Getting better at football comes down to touches on the ball. A player who does ten minutes of keepy-uppies a day touches the ball far more often than in a whole match. These challenges are for kids who play for a club, adults who want to keep their touch, and parents looking for something to do in the park or the back garden.
Every result gives a measurable task: a distance, a number of reps, a target to hit. Write your scores down from one session to the next; it is the best way to see progress. The Solo variant needs a ball and a wall, the Group variant works for two to ten players.
How to use it
- Warm up for five minutes: light jogging, high knees, gentle dribbling.
- Spin the wheel and complete the challenge with the number of reps shown.
- Write down your score in a notebook or on your phone so you can try to beat it next time.
- Do three or four challenges per session, with a minute’s rest between each, and drink water regularly.
All the options
- Strong-foot keepy-uppies
- Target: 20 in a row with your best foot, never letting the ball rise above hip height. New to it? Allow one bounce on the ground between touches.
- Weak-foot keepy-uppies
- Ten in a row with your weaker foot, in three attempts at most. Keep your ankle locked so the ball comes straight back up.
- Alternate-foot keepy-uppies
- Switch between right and left foot on every touch, aiming for 10 in a row. Count out loud to keep the rhythm.
- Thigh keepy-uppies
- Fifteen touches with alternate thighs, keeping the thigh level at the moment of contact. The ball should not go higher than your chest.
- Wall passes
- Two sets of 30 passes against a wall 4 metres away, inside of the foot, alternating feet. Control with your first touch and pass with your second.
- Directional first touch
- Pass against a wall 5 metres away, then take the return a step to the side before passing again. Ten reps to the right, ten to the left.
- Cone slalom
- Set out six cones or empty bottles a metre apart and dribble through and back five times. Touch the ball in every gap, inside then outside of the foot.
- Target practice
- Pick a target (a corner of the goal, a box against a wall) and take 10 shots from penalty distance (11 metres, or 12 yards), five with each foot. The number of hits becomes your benchmark score.
- Timed dribble
- Dribble 20 metres out and back as fast as you can, three attempts. The ball must stay within one stride of you the whole way.
- Step-overs
- Circle one foot round the outside of the ball, then push off the other way: ten step-overs per foot, standing still then walking. Drop your shoulder with the feint or nobody will buy it.
- Sole taps
- Tap the top of the ball with the sole of your right foot, then your left, on the spot for 30 seconds; three sets. Stay on the balls of your feet with soft knees.
- Wall volleys
- Drop the ball from your hands and volley it against a wall with the inside of your foot before it lands: ten per foot. Aim at knee height to stay in control.
Frequently asked questions
How do you learn keepy-uppies?
Drop the ball from your hands, kick it up once with your laces and catch it. Then move on to two touches with a bounce in between, and finally drop the bounce; ten minutes a day brings visible progress within a few weeks.
What football drills can you do on your own?
Keepy-uppies, wall passes, dribbling through cones and target practice. A wall without windows and a ball are all you need, with no goal or partner.
How long should a solo football session last?
Between 20 and 45 minutes: a five-minute warm-up, three or four challenges, then some gentle stretching. Three short sessions a week beat one long one.
What age are these football challenges suitable for?
The dribbling and passing challenges suit children from 6 or 7, with distances halved. Keepy-uppies and volleys need more coordination, so aim for 8 or 9 and up.