One Touch Soccer

I was talking with a young coach before a training session one day this past June. He was extolling the skills of his team and how he hoped one day they would be capable of playing one touch soccer. I asked, "why not today?" This took him by complete surprise and immediately a stream of excuses were issued. We ended up with a friendly wager of an adult beverage should I be able to get his team playing one touch soccer by the end of that training session. He was feeling pretty smug as I had no time to plan for anything and limited knowledge of his team.  I knew this much, the team's technical skills were adequate and the only reason they had not been successful with one touch play to date was that no one had unlocked the secret for them.

Here are the keys to playing one-touch soccer..

1) Ball movement is predicated on player movement.

This is simple common sense. The player receiving the ball must know where he will play it next before his first (and only) touch.  Therefore, his teammates wishing to be played to must move to be in his vision early, before his head goes down to play the ball.

2) Prepare to play.

Whenever possible position yourself to receive the ball across your body. We call it being a back footed player. With your hips open to as much of the field as possible you should have a variety of options for play. Select the best one.

3) Play the way you face.

Follow Johan Cruyff's advice and just keep it simple.  This is difficult to do until we unlock the secrets. Then it is indeed simple... and a beautiful way to play.

4) Technical excellence.

You are only getting one touch on the ball so it must be a great one.  Toes up. Heel down. Strike through the ankle bone.

5) Intelligent support.

Move to once again position yourself in the vision of a teammate you expect will be receiving / playing the ball shortly.  It might or might not be the player receiving the ball next. You might need to read the game and anticipate 2 to 3+ passes ahead.

Once you get a team following these 5 steps one touch play can become a routine and normal part of your game. It often involves reprogramming a players thought process, but can be accomplished to a degree in relative short order.

Oh yeah, I enjoyed a Samuel Adams at my friends expense.  ;)    It wasn't perfect or even great but the progress made in one training session was significant enough to get the point across.