Drag control is a directed first touch. As a ground pass arrives, you put your sole on it and roll it sideways across your body, away from pressure, so the control and the change of direction happen in one touch. Coaching manuals call this kind of touch a directed or orientated control. It is not the Drag Back (you pull the ball backwards to reverse while dribbling) or the Drag Push (a dribbling feint that drags the ball across, then pushes it back with the outside of the same foot). We read your receiving motion, your open body and your balance on the standing leg; the sole contact itself isn't visible to the camera.
Set up
Before the pass arrives, look left and right. Know where the defender is and where the space is, so you've picked the drag direction before the ball reaches you.
Check, then receive.
Open your body toward the side you plan to take the ball. Your body shape should match the direction you want to go.
Open toward the drag.
Move onto the pass instead of waiting still. Get your body behind the line of the ball, knees flexed, eyes on the ball.
Meet it, don't wait for it.
Drag
Settle on your standing leg with the knee bent and your arms slightly out. That leg is your firm point of balance for the touch.
Soft knee, steady base.
Lift the toes of your receiving foot and meet the top of the ball with your sole. Keep the foot relaxed and let it give a little as the ball arrives, so you take the pace off instead of stamping on it.
In the same touch, roll the ball sideways across the front of your body, toward your standing-foot side and away from the defender. If the sole feels risky on a fast pass, the inside of the foot across the body does the same job.
Receive and roll in one move.
Keep the roll short so the ball stays within reach. If a defender is close, keep your body between them and the ball, with the ball on the foot farther from them.
Play your next touch with the other foot, head up, and go into the space before the defender can recover.
Drag and go.
Feel it
It should feel like one action: the ball arrives under a soft sole and is already rolling toward the space you picked. Your weight stays over a bent standing leg, your body is between the defender and the ball, and your next touch is ready. If you stop the ball first and then move it, the defender gets time to recover.
Fix-its
- You stop it dead, then drag (two actions) Pick the direction before the ball arrives by looking first. Start rolling the ball as your sole touches it. A plain stop lets the defender get back into position.
- The ball bounces off or rolls under your foot Get behind the line of the ball, toes up, foot relaxed, and let it give slightly on contact. Practise with slower passes or a futsal ball, which bounces less.
- You wobble or fall away from the ball Bend the standing knee, arms slightly out, and keep your weight over the standing foot until the drag is done.
- You drag it toward the defender Look before you receive and open your body away from pressure. Drag to the side away from the defender and keep the ball on your far foot.
Drill
- Partner passes: a partner passes along the ground; receive with the sole, drag it to one side, pass back. Swap roles. Use both feet and change drill every 5 minutes.
- Ball mastery: one ball each in a 30x20m area. Move the ball from one foot to the other with the sole while moving, head up.
- Directed control to finish: a partner passes firmly from the side. Run in, fake at a cone, drag the first touch toward goal and shoot. Run it from both sides so you use both feet.
- Add a defender: first the defender only shadows you, then defends passively, then defends for real. Drag away from the side they are on.
- Game: 4v4 plus 1 neutral attacker in a 20x20m area. Everyone takes at least two touches, and the neutral player must take a directed first touch every time. Option: everyone must touch the ball with the sole before passing.
Sources
- FIFA — Futsal Coaching Manual (4.2 Control: directed control exercises)
- FIFA Training Centre, José Venancio López — Control under pressure (futsal, 2023)
- FIFA Training Centre, Jacqueline Dünker — Directing the ball with the first touch (2023)
- FIFA Training Centre — Anton Corneal: Building relationships between the surfaces of the boot (2025)
- The FA — Futsal for Schools resource cards (2019)
- England Football Learning — How using the sole of the foot can benefit players (2023)
- US Youth Soccer Coaching Education Department — Skills School: Fundamental Ball Skills (Receiving: sole wedge, redirecting across the body)
Last checked 2026-10-26.