15 Soccer Footwork Exercises For Beginners

Read this article / video about soccer footwork for beginners:

Whether you are a player, parent, or coach – here are 15 different soccer footwork drills for beginners you can use to improve your foot speed, dribbling skills, and confidence on the ball.

Players who practice basic soccer footwork drills like these can see massive improvements in a very short period of time. You don’t need complex soccer footwork exercises to become a better player. What you need is consistent practice.

If you did drills like these 10 minutes per day for 1 week, you would see noticeable changes in your technical skills, ability to get out of tight situations in matches, and overall confidence!

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Soccer Footwork Exercises For Beginners

Why is it important to do quick footwork soccer drills like these on a regular basis?

Most players complain about their lack of technical skill, ability to beat players 1v1, and how often they lose possession – but the truth is they don’t practice enough. The only time they work on their footwork skills is when they are in their team training sessions and that isn’t enough.

If you want to become a better soccer player you must prioritize your individual training. This article / video will give you a better idea of what you can do on your own time, to improve your soccer footwork, but more importantly your ability to perform better in matches.

Beginner Soccer Footwork Drills

If you’ve searched for any of the following phrases on YouTube or Google:

– u8 soccer footwork drills
– u9 soccer footwork drills
– u10 soccer footwork drills
– u12 soccer footwork drills


I’m assuming you’re a soccer parent or coach who is concerned about your player’s development.

First, I’d like to praise you for your desire to help others improve. We need more players / coaches like you in the game. If everyone took an interest in their child’s development as much as you, we would have a nation of top level players.

However, the most important thing is that the player has their own desire to improve. We can do all we want to help our players but if they don’t have the willingness to train, learn, and improve on their own, all of our efforts will be lost.

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Individual Soccer Footwork Drills

Basic soccer footwork exercises like these can be performed anywhere. In fact, it’s best that you develop a habit of practicing at home. Because it takes away any excuses or obstacles when it comes to training.

You don’t need much space. Small spaces are better. It forces you to have precise touches, quick feet, and an attention to detail.

Create a small training area in your home / backyard where you can spend at least 10 minutes per day practicing quick soccer footwork drills like these. The more consistent you are with you training, the better results you will see.

It’s better to do 10 minutes per day EVERYDAY, than it is to do 1 hour of training once per week. Small improvements daily will develop massive changes over-time. What this will also develop is the habit of training, muscle memory in the feet, and sudden boosts in confidence.

When a player realizes they’ve trained everyday this week (even if it was only 10 minutes) they will start to feel better about themselves, increase their self-motivation, and want to do more.

How To Do Soccer Footwork Exercises

When performing these soccer footwork drills for beginners focus on a few things:

#1 – Rhythm. Before you can perform the footwork exercises at top speed you must understand the fundamentals of the movement. In the beginning, it’s okay to go slow. In fact, it’s encouraged. Start slow, get your rhythm, then you can start to challenge yourself.

#2 – Body movement. When performing footwork drills everyone focuses on their touches and foot technique. I would like you to give consideration to the technique of your body. The best players are agile and play with a low center of gravity. Focus on the sharpness of your movement. Bending your knees more. Staying light on your toes and becoming conscious of when you feel heavy and slow (how can you improve this?).

#3 – Increase speed. As you become more confident with the soccer footwork exercises make sure you are constantly increasing the speed. If you are not losing the ball every once in a while. You are not going fast enough. Improvement will arrive when you start to push yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s okay to make mistakes. This is a good indication that you are trying to get better.

#4 – Going faster at the end. You may want to perform these exercises at high intensity for 20 – 30 seconds. Most players will start quick and begin to fade by the end of the drill. Mentally and physically they will start to put less effort into the movement near the end. I would suggest that you take the opposite approach. Start slower, get your rhythm, increase your speed, but when your mind tells you to slow down and your legs feel heavy, that is the moment to push even harder!

Don’t rest when you are tired.
Rest when you are done.

Best Footwork Exercises For Soccer?

There are so many different footwork exercises and soccer drills players can use to improve their skills. How do you determine which ones are the best?

soccer footwork drills for beginners

In the beginning…

The best soccer drills are the ones players actually do.

You should not be concerned with which type of drills until you have built the foundation of consistent practice. The habit of training. This is most important. So in the beginning, the best soccer drills are the ones you actually enjoy doing and ones you can repeat without hesitation.

Once you’ve developed the habit of consistency, you can start to do your research on which are the best soccer drills to improve your skills.

Most players overlook the important of basic drills. Even professional practice basics. Advanced skills don’t necessarily make you better. It’s like being distracted by shiny objects and fancy lights. Avoid drills that require lots of equipment, multiple players, and complex patterns.

Select soccer exercises that replicate match realistic movements, are easy to set up, yet still challenge you to improve. Professional players do basic drills. They just do them with more speed and higher quality.

how to improve footwork in soccer

Good Soccer Footwork Drills You Can Use

If you want to save the file below you can use as a reference for the upcoming video.

You don’t have to use all of these footwork exercises every time you train (unless you want to). Select 5 different soccer footwork exercises that you want to complete on a consistent basis. Focus on those five and really master them.

You shouldn’t concern yourself with completing as many different exercises as possible if you can’t complete the basic soccer footwork drills with consistency, quality, and pace. Take pride in your touches, stick to the basics, build your confidence, then you can move onto more advanced skills.

Here is a list of…

15 different soccer footwork exercises for beginners / kids / youth players:

“I am not a perfectionist, but I like to feel that things are done well. More important than that, I feel an endless need to learn, to improve, to evolve, not only to please the coach and the fans but also to feel satisfied with myself. It is my conviction that there are no limits to learning and that it can never stop, no matter what our age.” – Cristiano Ronaldo

Easy Soccer Footwork Drills (Video)

With the proper mindset around improving your footwork, ‘d like you to watch this video about how to improve soccer footwork for beginners.

Please remember…

Watching this video will not make your footwork better unless you are willing to put these principles into consistent practice. Stop looking for the easy way out. Practice until you can’t get this wrong. You don’t have to be perfect overnight, but you need to be progressing. Making small improvements daily will result in massive changes overtime.

Understand that knowledge is only power when it’s put into action. Make the necessary changes to your mindset, technique, training, and start to fall in love with your training. Be consistent and you will develop the improvements you desire.

If you want to become a dangerous dribbler, with great skills, and impressive footwork, this should be obsession you keep with you for the rest of your soccer career.

15 Soccer Footwork Exercises For Beginners

Hopefully you found this tutorial about how to improve footwork for beginners in soccer helpful.

If you have any questions related to this topic please comment below.

You have the ability to improve all of your skills! You’ve learned how to improve soccer footwork skills but you can also become faster, stronger, and mentally tougher. I’d love to see you achieve great things in soccer and life. But that’s only possible if you become the best version of yourself. Stumbling across this content is a great start!

If you really want to take another strong step in the right direction…

Continue training with me.

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The Next Step

If you found this article helpful, you’ll absolutely love The Soccer Success Planner.

Are you tired of feeling like you’re not making progress in your soccer skills? Do you want to have a more organized and effective training routine? Do you struggle with setting and achieving your soccer goals?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the Soccer Success Planner is perfect for you. This planner will help you stay motivated, focused, and on track towards achieving your soccer goals. And it’s completely customizable to fit your unique needs!

Use the planner to set clear goals, track your progress, and stay accountable to yourself. With helpful prompts and exercises, you’ll be able to identify your strengths and weaknesses, plan your training sessions, and maximize your performance on the field.

Download your free copy now and start taking control of your soccer success today! You can download it here – Soccer Success Planner

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Need Faster Improvements!?

Not getting better at soccer? Confused about how to train effectively? Maybe you’re worried that you won’t be properly prepared for your next big opportunity? Or you just want to standout and actually feel respected by your teammates, coaches, and friends?

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Join today and start experiencing the transformation you’ve been waiting for!

Get more information here – Online Soccer Academy

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About The Author

If you don’t know about me…

I used to be a soccer player who struggled with self-confidence. I felt slow, weak, and unmotivated. My coaches didn’t pay much attention to me, my friends laughed at my lack of skills. At one point, I even became so discouraged that I quit the sport altogether.

Enough was enough. I decided to take control of my own development and set out on a journey to become a better soccer player. This path led me on an incredible journey of self-improvement.

I went on to win league and goal-scoring titles, earn awards, lift trophies, and received a college scholarship. I’ve even earned international caps for my country.

I started sharing my knowledge with others and teaching them how to become the best soccer players they could be. My YouTube channel grew to over 500,000 subscribers.

In addition, I coached for several youth clubs in my local city, and even started my own soccer training company. I went on to coach the most prestigious men’s club in my city for several years.

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But enough about me, let’s focus on you.

If you’re looking to improve your skillslet’s take your soccer game to the next level. I want to help you make a noticeable change in style of play and overall performance on the field.

I’m passionate about helping players achieve their goals in soccer, and I’d love to be a part of your journey. I can help you reach your goals faster and achieve more in this sport, but I won’t force you. If you’re ready to take the next step, here’s what I suggest you do:

1) Download The Soccer Success Planner (FREE)

2) Apply To The Online Soccer Academy (Limited Spots)

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Coach Dylan
Progressive Soccer

Thank you for reading this article: 15 soccer footwork exercises for beginners

Dylan Tooby

Success should not be judged based on what you achieve but by what you help others achieve. Hopefully, this information will help you. Thank you for reading. Please, leave a comment.