Touch is what the top players in soccer have and what all the other players try to achieve. A player such as the Netherlands' Dennis Bergkamp provided an electrifying example of the value of a good touch in the 1998 World Cup versus Argentina. The forward hauled in a 50-yard pass with his extended right foot, deftly lowered the ball to the ground, cut it back to fake the defender out of the play and lofted the ball into the goal. With practice you can work to achieve your own best level at touching the ball and make enormous contributions to your team.
Step 1
Practice juggling the ball, touching it in the air with the top of first one foot and then the other. Work to increase the number of times you can tap the ball without it falling to the ground from just once or twice to dozens and then hundreds of juggles.
Step 2
Perform step-ups, placing the sole of one foot and then another on top of the ball rapidly. Touch the ball so lightly that it doesn't move at first. Progress to lightly raking the ball with your cleats so it rolls forward, backward and side to side, always under control.
Step 3
Dribble at a slow pace, walking with the ball, softly pushing the ball the way you want it to go. Nudge the ball gently in different directions, always keeping it within a stride's length, recommends Sam Snow, the director of coaching education for US Youth Soccer, in "Coaching Youth Soccer."
Step 4
Work with a partner on receiving the ball correctly. Set up a grid 10 yards square marked by plastic cones. Ask the partner to the pass you the ball. Touch the ball when it arrives with the outside of your foot so it travels about a yard to the right or left of your feet, so you can pounce on it and pass, dribble or shoot, recommends Michael Parker, soccer coach at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, in "Premier Soccer." Pass the ball back and keep moving in the grid. Progress from this two-touch pattern to a one-touch pattern of passing the ball back immediately. "Remember: The fastest soccer you can play is one-touch soccer," Parker stresses.
Step 5
Add a third player to the exercise to make it more game-like. Pass with your partner while the added player defends the person with the ball. Work to control the ball by taking your first touch at an angle away from the defender followed by a second-touch pass back to your partner.
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