be aimed. Playing it on feel, without lifting the head, is how the ball ends up two poles away.
  5. Pass along the ground and firm. A floated seven metre ball is harder to receive and teaches the next player nothing. Keep it flat and firm enough to arrive without dying.
  6. Turn before it arrives. Opening toward the next pole while the ball is travelling means your working touches already face the right way, which saves an entire touch.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • First touch out of your feet, into the space you are about to use
  • Keep the working touches close, within a metre of the pole
  • Use both feet on the touches, not just the strong one
  • Head up before the transfer, so the pass is aimed rather than hopeful
  • Firm the seven metre pass along the ground, no floated balls
  • Open your body toward the next pole before the ball reaches you

Common mistakes

  • A first touch that stops the ball dead under the feet
  • Working touches drifting metres away from the pole
  • Using only the strong foot for every touch and every pass
  • Passing before looking, so the transfer misses the next pole entirely

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Limit the working touches to two, then to one
  • Call the direction on the pass so players cannot pre-plan
  • Add a second ball so two sides of the triangle are live at once

Regressions

  • Unlimited working touches
  • Shorten the triangle sides to five metres
  • Roll the ball rather than passing it while the touch is being built
Equipment
Poles×3
Tactical principles
first touch drillfirst touch and passing drillclose control drilltriangle passing drillthree player passing drillu9 football drillball manipulation drilltechnical warm up drillsmall group passing drillboth feet drill
Audience
U9-U10

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