Backheel soccer drill

Coach a backheel skill drill

Nothing brings a smile to the face more than a good backheel.

The skills are simple to learn, but the main ingredient for passing using the backheel effectively is vision. It’s no use at all playing a backheel into a vacant space, or to one of your opponents.

The secret of good vision and awareness is to look around before receiving the ball, and to receive the ball sideways-on rather than front-on.

Coach the skill

• The backheel technique is to make contact with the middle of the heel striking the centre of the ball.
• The non-kicking foot is kept close to the ball for support. As well as using the heel, the ball can also be played behind us by using the sole (underside) of the foot.
• Use as large an area of the sole as possible, dragging over the ball from around the toes to the heel.
• This technique is more accurate than using the heel, but has less power.

Practise with a soccer drill

• Two players in a small square to make diagonal runs to opposite corners.
• Player one runs with the ball to the opposite corner, and after passing the middle of the square, player two makes a run to the opposite corner.
• The backheel in this soccer drill must be timed and weighted, so that player two receives the ball without having to break his stride.