HANDLING THE BALL FROM AIR DRILL

Controlling a ball dropping down from the air is a skill the best players have to have. And to be able to master this as a midfielder especially, is one of the smartest things to do. But every other position is going to benefit from mastering this too. 

It’s going to help you make better and quicker decisions. The more you practice this, the more you are going to get comfortable in game situations where the ball is coming down from the air, with pressing defenders running towards you. Which also means that things are going to slow down, that leads to quicker and more right decisions  – no matter your position. But if you as a midfielder want to control the game, this is perfect for you. It also really helps and improves your overall technique.

A similar drill that compliments this drill  very well is our ball control from air drill. Training both is going to give you some of the best tools as a controlling player.

Before we get into the exact description of the drill, here are just key points to make the drill as optimal as possible: Firstly you have to be a little bit creative and visual for the drill to work. Secondly the way to progress this drill is to challenge yourself by throwing or maybe even kicking the ball higher up in the air. If this is all too easy, try challenging yourself with orientation, by just looking over your shoulder once or twice while the ball is in the air. Because if this is built in as a habit, we promise that it’s going to benefit you so much as a player, and especially midfielder. And you have to be a little bit creative and visual for it to work.

Okay so now we got that straight, here is how the drill is executed. There are two variants of the drill, one where it’s just a touch or control to get out of the box, and one where it’s a touch and control to get out of the box, dribble around a cone, and then into the box again, precisely shown in the video above. It is our recommendation to start with the no dribble one, as warming up and to ease into the drill, and then transition over to the extended dribble version. Let’s say your plan is to spend 15 minutes working on drill, then use 5 minutes on the first one, then 10 minutes on the second one.

In both versions of the drill you should also switch between taking one control-touch inside the box to then accelerate out, and taking the ball out of the box on the first touch. Both ways are essential to practice.

And lastly also make sure to switch up so that you practice all the directions, different angels and turns. Like we’re saying BE CREATIVE. Imagine that a defender is chasing you, and you have to get away from him. Small body feints and shoulder drops is not a bad idea to practice here also. The last part of the video above shows all the examples of how it can be done.