Soccer Footwork Drills

Footwork is simply the way you move your feet. Whether you’re dancing, doing exercises, or playing a sport, the movement of your feet plays a big role in how well you will perform.

In soccer, footwork is the biggest pillar skill which players need to learn. It is important for running or sprinting, receiving passes, making them, shooting, and even in goalkeeping.

Training your footwork means training or agility and speed first of all, which means there will be a lot of cardio or regular gym workout that focuses on these areas.

Once that is done, there are several drills that you can perform to get better with your footwork in real-game situations.

Note that these drills are not exhaustive, they are just a curated list for you for your next practice session. Here are ten soccer footwork drills for your improvement.

10 Soccer Footwork Drills

Here are the ten best soccer footwork drills you must know.

Toe-Touch

The toe touch drill is a simple drill that helps players develop a sense of control over the soccer ball. Because the drill is performed with the ball in a stationary position, players also develop endurance and balance.

The results of this drill can be seen in how players manage to trap a soccer ball or bring it to a stop in order to change directions in real-game situations.

It doesn’t require much space—just a ball and a willing player who is ready to do as many alternating foot-to-toe touches as possible to build up their control, endurance, and balance.

There’s a reason it is one of the most widely used drills in soccer practice. The drill can be turned into a fun and friendly contest among teammates to see who can do the most toe touches in a given period of time.

Juggling

Even if you’ve never played or seen a game of soccer before, you’ll have come across many ball jugglers. This is an art more than it is a skill or a drill to be performed.

However, the reason it is used as a drill is so that players can learn how to control a soccer ball that is coming from above.

Passing in soccer games can be done high or low, low passes are easy, but when the ball is up above, the legs have to be able to control it in a way that it doesn’t spill to the opponent.

Soccer players need to be able to do at least 50 juggles in 30 seconds, which means that it involves a fair amount of practice.

Luckily, it is not a drill that takes up so much space. All you need is a ball and if you want a challenge, mix up the soccer ball sizes you use for juggling!

Inside-Outside Cone Drill

Soccer cones are the greatest invention in the sport. Very versatile and dynamic, this equipment can help soccer players get better in a million and one ways. The drills that can be created with soccer cones are a function of a player’s or a coach’s creativity.

Why is the inside-outside cone drill one of the best cone drills for footwork? It is because it teaches players the basics of dribbling. You just need a ball and 6 cones set at equal distances from each other in a vertical line.

The player weaves in and out of the cone lines using the inside and the outside of their dominant foot.

The space between the cones can get smaller and the number of cones used can increase as the player gets more confident with their control over the ball in tight spaces.

Inside-Outside Left and Right Drill

This is a more difficult variation of the drill described above, and I’ll explain why in the next few lines. In a soccer game, players will run into situations that their dominant foot cannot help them get out of.

It could be when they get marked by multiple defenders and have to shuffle the ball between their dominant and weak foot, or it could be when they receive an overhit pass or one that they were not fast enough to reach.

Drills like the inside-outside left and right drills can help them slowly build up strength in their weak foot to deal with these situations.

To perform the drill, set up like in the drill explained above and instead of weaving in and out with your dominant foot, weave in with your dominant foot, and pass it to your weak foot, with which you will weave out.

Repeat as many times, close the space between the cones, and increase the number to build your confidence.

Trapping

Trapping means bringing a soccer ball to a stop for easy manipulation. For this to occur, a pass must be made from one teammate to another, who then traps the ball to do whatever they have to do with this.

Simple passes need to be trapped to be returned, just as long passes that come from above need to be trapped. In essence, trapping is the ultimate indication of a player’s ball-control ability.

To perform the drill, players need only a ball which they will toss continuously into the air to trap. Other layers that can be added to perfect the trapping skills of a player are:

Throwing the ball ahead and running ahead to where it will land to trap it.
Having a teammate play long passes from a distance and trapping them.
Having a teammate play a long pass ahead of you and running ahead to where it will land to trap it.

Crossing

Crossing is a term that refers to an offensive pass that comes in from the wings of the field to the center of the penalty box to create a goalscoring action.

When players cross the ball, they are either targeting their striker with a pass to help him score, or they’re throwing a “Hail Mary” with the hopes of creating a goalscoring chance for their team.

It is not really a function of footwork; instead, it is more a function of accuracy. However, great footwork is needed to set it up, as the ball must not be too far from the player before the cross.

To set up and perform this drill, two players have to be on either side of the field. Once the coach yells “GO!” both players run, and the one with the ball crosses it after five touches for the other one to trap it and run to a marked zone.

1v1 Play

Dueling is the core principle behind sports. Soccer is a duel of 11 men against 11 and many times, 1v1 duels happen in-game. Practicing 1v1 duels is a great way to develop a player’s footwork, their coordination, their defensive skills and their focus.

This drill involves two players standing in a grid that is 10 yards wide. One player passes the ball to the other, who attempts to dribble past the one he received the ball from and make it out of the grid from the opposite side.

This duel should resemble a real game in the level of physicality deployed and the defensive action taken (slide tackles, shoulder barges, etc).

The grid can get smaller to mimic tight space situations in football, where players have to go 1v1 against a defender in tight spaces to complete an offensive gameplay.

Headers

“What have headers got to do with footwork?” you ask. The answer is simple: when balls come in from above, and there is a crowd or a chance that the opponent gets there first, players need to shuffle themselves around to rise in the air (where necessary) to head the ball as a pass or into the opponent’s goal.

Inexperienced players do not need to perform header drills yet until they are good with their feet. To execute this drill, two players will begin by standing in front of each other with one holding the ball.

Both players will then pass the ball to each other using their heads, increasing and closing the distance between them for better control and footwork application.

Where there’s no partner, a wall can be used for this drill—the player heads the ball to the wall repeatedly.

Offensive + Defensive Headers

This is based on the header drill with the difference being that one player will be attempting both offensive and defensive headers and the other will only be tossing the ball for headers.

Set up cones in a small square grid where a soccer ball can easily sit. The player tossing the ball yells out which type of header the other should perform.

For offensive headers, the heading player heads the ball into the small square grid, and for defensive headers, the heading player attempts to head the ball in a “non-threatening” direction. After 5 rounds, the players will switch positions.

Scrimmage

Scrimmages are practice games and they help to improve players’ footwork because it simulates in-game scenarios which they will need their footwork to get out of.

Players will have 1v1 duels, trap the ball, make crosses, weave in and out of tight spaces, and so on. The setup for this drill is to simply divide a team into two separate teams that will face off against each other as if they’re opponents.

The coach will act as the referee and determine how much time each half will use up. A scrimmage is the best way to put players’ skills to the test and to show areas in which the team should improve upon.

It is of great importance for the coaches to pay rapt attention and pause the game when an important tip or comment has to be made to help improve overall team performance.

Final Thoughts

Footwork is actually a lot more complex than it seems, which is why the disclaimer came at the beginning of the article.

The ten soccer footwork drills listed above are not exhaustive and do not promise immediate results like the fun drills or the warm-up drills. They need constant practice to seep into your leg muscles and become muscle memory.

Some benefits of great footwork are: