Triple Step Over: Soccer technique, drills and fixes

The triple step over is three step-overs in a row, alternating feet, before you take the ball away the other way. Coaching guides teach step-overs as a move you can repeat as many times as you need, so the third one is a variation of the double, not a separate technique. Each extra step-over costs time, so it only works if you start early, keep the feet low and quick, and finish with a real change of direction and pace.

Set up

Get your single and double step-overs clean on both feet before adding a third.

Master the parts first.

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 earlier than you would for a single step-over. Three fakes take longer, and you need space left 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.

Plant the foot that just went around the ball, then sweep your other foot around the front of the ball. That is step-over two.

Plant, swap, sweep.

Plant again and sweep the first foot around a second time. That is step-over three. With an odd number, your first and third step-overs use the same foot.

Same rhythm all three times. No pause.

Sell each fake with your shoulders and head, but keep your hips under you. Good defenders watch your centre of mass, not your feet.

Shoulders lie, hips stay ready.

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 one even side-to-side rhythm: around, plant, around, plant, around, then a sudden change of direction and pace. The feet stay low and quick, and the shoulders move with each fake. If the step-overs slow down, or there is no burst at the end, the defender just waits and the extra fakes only give them time.

Fix-its

The step-overs slow down by the third Go back to the double until the rhythm is even, then add the third. Keep each foot low around the ball; a high lift takes longer and gives the defender time to read it.
Only the feet move Let your shoulders and head go with each fake. A defender who sees busy feet and a still upper body knows nothing has changed.
Whole body lurches with each fake Keep your hips under you and sell with the upper body. If your weight swings fully onto each fake, you can't push off the other way.
Starting too close to the defender Begin earlier. Three step-overs take longer than one, so start them before you are on top of the defender.
No change of direction or pace after Finish with a touch away from your last fake and sprint. Step-overs without an exit are just standing still.

Drill

Stationary: alternate three step-overs around a still ball, feet low and quick, then add the exit touch with the outside of the other foot. Start with each foot, four times each way.
Walk-in: dribble slowly at a cone, start the three step-overs a little earlier than you think, and exit past it to both sides.
Open area: in a marked area (about 15x15 m), dribble for one minute, using the triple step over at cones and going the opposite way to your last fake.
Into traffic: in a narrow grid (about 15x10 m), players dribble towards each other from opposite ends and use the triple step over to get by, starting early.
1v1: a partner or coach defends. Do the triple step over, then change pace and direction past them. Only count it if you get past with the ball, and compare it with a single step-over against the same defender.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-26.