Coaching guide · 6 min read
Master your game: 5 proven drills to sharpen your first touch and ball control
First-team coach · 12 September 2026
Every Saltmarsh session starts the same way: ball at feet, head up, first touch into space. It sounds simple, but the difference between a good touch and a great one is the difference between keeping possession and chasing shadows. Here are the five drills our academy uses every week — all you need is a ball and a few metres of grass.
1. The welcome mat
Drop the ball from your hands and cushion it dead with alternate feet. Ten touches per foot, three rounds. The goal isn’t softness for its own sake — it’s learning to meet the ball instead of letting it hit you.
2. Outside-inside shuttles
Two cones, five metres apart. Push the ball with the outside of the right foot, receive with the inside of the left, and go again. Keep your hips open so you can see the imaginary pitch while you move.
3. Turn-and-go gates
Receive a rolled ball side-on, take your first touch through a gate of cones behind you, and accelerate out. This is the derby goal in miniature — touch, turn, finish — and our U16s rep it fifty times a week.
4. Wall-ball rhythm
One-touch, two-touch, thigh-and-volley against a wall. Count your longest rally and chase it. Players who reach fifty without a mistake earn their name on the academy board in the clubhouse.
5. Pressure pockets
Two attackers keep the ball from one defender in a tight square. The lesson: a good first touch buys time, and time is the one thing defenders can’t give back.
Practise any three of these for fifteen minutes before training and you’ll feel the difference within a month. Better still — come and practise them with us. Trial sessions run on the first Tuesday of every month.
