Soft or go: choose your touch
Transcript
Your first touch is a choice, soft or go. Here's how. You need a partner, a ball and four cones. Mark an eight metre square on flat grass, and stand six metres apart. Your partner passes along the ground, calling soft or go. Watch. Soft, and it stops by your foot. Go, and push it into space. First, soft means catch it with your foot. Not this, a stiff foot, so it bounces away. Then, go means push it about two metres into space, and follow it. Mix up the calls. Our target is three blocks of ten, resting a minute. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
Choose your first touch: a soft touch that stops the ball next to you, or a go touch that pushes it into space. England Football coaches smaller touches to keep it close near a defender, and bigger touches into space.
Set up
- A partner
- A ball (size 3)
- 4 cones, 8 m square
- 6 m apart
How it works
- Warm up first. Mark an 8 x 8 m square with 4 cones on flat grass. Use a size 3 ball up to U11, a size 4 at U12-U13 and a size 5 from U14.
- Stand 6 m from your partner, who has the ball.
- Your partner passes along the ground and calls "Soft" or "Go" while the ball is travelling.
- Soft: cushion it so it stops next to you. Go: push it about 2 m into space and follow it. Then pass it back.
- Your partner mixes up the calls so you have to listen and decide. Do 3 blocks of 10 with 1 minute of rest, using both feet, then swap roles.
Coaching points
- Catch it with your foot. Soft: meet the ball with the inside of your foot and let the foot give as it arrives, so the ball stops next to you, ready to pass back.
- Push it into the space. Go: push the ball about 2 m into space with your first touch, then follow it straight away. Decide before it arrives, so the touch is ready.
Not this
A stiff foot, so the ball bounces away from you instead of stopping. Relax the foot and let it give as the ball arrives.
Dose
- Mix up the calls
- 3 blocks of 10, 1 min rest
Our target: 3 blocks of 10 receives with 1 minute of rest between, mixing the calls (the Football Reach target, not an FA rule).
Harder / Easier
Harder
Your partner points to where Go should go (left, right or forward). Then the call comes later, just before the ball arrives.
Easier
Your partner calls before passing, and passes more gently, until the choice feels easy.
Safety
- Keep every pass on the ground.
- Warm up first. Flat grass with space all round, never a road or driveway.
- Stop if anything hurts.
Sources
- England Football Learning - escaping the defender (small touches to keep it close, bigger touches into space) (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - developing core skills with an U-10 team (first touch) (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - how to coach receiving skills (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
