Phone-box ball mastery
Transcript
Keep the ball in a space the size of a phone box, with your head up. Here's how. You need a ball, four cones and a partner. Make a tiny box with the cones on flat grass, one and a half metres each side. Your partner stands five metres away. Watch. Sole, outside, inside, then the other foot. First, the ball stays in the box. Now your partner holds up fingers, then walks round to your side and behind you. Then, call the number before your next touch. Thirty seconds on, thirty off, six times, then swap roles. That's our target. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
Close control in a tiny space with your head up: keep the ball inside a 1.5 m box with the sole, outside and inside of both feet, while you read a signal from a partner who moves round you.
Set up
- A ball
- 4 cones
- A 1.5 m box
- Partner, 5 m away
How it works
- Mark a 1.5 x 1.5 m box with 4 cones on flat grass and stand in the middle with the ball (size 5 from U14).
- Keep the ball inside the box for 30 s, using the sole, outside and inside of both feet. Small touches only.
- Your partner stands 5 m away and holds up some fingers every few seconds. Call the number out loud before your next touch.
- During the block your partner walks round to your side, then behind you, so you have to check over your shoulder to see the number.
- 30 s on, 30 s off, 6 blocks in all. Swap roles after each block.
Coaching points
- Ball stays in the box. Small touches with the sole, the outside and the inside, so the ball never leaves the box. If it does roll out, bring it straight back in and keep going.
- Call the number first. Lift your eyes between touches and call the number out loud before your next touch. When your partner is behind you, check over your shoulder. In a study of Premier League players, more scanning went with more completed passes, but the effect was small.
Not this
Watching only the ball. You miss the number, and in a game you would miss the pressure arriving. Big touches that roll out of the box are the other common mistake.
Dose
- 30 s on, 30 s off, x6
- Swap roles every block
Our target: Our own choices, not FA or FIFA rules: 6 x 30 s blocks, 30 s rest, a 1.5 m box, a 5 m gap.
Harder / Easier
Harder
For the last 10 s of each block your partner steps into the box as a light, passive defender: they stay close, but no tackling and no pushing. Or set a target count of clean touches for each block.
Easier
Use a 3 x 3 m box and keep your partner in front of you, so you only lift your eyes and never have to turn your head.
Safety
- Flat, dry grass with space around the box, never a road or a polished floor.
- The ball can roll under your foot during sole work, so start at an easy tempo.
- Passive defender only in the harder version: no tackling and no pushing in a tiny space.
Sources
- FIFA Training Centre - mastering ball control (all parts of the feet, heads up) (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - the lions' den: scan the ball, opponents, teammates and space (opens in a new tab)
- Frontiers - Jordet 2020, scanning and passing in the Premier League (opens in a new tab)
- England Football FutureFit - ball sizes by age group (opens in a new tab)
Not sure which skill to work on first? The free Football Reach test gives you a Player Development Score and shows which of the four corners of your game to work on next, in about two minutes.
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