Keeping the ball in the air with your feet, and later your thighs, without letting it hit the ground. Youth coaching programs teach it early as a ball-familiarity and coordination practice, and it's a fun way to get lots of touches on your own. Be honest about what it does: in one six-week training study, players got better at juggling but not at receiving a ball, and in two other studies juggling scores were only weakly, or not at all, linked to how coaches and teammates rated players. So juggle for touch and fun, and practise receiving separately.
Start simple
Stand tall and get ready to move. Upper body upright, standing knee slightly bent, arms bent and held out a little at your sides for balance. Stay up on your toes so you can shuffle to the ball.
light on your feet, not planted.
Hold the ball, drop it and let it bounce once. Starting with a bounce gives you time to get your foot ready. Practise on firm ground; a ball won't bounce properly on mud.
Lift your kicking knee a little so your foot comes just off the ground, and meet the ball low. One coaching guide puts the contact point about 20–30 cm off the ground, well below your knee.
you're waiting for the ball to come down to your foot, not reaching up for it.
Keep your foot firm and tap directly under the ball with your laces. The top of your foot should be flat under the ball, so it goes straight up instead of forward. Coaches differ on the toe: some say point the toes slightly up (the ball gets a little backspin and comes back toward you), others say extend the foot and keep it flat so the ball doesn't spin. Either works if the foot stays firm and flat under the ball.
a soft tap under the ball, not a kick through it.
Tap it softly back up and catch it. Aim for a small pop that stays below your hip. Low touches are easier to read and keep the ball close.
Build it up
Add touches one at a time. Bounce, tap, bounce, tap, catch. Then try two taps before a bounce. Repeat each version several times with each foot before moving on.
Take the bounce away. Drop the ball and tap it back before it hits the ground, then build up to two, three, four taps before you catch it.
Alternate feet: right, left, right. Keep each tap low and straight up so the next foot has an easy ball. Shuffle your feet to stay under the ball instead of stretching for it.
Once your feet are steady, add your thighs. Lift the knee so the top of your thigh is the surface and pop the ball straight up, then let it drop back to your foot. This is a pop, not the cushioning touch you use in Thigh Control.
Leave heading out until you're old enough and coached. England's FA says no heading in training under 12, then up to five headers in one session a week at U12–U13. US Youth Soccer's guidelines also hold off formal heading practice for young players. Follow the rules where you play.
Feel it
Soft, low taps that rise straight up and drop back to where you are, so you barely have to move. You're on your toes, making small shuffles to stay under the ball. Your upper body stays upright and relaxed, arms out a little for balance, eyes on the ball. If the ball runs away from you, the problem is usually where your foot met it, not how hard you tried.
Fix-its
- Ball shoots forward away from you You're kicking through the back of the ball. Tap directly under it with the top of your foot flat, and lift your knee instead of swinging your leg forward.
- Ball spins off to the side Your foot is tilted or you're hitting the ball off-centre. Keep the foot firm and the laces flat under the middle of the ball.
- Touches go too high You're hitting too hard. Use a soft tap and keep the ball below your hip; high balls come down faster and are harder to control.
- Flat-footed, always lunging for the ball Get up on your toes and take small adjusting steps so your body is under the ball before it drops.
- You can't get past a couple of touches Totally normal early on. Go back to one bounce between touches, then take the bounces out one at a time.
Drill
- Bounce ladder: bounce, tap, catch. Then bounce, tap, bounce, tap, catch. Build to 3, then 4 taps. Several rounds on each foot.
- No-bounce ladder: drop, tap, catch. Build to 2, 3, 4 taps before catching, then alternate right and left feet.
- Height control: juggle keeping the ball below your hip, then switch to keeping it above your knee every touch.
- Foot and thigh: alternate right foot, left foot, then right thigh, left thigh. As a game, race a friend to a cone 10 m away and back while juggling; if the ball drops, sit on it before you carry on.
- Partner juggling: keep one ball up between two of you and count the passes. Harder version: when you pass, call 1, 2 or 3, and your partner must juggle that many times before passing back. Play for 90 seconds, no headers.
Sources
- Soccer Coach Weekly, Dave Clarke — Soccer juggling drills for better ball control (n.d.)
- easy2coach — Juggling alternating left and right (n.d.)
- FIFA Training Centre, Branimir Ujevic — Mastering ball control (2024)
- FIFA Training Centre, Paul Holocher — Christchurch United FC: Scan to play forward (2026)
- FIFA Training Centre, Angelo Schirinzi — Beach soccer #03: Juggling (2023)
- US Youth Soccer Coaching Education Department — Skills School: Fundamental Ball Skills (age-group topics; heading guidelines)
- England Football (The FA) — Heading guidance (2021, current page)
- Raastad, Aune & van den Tillaar — Effect of practicing soccer juggling with different sized balls upon performance, retention, and transfer to ball reception, Motor Control (2016)
- Fumoto & Kumagai — Does a player whose ball juggling skill is the best show the best ability in a soccer game?, Football Science 11 (2014)
- Dragosavljevic, Sekulic & Ilic — Validity of soccer specific skill tests, Sport and Health 13 (2018)
Last checked 2026-10-26.