In soccer game, you receive the ball constantly. Receiving is one of the most important skills in soccer. Think of this: every time you get the ball you have to receive it. This means that you need to control the ball before doing anything.
How well you receive the ball largely determines what you can do with it. If you have a good first touch, then you have a good chance of doing something with the ball. If not, you will just lose it. With this in mind, you should practice this skill constantly.
How to Receive the Ball
You can receive the ball in many different ways. You can use your feet, your head, your thighs, or your chest. Learn how to receive the ball using each part.
Feet
Most of the time you will use your feet to control the ball. You can use any of the four types of touches to receive the ball. It is important that you have good ball control before receiving the ball. You can train your ball control by using our soccer ball control drills.
The most common way to receive the ball is using the inside of your foot. This is the biggest part of your foot, so you have a large area to control the ball. You can also use the outside of the foot, or the sole. If want to immediately dribble forward upon receiving the ball, you should use the lace of your foot.
Chest
You can easily control balls out of the air using your chest. The chest is a huge target, and when you use it correctly, it makes receiving balls in the air easy.
When preparing to control with your chest, stand firmly and put your arms out. You will probably get challenged while you attempt to receive the ball. Lean back slightly and let the ball hit your chest. The ball will stay in the air for a moment before dropping. You can then control it with your thighs or feet.
Thigh
It is hard to control balls that are moving fast with your thigh, but when the ball is going at a medium pace at thigh level, you can use your thigh. You also can chest the ball to take power off of the ball, then control it with your thigh.
Think about the ball being light when you control with your thigh. You have to absorb most of the balls impact, or the ball will just fly off of your thigh.
Head
Most of the time, you want to head the ball to a teammate. However, sometimes you should control the ball with your head, like for instance, when you are in the attacking third.
Head the ball upwards very lightly. You need to absorb the ball’s energy, and let the ball fall to your feet. Receiving using the head takes practice, so don’t get frustrated if you don’t get it at first.
Receiving the Ball Under Pressure: Some Tips
Most advancing players can receive a soccer ball fairly well, but when pressure is added, it’s a different story. Receiving the ball under pressure is hard, and must be learned by all players.
Use Your Arms
Whenever you are receiving the ball or about to receive the ball, your arms should be out. You can use your arms to feel where nearby players are, and to create distance between you and defenders. Do not push or stiff arm people; you will get called for the foul. Simply use your arms to create space between you and the other player.
Look up
Before you receive the ball, look up to see who’s around you. If you know where defenders are, it makes it much easier to avoid them. You also should know where teammates are, and if there is open space around you.
Receiving the Ball
You can receive the ball in many ways (for more info, look at Receiving the Soccer Ball). When you receive the ball, it is important that you are moving away from defenders. If your back is turned you either want to turn (if a player isn’t on you or you can beat him) or touch the ball and shield. If you are on the wing for instance, you might want to take a touch forward and prepare to take a player on one versus one.
Learn to Control the Ball
Head on back to the soccer ball control guide to learn more about the most important aspect of soccer. Once you learn ball control, you can turn that into dribbling, and dribbling into soccer moves! Read the rest of the guide:
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