Cushion the dropping ball
Transcript
Cushion a dropping ball so it lands dead at your feet. Here's how. Warm up first. You need a ball, flat grass and a partner three metres away. Watch. Your partner throws it underarm, gently, so it drops in front of you. Now from the side. First, catch it with your laces, then let your foot drop with it. Not this, a stiff leg that bounces it away. Now the thigh. Then, give like a cushion, so it lands one step away. Our target is five on each foot and thigh, twice through. Throws stay below the waist, never near the face. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
Control a dropping ball with your foot and thigh: meet it, then let that surface give so the ball drops dead, one step in front of you. The FA says players need to learn to control a ball dropping out of the air.
Set up
- Warm up first
- A ball (size 4 or 5)
- A partner to throw
- 3 m apart
How it works
- Warm up first. Find flat grass with about 5 x 5 m of space. Your partner stands 3 m away with a ball (size 4 at U12-U13, size 5 from U14).
- Your partner throws underarm, gently, so the ball drops in front of you at about waist height. Watch it all the way and get in line with it early.
- Laces: lift your foot to meet the ball and let your foot drop with it, so it lands dead within one step. Pass it back along the ground.
- Thigh: lift your knee, meet the ball with the middle of your thigh and drop the thigh, so the ball falls to your feet. Control it with your foot, then pass it back.
- 5 on each foot and 5 on each thigh is one round of 20 throws. Rest 1 minute, then do a second round.
Coaching points
- Catch it with your laces. Lift your foot to meet the ball, laces up and ankle firm. As the ball lands on your laces, let your foot drop with it, so it settles on the grass in front of you.
- Give like a cushion. On the thigh, lift your knee so the middle of your thigh meets the ball. Drop the thigh as it lands, like a cushion, so the ball falls about one step in front of you.
Not this
Stabbing at the ball with a stiff, straight leg. It bounces away and you have to chase it. Meet it, then give with it.
Dose
- 5 on each foot and thigh
- 2 rounds of 20 throws
Our target: 5 on each foot and 5 on each thigh (20 throws), 2 rounds with 1 minute of rest: our target, not an FA rule.
Harder / Easier
Harder
Set a 2 m cone gate to one side and touch the ball through it straight after you control it. Or your partner throws from a little further away, still dropping at waist height or below.
Easier
Let the ball bounce once first, then cushion it as it drops from the bounce. Or your partner stands closer and throws more softly.
Safety
- Warm up first. Flat grass with space around you, never a road.
- Gentle underarm throws that drop at waist height or below, never near the face. Control with your foot or thigh only: this drill never uses the head.
- If the ball hits your face or head, or anything hurts, stop and tell an adult.
Sources
- England Football Learning - how to build a receiving session (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - how to coach receiving skills (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - unopposed technical warm-ups (volley and catch) (opens in a new tab)
- England Football - guidance by age on the head and the ball (why this drill never uses the head) (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.
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