Turns and feints
Ready when: Dribble with the head up (b2) done.
What you are learning
Changing direction with the ball (the drag back and the hook turn) and fooling a defender with a stepover, then dribbling away into the space in front. Turns let a player escape when a defender closes in.
Words on this card Inside, Dribble, Grid, Feint, Drag back
- Inside
- The inner edge of the foot (by the big toe) and the outer edge (by the little toe).
- Dribble
- Running with the ball kept close with small touches.
- Grid
- A square marked with cones for practice.
- Feint
- A body movement that pretends to go one way before going the other.
- Drag back
- Turns and tricks. Drag back: pull the ball back with the sole. Hook turn: hook the ball round with the outside of the foot. Stepover: swing a foot round the ball without touching it to fool a defender.
Show it first for the one teaching
- Drag back: put the sole on top of the ball, pull it back behind you and turn.
- Hook turn: reach past the ball and hook it back with the outside of the foot.
- Stepover: swing a foot round the front of the ball without touching it, then push the ball the other way with the other foot.
- After each move, dribble away quickly into the space.
Your part while they practise
Be a passive defender who only shadows; call "turn".
Step by step
- Drag back, outside hook turn and stepover at walking pace.
- Then at speed.
- Each time, dribble away into the space in front.
- Turn when you call.
How much: 6 of each turn 12 min a session 3 days a week
Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.
The game: Follow the leader
One leads with turns and feints, the other copies; swap after a minute.
Who plays: 2 players against each other, a ball each.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- The leader dribbles round the grid and does a turn or a feint every few seconds
- The follower, 2 m behind, copies each move
- After 1 minute, swap. 3 rounds each
- Fair play
- A grown-up leader moves at walking pace.
- Points
- The follower scores 1 point for each move copied correctly; the leader scores 1 point for each move the follower misses.
- Fouls
- A point to the other player
- Losing the ball out of the grid
- Doing the same move three times in a row
- The follower touching the leader's ball
- Winning
- The most points after 3 rounds each.
- 6 points for 1 star
- 10 points for 2 stars
- 15 points for 3 stars
Easier or harder
No defender.
A defender who tries to win the ball.
What you will see, and what to say
- the feint is slow
Sell it with your body
Drop the shoulder too. - the ball is left behind
Take it with you
Turn and push it into space.
Self-check
3 different turns done at speed past a passive defender, each 3 of 5 times.
Stop and get a coach when
Pain in the ankle or knee.
Fitness for this
Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.
This card trains beating a player, balance.
awiseathlete.com/sports/football/football-i1