First touch through the gate
Transcript
A great first touch buys you time. Here's a drill to train it. You need a wall, a ball, and four cones. Stand five metres from the wall, with a one metre gate on each side of you. Watch. Pass it into the wall, then touch it through a gate. First, touch it through the gate, not under your feet. Then, keep the ball a step away, so you can play forward. Switch gates every rep. Two minutes on, one minute off, five times. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
A directional first touch: take the ball away from pressure and into space with your first contact, so you have time for the next action.
Set up
- A wall
- 4 cones
- 5 m from the wall
- 1 m gate each side
How it works
- Stand 5 m from a solid wall with the ball. Set a 1 m cone gate about 1.5 m to your left and another to your right.
- Pass the ball firmly into the wall.
- As it comes back, let it run across you and touch it through one of the gates.
- Follow the ball, bring it back to the start and repeat, using the other gate.
Coaching points
- Touch it through the gate. Open up so the ball runs across you, and let your first contact send it through the gate.
- Keep it a step away. Push it about a step ahead of you, so your next touch can be a pass or a run forward.
Not this
Stopping the ball dead under your feet. It costs you time and lets pressure arrive.
Dose
- Switch gates every rep
- 2 min on, 1 min off, x5
Our target: 15 minutes, 3 times a week (the Football Reach plan target, not an FA rule).
Harder / Easier
Harder
One touch only: pass back into the wall straight after the touch through the gate. Then use your weaker foot for the whole block.
Easier
Stand closer (3 m), pass softer, and use a 2 m gate until the touch is clean.
Safety
- Use a solid wall with nothing breakable nearby, never a window or a neighbour's wall.
- Flat, dry ground with space around you.
Sources
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.
Take the free test
