The double step over is two step-overs in quick succession, one with each foot: each foot sweeps around the front of the ball and plants on the far side, then you take the ball away the other way. Two fakes in a row can shift a defender's weight more than one, which opens the space to go past them. The ball stays where it is until your final touch.
Set up
Dribble at the defender with the ball close, head and eyes up so you can read their position.
Ball close, eyes on the defender.
Start the move early, before you are right on top of the defender, so you still have room to go past.
Room to work, not crowded.
Arrive slightly behind the ball and a little to one side of it, knees soft and weight on the balls of your feet.
Low and ready to move either way.
Step-overs
Plant one foot beside the ball and sweep the other foot around the front of it without touching it. That is step-over one.
Foot low and quick over the ball.
Let your hips and shoulder go with that foot, as if you are leaving that way.
Your whole body tells the same lie.
Plant the foot that just went around the ball, then sweep your other foot around the front of the ball the other way. That is step-over two.
Plant, swap, sweep. No pause between.
As the defender leans, push the ball away with the outside of the foot that did not make the last step-over, so you go opposite to the last fake.
The touch goes where your last fake did not.
Drive the ball into the space and accelerate past the defender.
Slow sell, fast exit.
Feel it
It should feel like a quick side-to-side rhythm: foot around, plant, other foot around, then a sudden change of direction and pace. Your upper body sells each fake as much as your feet do. If there is no real change of direction and speed at the end, the defender just waits and the move is wasted.
Fix-its
- Slow, unconvincing step-overs Keep each foot low and quick around the ball. A big, high lift takes longer and gives the defender time to read it.
- Only the feet move Drop your shoulder and lean your hips with each step-over. Defenders read the upper body early, so it has to go with the fake.
- No change of direction or pace after Finish with a touch away from your last fake and sprint. A double step-over without an exit is just standing still.
- Starting too close to the defender Begin the step-overs a little earlier so there is still space to push the ball into before they can reach it.
- Kicking the ball during the step-overs Sweep around the front of the ball, not into it. The ball should stay still until your exit touch.
Drill
- Stationary: alternate double step-overs around a still ball, focusing on low, quick feet and a clean plant each time. Then add the exit touch with the outside of the other foot.
- Walk-in: dribble slowly at a cone, do the double step-over a short distance before it, and exit past it. Practise exiting to both sides.
- Ball-mastery square: everyone dribbles freely in a marked area with cones. At each cone or team-mate, do a double step-over and go past.
- Into traffic: in a narrow grid, players dribble towards each other from opposite ends and use the double step-over to get by, starting the move early.
- 1v1: a partner or coach defends. Do the double step-over, then change pace and direction past them. Only count it if you get past with the ball.
Sources
- The Soccer Handbook (Bryan Coe) — The Double Step Over
- Jackson, Barton, Ashford & Abernethy — Stepovers and Signal Detection, Frontiers in Psychology (2018)
- FIFA Training Centre (Branimir Ujevic) — Mastering ball control (2024)
- FIFA Training Centre — Polonia Warsaw: Quiet coaching, joy and 1v1 development (2026)
- Sportplan — Running with the ball: Stepovers
- University of Tsukuba (Nakayama, Taga et al.) — research news on "Interpersonal motion characteristics of experienced and beginner ... soccer players in scissors feinting" (2026)
Last checked 2026-10-26.