Receive, Half-Turn, Pass
Play the wall, open the body as the ball comes back, take the first touch across the body through a gate and pass again: the midfielder's half-turn off a wall.
Hear the coach on this drill
Every line the Audio Coach says in this drill, played back to back; the time beside each is when it comes in the 10-minute drill. No account needed.
Set-up
Five steps back from a bare wall or a rebounder with two cones a step apart beside the player as a gate, one ball, a hard floor or thin carpet so the ball returns, and nothing breakable near. The parent stands by the wall, where the pass comes from, to watch the shoulder open.
What you need
- 1 soccer ball
- A wall or rebounder
- 2 cones or shoes
The ground: 15 × 10 ft (about 5 × 3 m). One child can run it alone in a backyard. The space and equipment check lists every drill that fits the ground you have.
How to run it
- Set up. Five steps from a wall, with two cones a step apart beside you as a gate. One ball, nothing breakable near.
- Play and open. Pass to the wall. As the ball comes back, open the hips and shoulder towards the gate before it arrives.
- Touch across. Take the first touch with the far foot, across the body and through the gate. One touch, one turn.
- Pass again. Pass back to the wall from the far side of the gate and repeat the other way. Ten each side.
- Check the shoulder. Glance over the shoulder at the gate before every pass to the wall. Head up, then ball.
- Count it. One minute counting clean turns through the gate with one touch. Write it down.
Coaching points
- The body opens while the ball is travelling, so the touch is the turn
- First touch with the far foot, across the body, through the gate
- A look over the shoulder before every pass: know where you are going before the ball arrives
What to watch: Receiving square-on to the wall and turning after the touch. The body opens as the ball travels, so the first touch is already the turn.
Common mistakes
- Receiving square-on to the wall and turning after the touch, which is turning late
- Taking the touch with the near foot so the body has to turn twice
- No look over the shoulder before the pass, so the turn is blind
- A heavy first touch that goes past the gate
- Passing the wall too hard, so the return cannot be opened onto
What good looks like
A good target: 12 clean half-turns through the gate in 60 seconds, first touch with the far foot each time.
Progressions and variations
Making it harder
- Level 1: Pass, stop the ball, turn through the gate, pass again
- Level 2: The touch and the turn as one, at a walk
- Level 3: The shoulder check before every pass
- Level 4: A sibling calls 'left' or 'right' as the ball travels and the turn goes that way
- Level 5: Two gates, one either side, chosen on the call
- Level 6: Fifteen clean turns in a minute, first touch with the far foot every time
Alone, with a sibling, or in a group
- Solo: a wall, a shoe gate and a phone timer, chasing clean turns in a minute.
- Sibling: one serves by hand or foot in place of the wall, calling 'left' or 'right' for the gate.
- Co-op: pairs on the wall, one turning and one watching the shoulder, swapping each minute.
Adjusting it by age
- U14: Three steps from the wall, a soft pass, and the turn broken into pass, open, touch, with the shoulder the only correction. One gate, one side at a time.
- U18: Two gates and a call as the ball travels, played at pace, then straight into the outside-of-the-foot pass so the turn ends in a disguised ball.
For the parent running it
- Stand where the pass comes from and watch the shoulder. It should open to the room before the ball arrives, not after the touch.
Safety
- A bare wall, never a window wall, and nothing breakable along the line of the turn
- Shoes with grip; the turn on a smooth floor in socks slides
More on training safely at home: Safety at Home.
Related drills
Half-Turn Diamond
Check away, receive side-on with the back foot, and play forward on the second touch.
Wall First Touch
Pass into a wall and kill the returning ball dead with one touch, then play it back with the next.
Sole Stop and Wall Pass
Pass against a wall and stop the return dead under the sole, then pass again: the first touch a futsal player uses on every ball that comes to them on a hard floor.
Pivô Hold-Up and Lay-Off
Receive with your back to goal like a futsal pivô, stop the ball under the sole while shielding it, and lay it off first time to a runner arriving from behind.
Run it with the Audio Coach
In Spatrian the Audio Coach talks your player through this drill while they play it, and each run goes on their own training record, which their coach or personal trainer can read and, for a homeschool family, counts as PE time. The beta is opening to a small first group of players and families.