Step-over and go
Transcript
A step over can send a defender the wrong way. You need a ball and four cones. Put a cone ten metres ahead as a defender, and a two metre gate to one side. Watch. Dribble at the defender, step over, and go. Now the move, up close. First, circle your foot round the front of the ball. Then take it the other way with your other foot. Use both feet. Then, push it past the cone and burst through the gate. Not this. A step over too early. Our target is four on each side, three rounds, walking back to recover. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
1v1 deception: sell a fake with a step-over, then take the ball the other way and accelerate through a gate. The FA lists the stepover among its turns, and FIFA's ball-mastery practice has players feint one way and go the other.
Set up
- A ball
- 4 cones
- Defender cone at 10 m
- A 2 m gate to one side
Kit used here:
Training football
Training footballPU-covered training football in size 4 or size 5, in a choice of designs.Trend Checkout, our own shop - opens in a new tab, Disc cones
Disc conesFlat disc cones, about 19 cm across, for gates, boxes and grids. Packs of 10, or 50 with a carry bag.Trend Checkout, our own shop - opens in a new tab. Sold by Trend Checkout, our own online shop (run by Apps 365 Ltd, the company behind Football Reach). Any similar kit works just as well.
How it works
- Set a start cone on flat grass. Put a defender cone 10 m in front of it, and a 2 m gate (2 cones) just past it, to one side.
- Dribble from the start towards the defender cone.
- About 1 m before it, circle the foot on the far side from the gate round the front of the ball and plant it wide.
- Push the ball past the cone towards the gate with the outside of your other foot, and accelerate through the gate.
- Walk back to recover. Do 4, then move the gate to the other side and do 4 with the other foot: that is one round. Do 3 rounds (our target).
Coaching points
- Circle round the front. Come in as if to pass with the inside of your foot, then circle it round the front of the ball without touching it and plant it wide, so your body sways that way.
- Push it past the cone. Push the ball past the cone the other way with the outside of your other foot, then accelerate through the gate. FIFA notes that delaying before that touch can also deceive the defender.
Not this
Stepping over too early, far from the defender. They have time to read the fake, recover and stay in front of you.
Dose
- 4 on each side, 3 rounds
- Walk back to recover
Our target: 4 on each side, 3 rounds, walking back between reps: our own target, not an FA or FIFA rule.
Harder / Easier
Harder
Try a double step-over, one with each foot, before the push. Then ask a partner to walk towards you as the defender instead of the cone.
Easier
Walk it first: with the ball still, circle your foot round the front of it and push it the other way with your other foot. Then add a slow dribble, and widen the gate to 3 m.
Safety
- Flat, dry grass with clear space past the gate, never a road or a driveway.
- Your foot passes close over the ball, so go slowly until you can step over it cleanly without treading on it.
Sources
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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