Turn and Toe Poke
Receive a ball off the wall with your back to the target, turn with a sole drag, and finish with a toe poke through a cone gate before a defender could close: the pivô's quickest finish.
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
A cone gate a big step wide against one wall as the goal, and the child about eight steps out facing the opposite wall, so the gate is behind them. Shoes on, always: the finish is struck with the front of the shoe. A hard floor suits the toe poke best.
What you need
- 1 futsal ball or soccer ball
- A flat wall
- 2 cones
The ground: 30 × 15 ft (about 9 × 5 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. A cone gate a big step wide against a far wall, and a start line about eight steps out facing the near wall.
- Pass and receive. Facing the near wall with the gate behind, pass into the wall and receive the return.
- Sole turn. Stop the ball with the sole and drag it back behind the standing leg, turning to face the gate.
- Toe poke. Straight out of the turn, strike through the middle of the ball with the toe, no backswing.
- Both ways. Turn to the right for ten, then to the left for ten.
- Count it. Twenty finishes, counting how many go through the gate below the knee. Write the number down.
Coaching points
- The turn and the strike are one movement, with no settling touch between
- Strike through the middle of the ball so it stays low
- Shoes on every time, because the contact is the hard front of the shoe
What to watch: A big backswing after the turn. The toe poke comes straight out of the turn with almost no wind-up; a long swing gives the defender the time the drill is about taking away.
Common mistakes
- A big backswing after the turn, which gives a defender time
- A settling touch between the turn and the strike
- Striking under the ball, so it lifts over the gate
- Turning only one way
- Striking with a bare foot or soft shoes
What good looks like
A good target: 14 of 20 toe pokes through the gate below the knee, turning both ways.
Progressions and variations
Making it harder
- Level 1: A still ball, sole drag turn only, no shot
- Level 2: Turn and toe poke from a still ball
- Level 3: The full drill off the wall at walking pace
- Level 4: Fourteen of twenty through the gate
- Level 5: A parent closes from behind as the ball comes off the wall
- Level 6: Shrink the gate to a single shoe width wider than the ball
Alone, with a sibling, or in a group
- Solo: twenty finishes and a count, then shrink the gate.
- Sibling: one plays the ball in instead of the wall and then steps forward to close, the other turns and finishes.
- Co-op: a line of finishers taking turns, with a passive defender arriving later each round.
Adjusting it by age
- U14: Learn the sole drag turn on its own first, and toe poke only from a still ball.
- U18: Add a closing defender and a shot clock: the shot must be off within a second of the turn.
For the parent running it
- A cone gate about a big step wide at one end of the floor, and a wall behind the child at the other end. Shoes on, always: the finish is struck with the front of the shoe.
Safety
- Shoes on every time: the toe poke uses the hard front of the shoe
- Nothing breakable on either wall
More on training safely at home: Safety at Home.
Why it matters
Futsal leaves no time for a big backswing, so the finishes that score are the quick ones that come straight out of a turn.
Related drills
Target Practice
Set up targets (cones, water bottles) in a goal area. Shoot from 8-12m trying to hit them.
Shooting from the Box
Receive pass and shoot from various positions inside the box.
Toe Poke Finish
Shoot with the toe of the shoe into a small gate against a wall, from a still ball and then a rolling one: the quick finish futsal players use when a defender is close.
Toe Taps & Sole Rolls
Alternate tapping the top of the ball with each foot (toe taps), then roll the ball forward/back with the sole.
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.