Improving your first touch is vital for your overall performance. Simply, a poor first touch will cause you big problems as you will not be able to trap a soccer ball in games with high tempo.

In this article I will present several different methods that you can use in order to improve your first touch. Let’s start…

Using a Wall

This one is my favorite because you only need a soccer ball and a small area. In fact, you can even practice on it inside. However, I would recommend you to avoid doing it as you will probably broke a vase or something more valuable that will make your parents pretty angry. 🙂

Using a Small Ball

In South America it is pretty common to use a small ball while practicing on the first touch. However, here in Europe we do not use this way of practicing so often (even if we should).

A small ball is great for practicing on your first touch because you will need to concentrate harder in order to receive the ball properly. That’s why Brazilians soccer players are so skilful with the ball because they generally play soccer with a small ball.

Practicing on Different Surfaces

Here in Sweden we usually play on synthetic grass. However, when changing to regular grass I usually face several problems. One thing I hate is a soccer pitch full of holes that makes the ball pretty hard to control.

When arriving to a soccer match I like to first inspect the soccer field and if I notice many holes I like to go out early and perform some moves, passing etc in order to adapt myself to the pitch.

One thing I have noticed is that I really need to focus more while playing on a pitch full of holes in order to perform well.

However, you should not blame your performance on the soccer pitch (even if the pitch is full of big holes). Instead try to adapt yourself and focus on performing maximum.

Practice With Everything That Looks Like a Soccer Ball

I don’t know about you but I can’t resist kicking on things that have shape of a ball. However, you should avoid kicking heavy things as you may injure yourself.