First touch is a key element of any football player’s game. Here are 4 tips on how you can improve yours.
A high level of touch and control are absolutely crucial in football. This all begins with working on your first touch and ensuring you have complete control over the ball. The quicker you get control of the ball the faster you can review your, and your opponent’s, position on the pitch and make your next move during a game situation. Having a great first touch can reduce the time wasted taking a second touch and help with the flow of the attack of your team.
Overall, the quality of your first touch is measured by your ability to receive the ball. Whenever receiving the ball, you should be on your toes in anticipation, ready to receive the ball. Your body position should be balanced, and your focus should be on the ball.
Practice with Rebounders – Football Flick has an array of football rebounders that are suitable for a variety of situations ages and abilities. Our most popular rebounder (The Urban Skills Trainer) s the world’s first and only scientifically validated piece of football training equipment that will improve touch, control and passing. With consistent use at home as well as on the training pitch, we see players of all ages and abilities make significant improvements in their key football skills.
Looking for more variety in the distance and angle of your returns? Try our Dual-Speed Rebounder. Made from solid materials the DSR can help improve touch and control.
Play ‘Rondo’ with teammates – Gather in a circle and players in the middle should attempt to tackle the ball off other players who pass the ball the keep the ‘defenders’ away from the ball. This drill is used even at the highest level of the game as it is perfect at simulating the real-life situation of a game. When a player takes more than one touch to pass or gets intercepted players will then swap between defender or attacker. When playing Rondo the number of players ‘attacking’ or ‘defending’ depends on how many are playing in total. There are no hard fast rules. For instance, you may want to increase the difficulty for the team in possession by reducing the size of the circle or increasing the number of players that are on the ‘defending’ team.
Practice outside of your training sessions – The players that make the biggest improvements in their training sessions are those that get in the most practice. Increasing the hours you spend on training at home will mean that your progress becomes exponential in comparison to your teammates that only play during games and official training. Football Flick training equipment is designed to give the edge by being designed for home and back gardens so you can train at home. Explore the range here.
Practice Keepy Ups – Practice as often as you can. The quicker you can start mastering your close control, the quicker you can start understanding the tactics and positioning of the game. Keep your eye on the ball and as you improve you will understand how to control the ball in a variety of situations. As you can improve you can even start adding skills and tricks. Watch our TikTok tutorial for how to improve your keepy ups
Let us know in the comments if you have any more tips on how to improve your football first touch.
