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Developing receiving skills in young players
FA youth coach developer Suey Smith outlines how to improve ball control in the foundation-phase group.
When we talk about receiving, we’re discussing the moment a player gets possession of the ball.
Usually, this is the result of a deliberate pass by a team-mate, but it can happen when a team is out of possession, and in moments of transition, too.
Players who want to be good at receiving must be able to adjust their body position and immediately control the ball.
Receiving is fundamental in soccer, so we must create an environment where players are capable and confident of receiving the ball in different situations and making their own decisions.
In the foundation phase, which covers ages 5-11, mastering the body, and then mastering the ball, is a process we need to be aware of in these developing players.
We need them to feel confident with the ball, first in unopposed situations, and then move onto different experiences that resemble game-like situations.
It’s important to help players with their awareness of space, time and tactics. As they progress through the age groups, they may start with receiving to beat a player 1v1, then receiving to pass, and then receiving to shoot.
Exposing young players to two or three core moves will help them learn how to use their body and adopt certain tactics to beat a player, as well as supporting their receiving skills.
As they get older and more confident, they will not only start to understand their strengths and weaknesses in receiving, but learn to disguise the ball with how they receive, making it harder for their opponent to react.
We don’t need to reinvent the wheel to support our young players in receiving the ball, we just need to help them explore different ways they can do it, within the realism of the game.
Let’s break down those various ways.
Top tips to support receiving skills
Practice
Provide players with the opportunity to repeat basic receiving skills.
Height, speed and timing will be altered during their growth. Build 10 minutes into your sessions where the players can refine and maintain their skills.
Environment
The players will need confidence and support. They will be aware they have not controlled the ball and may also show signs of frustration.
Allow mistakes to happen. Talk to the players, as well as their parents, and reassure them. Create an environment that will allow them to feel safe.
Rotate positions
They may have enjoyed being a defender, and receiving the ball in front of them.
What difference would playing in midfield make to how they receive? Exposing them to different positions on the pitch will support their development and skillset.
Agility, balance and co-ordination
Think about how we pass a ball and how we then receive it.
Most of the time we’re stood on one foot keeping our balance.
Use tag games and balancing games as warm-up activities, and where possible use a ball. Make this area fun to develop their ‘ABCs’.
Types of practices and their benefits
Unopposed (e.g. passing and receiving in pairs)
- Repetition
- Master the body and ball
- Predicable, unopposed or very limited pressure
- May be useful when learning new techniques or revisiting them
- Can give a feeling of success
- Contacts with the ball are controlled and guaranteed
- Narrow focus/specific
- Could be used as a starting scaffold for more complex practices.
Unopposed with interference (passing and receiving within pairs, but with a number of pairs moving about within the same area)
- Gives variable returns
- Fairly unpredictable, supports decision-making
- Ideal for refining skills already learnt
- Elements of tactical development.
Overloads and matched-up (e.g. a 3v2 or 3v3 game)
- Gives game-realistic returns
- More unpredictable
- Good for long-term learning
- Very wide practice of perception skills
- Wider tactical development
- Success not guaranteed.
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Suey Smith
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