Scan before it arrives
Transcript
Look before the ball arrives, not after. Here's how to build that habit. You need a passer seven metres in front, a caller five metres behind, and two coloured gates, one each side. Watch. As the pass is played, your caller shows a colour. Check over your shoulder, then play out through that gate. First, look before it arrives. Then, touch it through the called gate. Not this, only watching the ball. A study of Premier League players linked more scanning with more completed passes, but the effect was small. Our target is three blocks of ten, one minute rest. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
Scanning: checking over your shoulder before the ball arrives, so your first touch goes into space. In a study of Premier League players, more scanning went with more completed passes, but the effect was small. A 5-week programme raised scanning in players aged about 17.
Set up
- Passer, 7 m in front
- Caller, 5 m behind
- 2 coloured gates
How it works
- Set two 1.5 m cone gates in different colours, about 3 m to your left and right. Your passer stands 7 m in front of you, your caller 5 m behind with a cone of each colour.
- The passer plays the ball to your feet. As they pass, the caller holds up one colour (or points to that gate).
- While the ball is travelling, check over your shoulder, spot the colour, then look back to the ball.
- Take your first touch towards the called gate and play out through it. Bring the ball back to the passer and go again.
- Do 3 blocks of 10 receives with 1 minute rest between. Swap roles after each block.
Coaching points
- Look before it arrives. Check over your shoulder while the pass is on its way, not when it reaches you. Spot the colour, then look back to the ball in time to receive it.
- Through the called gate. Take your first touch towards the gate that was called and play out through it, so what you saw decides your touch.
Not this
Watching only the ball as it travels. You see the colour too late, or not at all, and your first touch becomes a guess.
Dose
- 3 blocks of 10 receives
- 1 min rest between
Our target: 3 blocks of 10 receives, 1 minute rest between (the Football Reach target, not an FA rule or a dose from a study).
Harder / Easier
Harder
Say the colour out loud before your first touch. Then the caller shows it later, when the ball is nearly with you, so the look has to be quicker.
Easier
The caller shows the colour before the pass, and the passer rolls the ball in gently, until the look and the touch feel clean.
Safety
- The caller stands still, well behind you and clear of both gates.
- Flat, dry grass with space around the gates. Never on a road or a driveway.
Sources
- Frontiers - Jordet 2020, scanning and passing in the Premier League (opens in a new tab)
- PubMed - 5-week scanning training programme (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - colour cone reaction game (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - receiving session (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - receiving on the half-turn (opens in a new tab)
Not sure which skill to work on first? The free Football Reach test gives you a Player Development Score and shows which of the four corners of your game to work on next, in about two minutes.
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