The 100-touch box
Transcript
Ball mastery is where everything else starts. Here's a game to build it. You need a ball and four cones. Mark a box on flat grass, five metres each side. Stand in the middle. Watch. Sole rolls. Tick-tock between your feet. Pull it back and push it wide with the outside. First, keep every touch in the box as you move. Then, eyes on the far cone between touches, not on the ball. One minute of each move, then switch feet and go again. At least a hundred touches a day is our target. Keep count, and beat last week's total. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
The daily touch habit, played as a game: lots of touches with the soles, the insides and the outsides of both feet, on the move inside a small box, with your eyes up. In its guidance for 5-11s, the FA calls ball mastery "the starting point for everything that follows".
Set up
- A ball
- 4 cones
- A box on flat grass
- 5 m each side
How it works
- Mark a 5 x 5 m box with 4 cones on flat grass and start in the middle with the ball. Use a size 4 ball at U12-U13 and a size 5 from U14 (size 3 up to U11).
- Do each move while travelling around inside the box, with small touches that keep the ball inside the cones.
- Sole rolls: roll the ball across in front of you with one sole, stop it with the other sole and roll it back.
- Tick-tock: tap the ball from the inside of one foot to the inside of the other.
- Pull-push: pull the ball back with your sole, then push it wide with the outside of the same foot.
- Start each move with a few seconds at an easy tempo, then 1 minute at a good tempo. Rest 30 s between moves and keep count of your touches. Round 2: the same three moves with your other foot leading.
Coaching points
- Every touch in the box. Small, soft touches as you travel, so the ball never leaves the box. If it does roll out, bring it back in and keep counting.
- Eyes on the far cone. Between touches, lift your eyes to a far cone ahead of you, then back to the ball. FIFA's ball-mastery practice asks players to keep their heads up and eyes forward, so they can see the space to move into.
Not this
Big touches that run out of the box as you travel, and staring down at the ball the whole time.
Dose
- 1 min each move, 2 rounds
- Our target: 100+ a day
Our target: 100+ touches every day in about 10 minutes is the Football Reach plan target, not an FA or FIFA rule. The 5 x 5 m box and the 30 s rest between moves are our choices too: no source sets them for home practice. The tempo idea (find your tempo first, then at least 1 minute at a higher tempo) comes from a FIFA technical activation circuit.
Harder / Easier
Harder
Raise the tempo while every touch stays in the box, and lift your eyes to a different cone each time. Then try to beat last week's total in the same time. With friends, share a bigger box, each with a ball (FIFA's group version uses 15 x 15 m).
Easier
Stand still in the middle and do two moves only (sole rolls and tick-tock), slower. Take a full 30 s to find your tempo, and look up only when the ball is still.
Safety
- Flat, dry grass or a non-slip surface, never a road or a polished floor. Keep the box clear of walls and windows.
- The ball can roll under your foot during sole work, so start slowly until the tempo feels steady.
Sources
- England Football Learning - how to help 5-11s develop their skills on the ball (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - coaching children to master ball control (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - mastering ball control (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - how using the sole of the foot can benefit players (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - technical activation circuit 1 (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.
Take the free test
