What Scanning Is — and What It Isn't
Scanning refers to a player's active head and eye movement to gather information about the environment prior to their next ball action: Where are the opponents? Where are my teammates? Where is the space? Research defines it deliberately narrowly: it is the movement of the head away from the ball, with the intention of gathering information — before the ball arrives.
Three distinctions make the concept precise:
Scanning is not a single shoulder check. It is an ongoing rhythm: look, track the ball, look again — multiple times per minute, ideally synchronised with the pulse of the game.
Scanning is not an end in itself. A glance alone achieves nothing if the information is not processed and translated into a decision. Jordet himself highlights this tirelessly: scanning alone is never enough — players must absorb the information and convert it into action.
Scanning is not just a topic for holding midfielders. While research shows positional differences — central midfielders scan the most, strikers the least —, the benefit applies everywhere: the centre-back who spots the pressing runner before receiving, the striker who detects the gap in the defensive line, the goalkeeper who identifies passing options.
In coaching parlance, this was long known as "looking around" or simply "heads up!". Research has provided data to support the phenomenon — giving training sessions clear direction. Explore the fundamentals here: scanning and orientation in football.
The reason this topic is attracting so much attention right now is simple: the game has become tighter and faster. Time on the ball has been declining for years across all levels — if you start thinking only after receiving the ball, you are already too late. The response from elite players is to shift the cognitive work prior to ball contact. That is precisely where scanning comes in: it shifts the competitive edge from the feet into the seconds beforehand.
The Case Study: Geir Jordet and 25 Years of Perception Research
Geir Jordet is a sports psychologist and professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (NIH) in Oslo. Since the late 1990s, he has studied what happens in the minds of footballers before they act — beginning with video analyses of individual players, progressing to large-scale studies in professional football, alongside research on penalties and high-pressure situations. He has collaborated with clubs and federations across Europe and is regarded as the leading authority on the subject.
What makes his work so valuable for coaches is the combination of three elements:
Real matches instead of laboratory tests. Jordet's best-known studies analyse players in actual Premier League fixtures — using cameras that capture behaviour prior to receiving the ball. No reaction lights, no artificial lab conditions: just the game itself.
Large sample sizes. His most extensive study encompasses 1,279 match situations involving 118 Premier League midfielders and forwards — enough to distinguish genuine patterns from random chance.
Practical application. Jordet does not merely conduct research; he works directly with players and academies on trainability — whilst cautioning against oversimplifying his findings. This dual role makes him the ideal benchmark for training that takes perception seriously without turning it into a gimmick.
Key Findings in Numbers
What does the research demonstrate in concrete terms? Here are the central findings coaches can build on:
Scanning separates performance levels. Jordet's early work already revealed that top players scan significantly more often than amateurs. The behaviour scales with playing level — providing strong evidence that it is an integral component of expertise, not merely a byproduct.
Scanning correlates with passing success. In the extensive Premier League study, a positive correlation emerged between scanning frequency and pass completion rate — most notably on demanding passes: forwards, under pressure, in congested spaces. The most striking figure: the most frequent scanners achieved an 80-plus per cent passing accuracy, whereas the least frequent remained below 60.
The best scan the most. Players who had received individual accolades scanned more frequently on average than their peers. Correlation is not causation — yet the pattern remains robust across multiple studies.
Context matters. Scanning frequency varies systematically by position, phase of play, pressure, and available space. Effective scanners adapt their rhythm to the situation — scanning more in central areas before receiving than during a counter-attack down the flank.
For youth coaches, however, the most vital takeaway lies elsewhere: the biographies of top scanners consistently reveal systematic training in early childhood. Perception is a habit — and habits are forged early.
Ødegaard, Haaland, De Bruyne: Three Learning Pathways
Three prominent examples from Jordet's research illustrate how varied the journey towards world-class perception can be:
Martin Ødegaard — the product of deliberate practice. In Jordet's measurements, the Arsenal captain ranks among the most remarkable scanners in the game: almost restlessly searching his surroundings to construct a mental map before receiving the ball. The key is his backstory: Ødegaard practised scanning systematically with his father from around the age of eight — as an intentional habit, long before it became a fashionable research topic. The lesson: what appears to be pure genius was actually a curriculum.
Erling Haaland — the positional exception. Strikers scan the least on average — their primary task is often to target the final gap rather than the entire picture. In Jordet's assessment, this is precisely why Haaland stands out: for a centre-forward, he scans exceptionally often. Once again, this is no accident — Haaland emerged from a club and coaching environment (Bryne, Molde) where youth coaches systematically developed perception. His trademark runs in behind start with his eyes, not his sprint.
Kevin De Bruyne — the master of timing. Jordet describes De Bruyne as a master of scanning — not merely for his frequency, but for his execution quality: glancing at the exact right moment, paired with the ability to translate that information into incisive passes. De Bruyne demonstrates the ultimate objective: progressing from 'how often' to 'when' and 'what'.
Three players, one shared reality: none of them was born with a built-in radar. The habit was constructed — through their environment, deliberate training, and thousands of repetitions. That is an open invitation to every youth development coach.
The Limits of the Numbers: Scanning Does Not Yet Mean Seeing
Before moving to training implementation, heed the most important warning — one that comes directly from Jordet himself: frequency is not everything. Reducing the research to "look around more = play better" creates a fresh problem: players who rotate their heads mechanically without registering anything. They are scanning — but they are not seeing.
Three vital distinctions your training needs:
Quality over quantity. One glance at the right time into the right space beats five frantic head turns. The metric is not the movement, but the information: does the player know where their opponent is standing after looking?
Processing is essential. Between seeing and acting lies understanding. That is why every perception drill must include a decision-making component: the glance must inform a choice, otherwise it is just performance art. Explore the connection in detail: decision-making training in football.
Commands cannot replace design. Constantly shouting "Check your shoulder!" produces mechanical nodding at best. The habit forms through drills where looking is rewarded because it provides a genuine tactical advantage — not because the coach demands it.
This nuance distinguishes effective perception training from a superficial imitation. Research proves that it is worthwhile — your coaching methodology must make it authentic.
When to Scan: The Timing Principle
If the answer is not simply "as often as possible" — when should players scan? Research and practical coaching suggest a clear timing framework:
The final glance before receiving is the most valuable. Information decays in seconds. A look taken three seconds before receiving is ancient history by the time the ball arrives. The critical window: while the ball is travelling — the pass is on its way, the opponent is momentarily committed, and the picture is fresh.
Scan off the ball. The best time to scan is when the player does not have the ball — which is almost always. A rule of thumb for advanced players: reorient immediately after releasing the ball; take at least one fresh glance before every potential reception.
The higher the pressure, the earlier the information must arrive. In central areas, with opponents pressing from behind, the picture must be complete before contact — there is no time left afterwards. Out on the wing, protected by the touchline, the glance can occur slightly later.
Respect positional profiles. A holding midfielder needs a 360-degree picture, a winger monitors the half-space and sideline, a striker tracks the back line and the goalkeeper. Perception training becomes far more effective when it defines specific visual targets for each position.
From Glance to Play: Scanning Across the Four Phases of the Game
Scanning is not an isolated technical skill — it serves a distinct purpose in every phase of play. If you want to integrate it into your tactical identity, align it with the four phases of the game:
In possession. The constant task for all off-the-ball players: being available means being informed. The central midfielder checks their blind spot before showing for the ball; the full-back checks if the flank is clear before receiving a back pass. Coaching rule of thumb: anyone demanding the ball must have a fresh picture.
Attacking transition (winning possession). The most critical seconds of the match — and the window where information has the highest value. The first glance after regaining the ball decides whether a counter-attack develops: Where is the space in behind? Where is the free teammate? Sides can practise this as a set rule: ball recovery = first glance forward. Further reading: Umschaltspiel trainieren.
Out of possession. Defending is perceptual work too: the centre-back alternates their gaze between the ball and the striker running in behind; the defensive midfielder tracks runners into their blind spot. While research highlights attacking benefits, every coach remembers conceding goals that started with an undetected run from deep.
Defensive transition (losing possession). The quickest player in counter-pressing is the one who already knew the team's defensive cover positions during the attack. Rest defence begins with looking while you are still attacking.
This transforms an individual habit into a collective asset: each phase has specific visual priorities, articulated by your game model.
Homework: Scanning Away from the Pitch
The Ødegaard story provides a practical takeaway: his habit was built not only in team sessions, but through thousands of extra repetitions. Here are three tasks players can practise alone or with a partner:
1. Wall passing with peripheral checks. Pass the ball against a wall; before each reception, glance over one shoulder — where a partner holds up fingers or numbered sheets are attached. Call out the number after receiving. Ten minutes, twice a week.
2. Match observation tasks. During the next televised match, spend ten minutes observing only one central midfielder — ignore the ball. Count: How often do they scan before receiving? This trains the eye for their own game far better than any theoretical explanation.
3. The everyday anchor. Simple yet effective: build conscious orientation triggers into daily life — take in the entire room immediately upon entering. Perception is a general habit, and youth players who grasp the concept on the pitch enjoy applying it away from it.
More ideas for individual training: practicing football alone. A brief note on expectations: homework only works when players understand the 'why' — share the professional case studies before setting the tasks, not after.
Excursus: Pressure, Gaze and Penalties
Jordet's second major research domain highlights how closely perception and psychology interact: his studies on penalty shootouts. He examined how penalty takers behave under maximum pressure — uncovering a remarkable finding: many players who miss exhibit avoidance behaviour beforehand. They avert their gaze, rush their run-up, and attempt to get the ordeal over with quickly — depriving themselves of the very visual information and composure the moment demands.
The parallel to scanning is unmistakable: in both scenarios, the challenge is to keep your eyes open under pressure rather than shutting down. Stress narrows visual attention — high-quality training widens it back out. In youth football, this means that perceptual training always doubles as pressure training. The perceptual pressure drills in this guide train both simultaneously: looking when it matters most. For the psychological foundation, see: mental toughness in football.
Coaching Scanning by Age Group
U7 to U9 (ages 5–8): No explicit scanning training — focus instead on perception-rich play environments: small-sided games with four mini-goals where valuable opportunities appear behind players' backs. The 2v2 format in modern youth frameworks provides covert perception training: if you don't look, you miss the open goal. Context: Jugendligen und Spielformen in Deutschland.
U11 (ages 9–10): Playful visual challenges: calling out colours, recognising hand signals, counting games ("How many fingers is the coach holding up while you dribble?"). Integrated entirely into play, nothing mechanical.
U13 (ages 11–12): The ideal starting age for systematic habit formation — Ødegaard's starting age. Rondos with advance information, positional games with perceptual constraints, initial individual targets ("Your job today: one glance before every reception"). Background: Das goldene Lernalter.
U15 (ages 13–14): Position-specific visual targets, game forms that reward an informational advantage, self-observation via video — youth players view their own scanning behaviour for the first time and are routinely astonished.
U17/U19 (ages 15+): Individualisation: scanning profiles per player, video feedback with frequency tracking, linking scanning to tactical responsibilities ("Your first glance when we regain possession: depth in behind").
Six Training Drills with Perceptual Pressure
1. Rondo with Advance Information (U13+). 5v2 rondo; before the ball is played, one of the outside players briefly raises their hand. After their touch, the receiving player must call out who raised their hand. Trains: looking away from the ball while the pass travels. Progression: the player who raised their hand must receive the subsequent pass.
2. Coloured-Goal Dribbling (U11+). Every player dribbles inside the grid, with four different coloured mini-goals on the perimeter. The coach calls a colour — players must finish on that target. Progression: call the colour during an active 1v1 duel. Trains: spatial awareness under motor load.
3. Zonal Receiving Under Pressure (U13+). A player receives the ball in a marked central zone; behind them, a defender triggers a delayed press from either the left or right. Before receiving, the central player must detect where the pressing run originates — and take their first touch away into the open space. Trains: the final glance and translating it into the first touch.
4. Positional Play with Information Bonus (U15+). 6v6 + 2 neutral players. Standard points for pass streaks — but an instant bonus point for any pass played into a space that the passer demonstrably scanned before receiving (the coach tracks two designated players per set). Trains: scanning as a rewarded habit rather than a forced command.
5. Blind-Side Game Format (U15+). 7v7, special rule: goals scored after receiving the ball behind the opposing midfield line count double. Players who want to receive between the lines must constantly monitor the opposition's midfield height. Trains: scanning naturally enforced by the rule structure. Tactical context: positional play for kids.
6. Video Self-Check (U15/U17+). Film a player for ten minutes during a game-based drill (smartphone portrait mode is fine; focus on the player, not the ball). The player then counts their own pre-reception scans. Trains: self-awareness — the most powerful catalyst for behavioural change in youth players. Practical tips: video analysis in amateur football.
A Complete Sample Session (90 Minutes)
Perceptual focus session for a U15 squad:
Block 1 — Warm-up & Activation (15 minutes). Coloured-goal dribbling with layered complexity: start with colour calls, then progress to colours linked to basic arithmetic ("Red for even numbers, blue for odd").
Block 2 — Technique with Vision (20 minutes). Zonal receiving under pressure (Drill 3), running three stations, rotating every six minutes. Guided questioning: "Where did the pressure come from — and at what point did you spot it?"
Block 3 — Positional Play (25 minutes). Positional play with information bonus (Drill 4), two 10-minute blocks. Use a two-minute debrief between sets: "When is the optimal moment to take your glance?"
Block 4 — Match Play (25 minutes). Blind-side game format (Drill 5). Coach observes quietly, noting three specific situations for the review.
Debrief (5 minutes). Briefly review the three scenarios — two successful examples, one learning opportunity. Ask the squad: "How can you tell during a match that a teammate scanned beforehand?"
Planning framework: Trainingseinheit planen.
Coaching: The Language of Perception
Just as in decision-making training, drill design builds the habit, while coaching language sharpens it. Use these proven cues:
- Instead of "Shoulder check!": "Complete your picture before the ball gets to you." — Focus on the information, not just the physical movement.
- Instead of "You need to look around more": "What was behind you when you received the ball?" — Checks whether the glance actually registered information.
- After great actions: "How did you know that was on?" — Reinforces effective scanning and validates it socially within the group.
- As team terminology: "Fresh picture" for the final glance before receiving. Once your team adopts the term, it serves as a subtle reminder without feeling like an order.
And remember the golden coaching rule: praise the scan even if the subsequent pass fails. A player who looked, identified the space, and attempted an ambitious line-breaking pass did the right thing — even if the execution was slightly off. For more on coaching language: Trainerkommunikation und Feedback.
Observing Scanning: Division of Labour in the Coaching Staff
A common practical obstacle limits many grassroots and academy teams: scanning is difficult to monitor while managing a session. A coach organising a 6v6 drill, enforcing constraints, and keeping time cannot simultaneously track the head movements of twelve players. The solution is dividing the workload.
Specific observation tasks for your assistant coach. While the head coach directs the drill, the assistant coach tracks just two designated players per round — focusing solely on perception: Do they scan before the ball arrives? Does their first touch reflect that information? Monitoring two players is realistic; tracking twelve is impossible. Over four weeks, rotate the focus across the entire squad. How this elevates your staff: assistant coach in football.
The three-tier observation log. To keep observations consistent, use a simple three-tier scale per player and session: Level 1 — rarely scans, receives blind. Level 2 — scans regularly, but the information does not visibly guide the action. Level 3 — scans and exploits: first touch, pass selection, and body shape clearly show the picture was registered. While broad, these tiers highlight development across months and ground one-on-one reviews in tangible evidence.
From logs to player assessment. Regularly transferring these notes into your player evaluation process — such as the game intelligence and positioning metrics in Coach OS — builds the exact longitudinal data required for development reviews and squad selections: replacing vague impressions like "he seems sharper" with a documented trajectory over the season.
This transforms scientific insight into an operational club standard: the drill trains the habit, the assistant monitors, the log records the data — and every few weeks, players receive objective feedback on their most subtle skill.
Common Mistakes in Scanning Training
Constant touchline shouting. Shouting "Look around! Look around!" produces mechanical head-turners, not perceptive footballers. Your drill design must reward the glance — rendering verbal commands unnecessary.
Frequency fetish. Counting head turns and chasing high numbers misses the mark. Without information processing, head movement is useless — evaluate seeing, not turning.
Isolated perception gadgets. Strobe glasses and reaction pods train responses to blinking lights — but footballers must read teammates, opponents, and dynamic space. Representative, game-realistic drills outperform gadgets every time.
Too mechanical too soon. Eight- and nine-year-olds need perception-rich games, not visual tracking sheets. Explicit habit training should begin systematically around the U13 stage.
Scanning without execution. Training players to look without integrating the subsequent decision builds a bridge with no far side. Perception, decision-making, and execution belong in the very same drill.
Assuming it only applies to playmakers. Limiting scanning training to central playmakers wastes its potential — defenders and forwards often possess the largest untapped margins for growth.
How to Recognise Progress
- In training: First touches open up towards uncontested space more often. Players articulate clear pictures during debriefs ("I knew their six was pressing from my left"). The blind-side game format produces more bonus goals.
- In matches: Fewer receptions directly into pressure. More positive first touches that bypass defensive lines. Players turn forwards into space instead of playing safe back passes by default.
- On video: The video self-check (Drill 6) delivers objective data per player — repeated twice a season, it makes development visible.
- In assessments: Regularly evaluating perception and game understanding reveals clear seasonal progression curves. Useful tools: player evaluation in football and Spielerentwicklung tracken.
Frequently Asked Questions About Scanning Training
Five Takeaways on Scanning
One final thought before the summary: scanning is a rare coaching topic where empirical research, elite player biographies, and grassroots practice align seamlessly. It demands no extra training time (it embeds directly into existing exercises), zero financial cost, and no specialised equipment — only the commitment to keep it present over months. Few investments in youth football offer a higher return on effort.
1. The data is clear: Frequent and effective scanners complete significantly more passes — over 80 per cent compared to under 60 per cent in Jordet's Premier League study.
2. Scanning is a habit, not a gift — Ødegaard trained it systematically from the age of eight.
3. Quality and timing trump pure frequency: The final glance whilst the pass travels provides the greatest value.
4. Let the drill reward, let the coach question — Non-stop instructions create mechanical nodding; game rules cultivate true perception.
5. Seeing without deciding is half the job — Perception, decision-making, and technical execution must be integrated in the same drill.
All Articles on Perception and Game Intelligence
Coach OS: Perception in Your Training Plan
Scanning turns into second nature when it is embedded into drills week after week — not when it is discussed once as an isolated topic.
Coach OS builds sessions featuring realistic, perception-heavy drills from a library of over 1,244 animated drills — tailored to age and ability. Sketch allows you to diagram custom perception drills, while player assessments help you monitor how game understanding and spatial orientation evolve over time. Season after season.
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