Close-control dribbling is moving with the ball in tight space while keeping it close enough to touch again within a stride or two, so a defender can't step in and take it. It is built from frequent small touches with every surface of both feet, a relaxed posture on the balls of your feet, and your head coming up between touches. Our analyzer reads your body as you dribble (knee bend, how low and steady you stay, and your balance); it does not track the ball.
Set up
Get on the balls of your feet with your knees slightly bent. Lean a little forward at the waist and hold your arms out a bit for balance.
light and ready to move any direction.
Stay relaxed, not tight. A loose posture lets you move freely; a stiff, rigid body makes it harder to dribble out of pressure.
Touch it
Touch the ball through the middle of its height with the front of your foot near the toes: the laces, or the inside or outside of the front of the foot. Small, frequent touches keep it close.
soft taps, not kicks.
Steer with where you touch it. Through the centre to go straight, slightly left or right of centre to change direction. Put your sole on top to stop the ball or turn it.
Use both feet and every surface: inside, outside and sole. Switch feet as you go so you can move either way.
Take quick, short steps and keep your body level. Don't bounce up and down or weave wider than you need to. In one motion-capture study of under-13 players, the faster dribblers touched the ball more often (about 3 times a second vs 2.3), took quicker strides, and moved their body less up and down and side to side.
Head up
Keep your head steady and glance up between touches to see your path, open space and opponents. Glance down just before you touch the ball so you make clean contact.
eyes forward most of the time, a quick look down to touch.
Scan before, during and after you get the ball so you already know where the space is and when to move or turn.
Change pace
Change speed and direction. Go slow to fast, fast to slow, stop dead and start again, cut left, cut right or turn 180 degrees. That change is what beats a defender.
Stay low when you change direction. Keep your weight near the middle of your body rather than throwing it far to one side, so your next move can be quick.
When space opens, drive the ball into it straight away. In open space you can switch to running with the ball: push it several yards ahead, run onto it and lift your head while it rolls.
If a defender is tight and there's no space, shield. Turn side-on, keep your body between them and the ball, and hold the ball on your far foot with the sole on top.
Feel it
Quick, light steps with the ball right with you, touched again within a stride or two. Your body stays loose and level, not bouncing. Your eyes are up most of the time and only drop for the touch. If the ball runs away from you, make the touches smaller; if you feel stuck on the spot, look for space and push into it.
Fix-its
- Ball runs away from you Your touches are too big. Tap it through the middle with the front of the foot and touch it more often, roughly every stride or two in tight space.
- Stuck on the spot, too slow Touches too short or no change of pace. When space opens, push the ball into it and accelerate.
- Staring at the ball Head down the whole time. Look up between touches and only glance down for contact. Play the 15x15 m dribbling game below, where you have to spot other players' loose balls.
- Stiff and bouncing Upright, rigid body that bobs up and down. Get on the balls of your feet, bend your knees slightly, relax, and take quicker, shorter steps.
- Only uses the strong foot You can only go one way, so you are easier to read. Practise switching feet and using the inside, outside and sole of both feet.
Drill
- Ball mastery: in a 15x15 m area, everyone with a ball, dribble into open space without bumping into anyone. Switch the ball between feet with the inside, then with the soles. Then push it out with the outside of one foot and roll it back with the sole of the same foot, alternating feet. Head up, eyes forward.
- Foot switch on call: in a 30x20 m area, dribble freely and change feet each time a partner or coach calls "change".
- Meet in the middle: two cones 15 m apart, one player and ball at each. Dribble toward each other, go around each other in the middle and carry on to the far cone. Two runs with the right foot, two with the left, then three per foot using only the outside.
- Keep your ball: in a 15x15 m area, dribble for one minute while trying to knock other players' balls out and keep your own. Lose yours and you're out. Shrink the area to make it harder.
- Dribble attack: 3v3 in a 30x20 yd grid, every attacker with a ball, trying to dribble past the defenders. Swap roles after each round (one-minute rounds for U6, up to five-minute rounds for U14).
By position
Every outfield player needs it: it's how you keep the ball when a defender is close and no pass is on. Players whose job is to carry the ball forward and take people on will use it most often.
Sources
- US Youth Soccer — Skills School Manual: Dribbling, Running with the Ball, Shielding, Fakes and Feints (2017)
- FIFA Training Centre — Branimir Ujevic: Mastering ball control (2024)
- FIFA Training Centre — Anton Corneal: Building relationships between the surfaces of the boot (2025)
- England Football Learning — Moving with the ball and turning session: moving with deception (2025)
- Zago et al. — Dribbling determinants in sub-elite youth soccer players, Journal of Sports Sciences (2016)
- Zago et al. — Determinants of the half-turn with the ball in sub-elite youth soccer players, Sports Biomechanics (2016)
Last checked 2026-10-26.