What Ball Control Means For Kids
Ball control is the ability to keep the ball close enough to choose the next action. For young players, that usually means softer touches, a balanced body, and a turn that does not send the ball out of reach.
Start With Touches They Can Repeat
Use Sole Roll Escape Box or Solo Ball Mastery Ladder before adding pressure. The child should feel the ball under the feet and learn to exit into space without chasing it.
Add Direction Before Speed
A control drill becomes more useful when the child has to leave through a gate, turn away from a marker, or protect the ball before moving. Add speed only after the ball stays within one step.
Common Mistakes
Do not correct every surface of the foot at once. If the child is losing the ball, widen the space, slow the action, and use one cue: keep it close enough for the next touch.
Where This Fits
Use this page before dribbling, weak-foot, and 1v1 attacking pages. Close control gives those later drills a better base.
Start With This Route
If this page feels like a menu, use this order first. Keep each block short, then open the drill card when you need the full setup, cues, and easier or harder version.
| Order | Drill | What to do first |
|---|---|---|
| Start here | Sole Roll Escape Box | A small-box solo drill for rolling the ball with the sole, turning out of the box, and keeping the next touch close. Start by: Start inside the box with the ball close. |
| Then add | Solo Ball Mastery Ladder | A short solo routine for building comfortable touches with the inside, outside, and sole of both feet. Start by: Tap the ball gently between the insides of the feet. |
| If it fits | Garden Dribble Gates Football Drill: 10-Minute Kids Routine | A 10-minute garden dribble gates football drill for kids, using three wide targets to practise close touches, a controlled turn, one eyes-up check, and a calm return route. Start by: Minutes 0-1: walk the route without a ball. Step through each gate, turn beyond the third gate, and check that the return path stays inside the clear area. |
| Finish with | Shield, Turn, And Exit | A partner drill for protecting the ball, feeling pressure, and turning into a safe exit space. Start by: Receive with the body between the ball and defender. |
Visual Drill Guide
Use these setup sketches before choosing a drill. The feet show the starting shape; the arrows show where the ball or body moves next.
Roll the ball across the body with the sole, stop it under control, then take two small exit steps.
Keep both feet close to the ball. The child uses inside, sole, and outside touches without chasing the ball away.
Set two or three wide gates. The child dribbles through them slowly first, then adds speed only when the ball stays close.
Receive with the body between the ball and defender.
Common questions
How often should kids practise ball control?
A few short rounds each week are enough. Five to ten focused minutes works better than a long session where the touches become tired and careless.
Can ball-control drills work indoors?
Some can, if the floor is safe and the ball is soft enough. Keep the movement small and avoid walls, furniture, glass, and slippery surfaces.
Recommended drills
Sole Roll Escape Box
A small-box solo drill for rolling the ball with the sole, turning out of the box, and keeping the next touch close.
Solo Ball Mastery Ladder
A short solo routine for building comfortable touches with the inside, outside, and sole of both feet.
Garden Dribble Gates Football Drill: 10-Minute Kids Routine
A 10-minute garden dribble gates football drill for kids, using three wide targets to practise close touches, a controlled turn, one eyes-up check, and a calm return route.
Shield, Turn, And Exit
A partner drill for protecting the ball, feeling pressure, and turning into a safe exit space.