5 Essential First Touch & Passing Exercises | 5 Drills To Improve Your Passing & First Touch

Key points

• Play crisp, ground passes using the firm inside of the foot
• Shuffle laterally with active feet to get directly behind the ball line
• Communicate clearly with your partner to switch straight and diagonal roles without stopping the ball

Common mistakes

Letting the ball bounce or bubble without adjusting foot angle, or lunging flat-footed.

Key points

• Execute two crisp straight bump passes in rapid succession
• Release the third pass on a sharp diagonal angle through the cones
• Maintain high concentration on pass pacing and rhythm to prevent awkward bounces

Common mistakes

Over-hitting the short bump passes, making the third angled ball difficult to play cleanly first-time.

Key points

• Check sharply toward the front cone to cushion the initial return pass
• Backpedal into space to create an angle for the firmer second delivery
• Take a positive directional touch across your body behind the cone to set up the next pass cleanly

Common mistakes

Letting the ball get trapped under the feet instead of pushing it diagonally across the body past the cone marker.

Key points

• Open your hip angle before the ball arrives to facilitate a clean back-foot receive
• Use the inside of the back foot to guide the ball in one fluid motion behind the cone
• Step into the pass with the same receiving foot to maintain momentum

Common mistakes

Squaring up to the ball with closed hips, which stops the ball dead rather than opening past the cone.

Key points

• Bounce passes rapidly on both sides of the lead marker
• Check your shoulder (scan) while backpedaling before the ball reaches your feet
• Take precise back-foot touches and accelerate smoothly through the cone weave

Common mistakes

Forgetting to scan over the shoulder before receiving the back-foot pass.