The step-over is a feint: you bring one foot over and across the front of the ball without touching it, sell that direction with your upper body, then take the ball the other way with the outside of your other foot. It works because the defender reacts to the fake and is a step behind when you go. We read your balance, how low you stay and how quick and round the foot's path around the ball is. Names vary between coaches: some call this move the scissors. In this app the Scissors lesson starts from a faked outside-of-the-foot touch with the leg looping around the ball, while the step-over starts like an inside-of-the-foot touch.
Set up
Dribble at the defender with your head up, at a slightly slower pace than you want to leave at. The change of pace after the fake is a big part of what beats them.
slow in, fast out.
Start the move early, with a few steps of space still between you and the defender. A step-over takes longer than a simple cut, so starting it when you're right on top of them is too late.
Get yourself slightly behind and to one side of the ball, with the ball neither too far ahead nor tight under your feet.
Fake one way
Plant your standing foot beside the ball with the knee bent. That bent support leg is what you'll push off to accelerate.
Bring your other foot in as if to play the ball with the inside of the foot, then carry it over and across the front of the ball and out to the side, away from the middle of your body. Don't touch the ball. Keep the foot low and close to it: a low, tight foot is what makes the fake look real.
skim over the ball, don't high-step over it.
Angle your shoulders and head the way your foot is going, so the defender sees you about to leave that way. Keep your hips under you rather than throwing your whole weight over, or you won't be able to come back.
Go the other way
Land the stepping foot beside the ball on the far side. It is now your standing foot, and the foot you planted first is free.
Take the ball the opposite way with the outside of your other foot, into the space the defender has left, then accelerate after it. Drive into the space as soon as it appears.
the touch out and the sprint are one movement.
Feel it
Your foot stays low and close to the ball, your shoulders tell the fake, and your hips stay under you. The defender shifts the way you showed, and the moment your foot lands you're pushing off and away with the ball in front of you. If they don't move, you probably started too late, stepped too high, or only moved your foot.
Fix-its
- Slow, high step Your foot lifts well off the ground and the defender has time to read it. Keep the foot low and close to the ball, skimming over it.
- They don't fall for it Only your foot moved. Angle your shoulders and head the way of the fake as the foot crosses the ball.
- Can't get back the other way You threw your hips and weight over with the fake. Sell it with the upper body and keep your hips under you, with the standing knee bent.
- No burst out of it Same speed before and after. Approach a little slower, then push off the landed foot and speed up after the touch out.
- Defender takes the ball mid-move You started on top of them. Begin the step-over earlier, with a few steps of space, and do it as they commit their weight.
Drill
- Still ball: step over and take the ball away with the outside of the other foot, slowly. 4 reps leading with each foot, then speed up.
- Walk, then jog, then run with the ball, doing a step-over every time you change direction.
- Cone run: one cone about 8 m ahead and one about 10 m ahead as the defender. Dribble at a slow, steady pace, step over at the first cone and speed up past the second. Repeat at different speeds.
- Traffic grid: 15x10 m, players dribbling up and down into oncoming traffic. Use the step-over to get round players coming at you, starting it early.
- 1v1 in a 40x40 m area: 1 point for a goal, 2 if you beat the defender with a step-over and score.
By position
Any player who carries the ball at a defender with some space in front of them can use it. It needs room to start early, so it fits running at a defender more than being pressed tight.
Sources
- The Soccer Handbook (Bryan Coe) — The Double Step Over
- We Make Footballers — How to master a Step Over (2022)
- Jackson, Barton, Ashford & Abernethy — Stepovers and signal detection, Frontiers in Psychology (2018)
- Brault, Bideau, Kulpa & Craig — Detecting deception in movement: the case of the side-step in rugby, PLOS ONE (2012)
- University of Tsukuba (Nakayama, Taga et al.) — research news on the scissors feint in experienced and beginner soccer players (2026)
- MOJO Sports — Soccer 101: How to Do a Step Over
- MOJO Sports (Team MOJO) — How to Do a Scissor (2021)
- Sportplan — Running with the ball: Stepovers
- Coaches' Voice Session Planner — U11 Dribbling + Moves (Step over + Scissor)
- FIFA Training Centre (Branimir Ujevic) — Mastering ball control (2024)
Last checked 2026-10-30.