 If you want to improve your first touch technique in soccer, this video is for you. I'm going to show you how to have a better first touch, improve your ball control, so you can play with more composure in high pressure situations. This is going to give you more success in soccer and more fun when you play. Hey, what's going on guys? Today's video is all about receiving passes and having a better first touch. First of all, you want to be light on your toes ready to react. You never want to be flat footed on your heels. As you can see, when that ball is coming to me, I'm really trying to get my body in front of the ball and also get my body over the ball. I'm almost bent over, over exaggerating my technique. Now as that ball is coming to me with my eyes, I'm actually watching the ball meet my foot to ensure that I make a good first touch. I want that touch to be out of my feet. I want to keep it close to me, but I want it out of my feet so I can quickly make a pass or dribble into space. First you want to think about being positive with your first touch. So rather than always keeping the ball right at your feet with your first touch, you want to think about taking your first touch into space. This is going to allow you to play much quicker and get out of tricky situations. Now you're going to have to learn to think ahead of the game. So most players react. You receive the ball, then inside your feet, then you make your decision. If you want to be a good player, you want to play quickly, have a high speed of play. You need to learn to think ahead of the game. So as that ball is coming to you, try to think, where is the space that I need to attack? Where is the open space? Should I turn? Should I go left? Should I go right? And just learning to think ahead of the game rather than always reacting to what happens in front of you, it's going to make you a better player. Like I said, it's going to allow you to play quicker. You'll be much better in possession. You won't lose possession as often as you may currently be. Similar to attacking space, when you are confronted with a defender, you don't want to stop the ball dead in your feet. You want to think about moving the ball away from the defender with your first touch. I used to be the type of player that I would stop the ball dead and then try to beat the player with skill. When you can learn to actually beat the defender with your first touch, you're going to make your life a lot easier. So again, you need to learn to think ahead of the play. You can't always stop the ball and then make a decision. You need to make your decisions before the play actually happens. So as that ball is coming to you, try to recognize where is the space? Where should I be attacking? When receiving long passes, the biggest thing that I focus on is actually my movement. So as you can see here, you're going to have to react a lot with long passes compared to shorter passes. Shorter passes are usually a bit predictable. When that long pass is coming in the air, sometimes it swerves. Sometimes it gets caught up in the wind. You need to be light on your toes and quick to react. So even before that ball is coming, when I notice my teammate is about to ping a pass to me, I get light on my toes really quickly. Then I try to adjust to the flight of the ball. So as you can see, sometimes I'm moving left and right quickly adjusting as the ball is in the air. Finally, you just want to think about getting your body in front of the ball. It's much better for you to get your body behind the ball. Maybe take it off your chest or your thigh rather than lunging for the ball and trying to reach for it. You just think about moving your feet and getting in front of the ball. So here are some major mistakes that players make when receiving passes. Number one, like I said earlier, is being flat-footed. If you're not on your heels, it's going to be really difficult to have the touch that you want. So always be on your toes. The next thing is having the first touch to get stuck in your feet. Like I said, you want to get that ball out of your feet so you can quickly step into it to make a pass or move into space. So really focus on getting that ball out of your feet. The next mistake is taking your eye off the ball as you're receiving it. How many times have you done that? You think you've got it under control, but you don't actually look at the ball and it goes right under your foot. Next is lunging for passes. It's a really bad habit and instead of lunging for passes, what you want to do is be light on your toes and quickly move to that side. So instead of lunging for your pass, try to think about getting there quickly to get your body in front of the ball. This is going to really help you just be a better player in general. So think about being light on your toes, moving quickly to one side rather than sticking your foot out and trying to lunge to receive the pass. You're dealing with a defender. Always try to get that ball out of your feet. As you can see here, if you have a bad first touch and you get closed down quickly, you're going to lose possession. So think about attacking space or taking the ball away from the defender. Now when you are, you need to make sure that your touch is big enough and that you actually react quickly. Try to get that ball into space and then accelerate with speed. So let's talk about some of the major points that we addressed in this video. Basic technique, light on your toes, get your body over the ball, really over-emphasizing your technique. Watch that ball meet your foot with your eyes and try to get a touch out of your feet so you can actually play a quick pass or dribble into space. Whenever possible, you do not want to stop the ball dead in your feet. You want to take a positive first touch into space. This is going to allow you to play much quicker, to attack with speed and keep possession of the ball. When dealing with a defender, try to beat them with your first touch rather than stopping the ball dead at your feet. You can also protect the ball, but think about taking the ball away from the defender with your first touch. When dealing with long balls, it's all about reading the flight of the ball. So be light on your toes and anticipate the ball, try to get your body in front of it.