What is Technique in Football, Really?
Johan Cruyff put it this way: Technique in football isn't about juggling the ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that with practice; they could work in a circus. Technique means passing the ball with one touch – with the correct tempo and to the right foot of a teammate.
That hits the nail on the head. Football technique is not a show-off skill. It's precision under pressure, at the right moment, in the right situation.
In coaching theory, technique is accordingly defined as the ability to apply motor skills purposefully, economically, and in a situationally appropriate manner. Three components work together:
Conditioning and ball control are in a direct reciprocal relationship – connected by the economy of movement. A player who is physically exhausted loses their technique. A player who performs technically inefficiently expends more energy than necessary. Both factors influence each other.
The prerequisite for good ball technique is always good body technique. A player who cannot control their body cannot control the ball.
Ball and Body Technique: The Two Pillars
Football technique is divided into two fundamental areas:
Ball Technique
Everything directly related to the contact between player and ball. Ball technique is what coaches most frequently think about in training – and what players most want to see.
Body Technique
The foundation that is often neglected. Body technique encompasses all motor skills that a player needs without direct ball contact – and which are crucial for whether ball technique functions or not.
Body technique in football is primarily evident in:
- Running: Starting, Sprinting, Stopping, Changes of Direction
- Tackling: Body contact in duels
- Shielding: Balanced use of body weight
- Goalkeeper Technique: Running, Jumping, Diving, Falling
A player who cannot change direction quickly and cleanly will also fail at dribbling – not because their ball control is poor, but because their body doesn't cooperate.
An Overview of Ball Technique Elements
Ball technique can be divided into the following core areas:
Passing & Shooting
Striking the ball – with the inside of the foot, the instep, the outside of the foot, the full instep. Passing and shooting follow the same fundamental biomechanical principles but differ in power application, precision requirements, and pressure.
Often underestimated: The quality of a pass depends less on the shooting technique itself than on the placement of the standing leg, body posture, and gaze at the moment of contact.
Ball Reception & First Touch
The first touch dictates everything that follows. A player with good ball reception gains time and space – they don't have to control the ball, but rather guide it directly into the next action.
This is precisely Cruyff's technique: not stopping the ball, but moving it on. The ball arrives – you already know what happens next.
Throw-in
Hardly practiced in training, although throw-ins can have significant tactical influence during a game. Clean throw-in technique (correct foot placement, full overhead throw, both feet on the ground) can be taught and learned.
Goalkeeper Technique
A complex area of its own: picking up, catching, punching, deflecting, foot saves, goal kicks, throws, drop kicks. The goalkeeper is technically the most demanding position on the pitch – and the one least specifically coached in club training.
Heading Technique
Timing, run-up, body tension at the moment of contact, jump, and direction. Heading is physically demanding and simultaneously closely linked to the player's courage – especially in youth age groups.
Dribbling
Three elements: guiding the ball (in calm situations), driving the ball (in open spaces at speed), beating an opponent with feints. These three application areas require different training forms and should not be treated as a single category.
How Motor Learning Works: The 4 Phases
Understanding how movements are learned and embedded in the brain is the foundation for any meaningful training planning. Anyone who knows these four phases understands why some training methods work – and why others fail.
Phase 1: Setting the Stage for the Target Movement
The player gains an initial understanding of the overall movement sequence. Visual, auditory, verbal, and kinesthetic perceptions form initial excitation fields in the brain – the first mental representations of movement and neural pathways emerge.
What this means for training: In this phase, it's crucial to give the player a clear, correctly executed image of the target movement. Demonstration is more important than explanation. Too many words confuse – a well-executed demonstration leaves a lasting impression.
Mistakes in this phase: Too many technical details at once. The player is not yet able to process everything. A few, clear key points are more effective.
Phase 2: Gross Coordination
The movement sequence acquires its first holistic basic structures. Neurophysiologically, this is referred to as the „phase of irradiation of excitation processes" – excitation processes outweigh inhibitory processes. The result: uneconomical, exaggerated muscle innervation. The movement appears strained, stiff, exaggerated.
What this means for training: Movement sequences are trained holistically, but under reduced conditions – no opponent, no time pressure, no game stress. The goal is the holistic basic pattern of the movement sequence, without yet refining individual phases.
Mistakes in this phase: Applying pressure too early. If the player hasn't yet grasped the basic structure, pressure only intensifies errors – it solidifies them.
Phase 3: Fine Coordination
The individual movement phases acquire their kinematic and dynamic structure. The overall movement sequence becomes increasingly conscious – the player begins to feel what is right and what is wrong.
Methodologically: The holistic basic framework of the gross form is retained, but individual phases and „joint points" of the technique are isolated and practiced separately. The movement ideal is now the ideal type of technique. Learning conditions become relatively standardized.
Key principle in this phase: Fine-tuning = conscious practice. The player must understand the learning objective and the learning process. They should not just execute – they should reflect.
Neurophysiologically, however, the system is still unstable. Fine coordination is susceptible to disruption: fatigue, distraction, new situations can destabilize the movement sequence. Movements still occur under sensory, mostly visual, control – the player watches what they are doing.
Phase 4: Consolidation and Stabilization
The system of movement reactions is solidified. Movement sequences become responsive to external and internal disturbances and acquire a stable structure.
Neurophysiologically, excitation and inhibition processes are automated such that movement sequences can occur without conscious attention. The innervation patterns are „locked in" the cerebral cortex. Movement coordination is stable – attention can be directed to other environmental factors.
What this means: A player who has embedded a pass in Phase 4 no longer needs to think about passing technique. They think about space, teammates, opponents. The technique runs automatically.
Training method in this phase: Practice under changing situations and competitive conditions. Variability is crucial. High responsiveness and adaptability are the goals – not mechanical repetition under always identical conditions.
What the 4 Phases Mean for Training Planning
This sequence is not a theoretical construct – it is the foundation of any meaningful progression in training.
- Introducing a new technique? → Phases 1 and 2: Demonstrate, simplify, practice without pressure.
- Refining technique? → Phase 3: Isolate individual phases, consciously correct, standardized conditions.
- Consolidating technique under pressure? → Phase 4: Game forms, varied situations, competitive conditions.
Anyone who uses full-field pressure in Phase 2 will frustrate their players. Anyone who still only practices without pressure in Phase 4 prevents automatization. The mistake usually lies in incorrect timing.
Principles of Technical Training: What Really Matters
In addition to the phase model, there are a number of concrete training rules that have proven effective in practice:
Many Repetitions
Technique is built through repetition. Not by explanation alone, not by video analysis alone, not by a single demonstration. Repetitions within a training session, over a training period, over an entire focus period.
A simple calculation: If a player has 5 contacts per minute in an exercise and practices for 20 minutes, they do 100 repetitions. If the group has 10 players and 8 of them are standing in line: Each only does 10. That's not enough.
Many Ball Contacts
Directly linked to the previous point: Choose organizational forms that ensure maximum ball contacts for every player. Small groups, parallel fields, double setups.
No or Short Waiting Times
Long queues destroy the training effect. Players who wait 3 minutes are no longer mentally engaged. Attention decreases, as does muscle temperature.
Developmentally Appropriate Instruction
What is right for a 10-year-old in D-youth doesn't fit a 16-year-old in A-youth. Techniques must be introduced and demanded in an age- and developmentally appropriate manner.
Orientation to Current Ability
The exercise load must match the players' actual skill level. Too easy = no development. Too difficult = frustration and consolidation of incorrect compensatory patterns.
Attractive and Engaging Drill Forms
Players who have fun learn faster. This is not pedagogical sentimentality – it is neurophysiology. Positive emotional states promote memory consolidation.
High Quality of Movement Execution
Precision over intensity. Repeating an incorrectly executed movement 100 times solidifies the errors – not the correct technique. Better fewer repetitions with clean execution than many poor repetitions.
Restored State
Technical training belongs at the beginning of the training session – not at the end. An exhausted player cannot perform fine coordination.
Few Drills, But with Progression
Don't use too many different drills in training. Rather, escalate one drill in three stages: first accuracy, then confidence, then speed (dynamics).
Two-footedness
Train consistently. A player who only masters their strong foot is predictable and limited in gameplay.
Methodical Principles: How to Structure Your Drills
The methodical principles define the sequence in which content is taught. They are the foundation for any drill progression.
From Easy to Difficult
Start with tasks the player can already solve. Increase difficulty when the basic form is solid. Never the other way around.
From Simple to Complex
Individual movements before combinations. Passing without an opponent before passing with an opponent. Dribbling without decision pressure before dribbling in open game forms.
From Slow to Fast
First clean, then fast. Never simultaneously. A player who has not yet automatized the movement will lose quality at high speed – and thus practice the wrong version again.
From Known to Unknown
Always build new content on known foundations. The player links new information with what has already been established – this accelerates the learning process and reduces frustration.
Appropriateness in Demand and Solution
Every drill must be solvable – not trivial, but achievable. The challenge should push the player, not overwhelm them.
Principle of Methodical Reduction
Break down complex movement tasks into sub-steps. Practice a pass with a change of direction first without a ball, then with a stationary ball, then with a passed ball, then under light pressure.
Common Mistakes in Technical Training and How to Avoid Them
Mistake 1: Training Technique Under Fatigue
Placing technical training at the end of the session. The player is tired, quality drops, and they repeat incorrect movements. Solution: Always train technique in a fresh state – at the beginning of the session or after a short recovery phase.
Mistake 2: Too Many Drills in One Session
The coach wants to show a lot – but the player doesn't process anything correctly. Better one drill in three variations than three different drills. Depth over breadth.
Mistake 3: Applying Pressure Too Early
Skipping the gross coordination phase. The coach immediately introduces opponents, even though the player hasn't mastered the basic movement yet. The result: The player resorts to compensatory movements – and solidifies them.
Mistake 4: Ignoring Waiting Times
Ten players, one drill, one queue. Nine stand, one practices. Solution: Work in parallel, divide groups, set up multiple fields.
Mistake 5: Correcting Every Mistake
Constant interruptions destroy the learning flow. Better: Observe, select one or two key points, then correct specifically. The player should be enabled to correct themselves.
Mistake 6: Only Training the Strong Foot
The weaker foot is neglected because it looks more awkward and the drills don't flow as smoothly. But two-footedness is trainable – and a crucial leap in player quality.
Planning Technical Training: The Challenge in Everyday Club Life
Two training sessions a week. Warm-up, technique, tactics, concluding game – and simultaneously the demand to challenge every player individually.
The phase model sounds logical in theory. In practice, the question is: Where is your player right now? Which players are in which phase for which techniques? What was trained last week? What's next in the upcoming training period?
Very few club coaches have a system that answers these questions. Not because they are bad coaches – but because no tool exists to support this work.
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Conclusion
Technical training is the foundation of everything in football. But only if it is methodically structured correctly.
Key points summarized:
- Technique is not juggling. Technique is precision at the right moment.
- Body technique before ball technique. Whoever doesn't control their body cannot control the ball.
- Know and utilize the 4 learning phases. No pressure in gross coordination. Variability in consolidation.
- Many repetitions, short waiting times. The organizational form is as important as the drill itself.
- From easy to difficult. Always. No exceptions.
- Few drills – but consistently progressed. Accuracy. Confidence. Speed.
- Systematically train two-footedness. It is trainable. Always.
A technically proficient player has more time. More options. More influence on the game. The investment in systematic technical training pays off at every level – from Bambini to A-Youth.
Sources and Basis: HFV Technik-Training Handout. Martin, D. (1977): Grundlagen der Trainingslehre.
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