Juggling sequences
Transcript
Juggle in a set order to practise your touch on a dropping ball. Here's how. Warm up first. You need a ball and a soft, flat patch of grass. Feet and thighs only. Watch. Right foot, left foot, right thigh, catch. First, lock your ankle and use your laces. Then, pop it to your belt, the same height every time. Not this, big kicks. New to juggling? Let it bounce once between touches. Our target is ten minutes, three or four times a week. Write down your best score, then beat it next time. If anything hurts, stop. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
Touch practice on a dropping ball: feet and thighs in a set order, then a catch. The FA recommends ball-familiarity work for touch and feel; no source we checked shows that juggling itself improves match performance.
Set up
- Warm up first
- A ball
- Soft, flat grass
- Feet and thighs only
How it works
- Warm up first. Find soft, flat grass with about 4 x 4 m of clear space. Use a size 5 ball from Year 9 (U14), a size 4 in Years 7-8.
- Start with free juggling, feet and thighs only, and count your best run of touches.
- The video's sequence: hold the ball at belt height and drop it onto your right laces, then left foot, right thigh, catch. Count how many sequences you do in a row.
- Next: right foot, left foot, right thigh, left thigh, round and round without the catch. Then two touches on your weaker foot, one on your stronger foot.
- Write down your best score at the end of each session, and try to beat it next time.
Coaching points
- Lock your ankle. Lock your ankle with your toes a touch up, so your laces make a flat, firm surface. Meet the ball with the laces, not the toes, and keep the touch soft.
- Pop it to your belt. Pop the ball to about the height of your belt with every touch, foot or thigh, so it drops at the same speed each time and you can keep the order.
Not this
Big, swinging kicks that send the ball above your head. It drops fast, spins away and breaks the sequence. Small touches from a locked ankle keep it at belt height.
Dose
- 10 min, 3-4x a week
- Log your best score
Our target: 10 minutes, 3-4 times a week, logging your best score, is our own target, not an FA or FIFA rule. So are the sequences.
Harder / Easier
Harder
Juggle the sequence while walking forward to a cone 10 m away (FIFA's juggling practice uses 10 m lanes), or do it with your weaker foot only.
Easier
Let the ball bounce once between touches (the second part of the video). Or simply drop it, one touch with the laces, and catch it.
Safety
- Warm up first. Soft, flat grass with space around you, never a road, a hard floor or anywhere near windows.
- Feet and thighs only in this drill, never the head.
- If anything hurts, stop, and tell a parent or your coach.
Sources
- FIFA Training Centre - juggling (feet, thigh and alternating variations) (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - how to help 5-11s develop their skills on the ball (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - ages 8-12: technical skills in unopposed warm-ups (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.
Take the free test
