Ball Mastery Drills ( Volume I )

Ball Mastery drills are a vital part of every training session and WILL benefit every player, even if at first they find them boring.

These 4 drills will test them with different techniques and movements.

Ball Mastery Drills – The Cones

This is the most basic of Ball Mastery skills, and one that is rushed past far too often.

It’s a great arrival drill and repeating every week will improve players touch very quickly.

There are 5 different methods of navigating the cones, each player has to complete 3 runs of each

1.	Insides of Feet Only	Players must navigate through the cones using both feet, but are only allowed to use the insides of the feet
2.	Outsides of Feet Only	Players must navigate through the cones using both feet, but are only allowed to use the outside of the feet. This is tricky and will feel unnatural at first.
3.	Right Foot Only	Players must navigate through the cones using their Right foot only, this will utilise both of the moves in the previous 2 runs.
4.	Left Foot Only	Players must navigate through the cones using their Left foot only, If this is their weaker foot, it will probably be the most difficult
5.	Rollovers	Players must navigate through the cones using both feet, but each time the must roll their foot over the ball to move in-between the cones.

These are drills that should be practiced every week to really see improvement, and ideally get the kids doing them at home.

If you wanted to time each run so they can see improvement then do so.

Ball Mastery Drills – Moving between Two Cones

These are 5 great Ball Mastery drills that will really help your players.

Its 1 minute per drill, so really easy to fit into any training plan

During this drill, players will get 100’s of touches with both feet. Inside, Outside, Sole & Toes.

They key is halfway through each drill, to get the head up so you are able to look around and the ball becomes comfortable. This may take a few sessions before players can do this.

Start off with just drills 1 and 2 for the first few weeks.

1.	Both Feet – Using Sole of foot and Inside of both feet to move the ball between the cones. After 30 seconds, try it with head up	1 Minute without touching Cones
2.	Both Feet – Using Sole of foot and Outside of both feet to move the ball between the cones. After 30 seconds, try it with head up	1 Minute without touching Cones
3.	Figure of 8 – Using Sole of foot and Inside of both feet to move the ball between the cones.This time going round the front also	1 Minute without touching Cones
4.	V Cut – Dragging ball at 45 degree angle then pushing through the cones in opposite direction	1 Minute without touching Cones
5.	L Drag – Dragging the ball back behind you and moving it at 90 degree angle, then outside of the other foot to far side of cones	1 Minute without touching Cones

Build up to add Drill 3 and then the final 2

Escape Room

This is really good fun warmup / starter drill that the kids really enjoy.

Set up a small circle with  Cones, Flat Circles / Discs,

Player 1 starts inside the circle with the ball, the other players are outside the circle and cannot enter it, but can move around the side.

Player 1 must use good footwork and body movement to engineer an escape by creating space to get out with the ball being touched.

Every clean escape = 1 point – 3 goes each

Ball Mastery Drills – Outside of the Foot running

This is a really really good Ball Mastery drill as not only does command control of the ball in tight spaces but brings acceleration and deceleration control into play.

Lay out the Cones, Flat Circles / Discs, as above. two sets of close together, joined by a long arc

Player 1 starts on the left side.

Using the outside of their LEFT FOOT only, the must go through the red cones with close control.

Then accelerate into a sprint, still using their LEFT FOOT only, around the black cones.

Finally, come out of the sprint and navigate the second set of red cones.

Once completed, turn around and repeat on the way back, this time using RIGHT Foot only

Why Ball Mastery Drills are important

If you can fit at least one Ball mastery drill into every training session, the other drills that you do will become easier and better for the players.

They will become more confident on the ball.

They will become better at other drills

They will become better in games.

Check out this control drill

Want more Drills ?

Looking for more Passing Drills ?

Check these out.

1.	Double Rondo – Head to Head
2.	Pass & Control Reactions
3.	Long Passing Drills
4.	Pass, Follow, 1-2 & Finish
5.	Passing & Dribbling Awareness
6.	Pass & Move Squares

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