Improve Your Soccer Turning Skills With These 6 Drills

If you need to brush up on your turning skills, you’ve found the perfect article. Turning is an important skill in soccer because it allows your team to remain in possession of the ball and have the opportunity to score more goals. Playform understands the importance of perfecting your turning skills, so we’ve put together this blog to help get you started. The best way to improve your turning skills is to incorporate turning drills into your soccer training. Not sure where to start? No problem, Playform has researched and gathered the top soccer turning drills which will help you improve your turning skills in no time.

Pass Turn Pass Relay

The first soccer turning drill we’ll be talking about is the Pass Turn Pass Relay. This drill allows players to develop their turning skills in small groups. Players begin in groups of four. Player A passes to Player B who then performs a turn (depending on the coach’s decision). Player B then passes the ball to player C who passes back to player A who has moved into player B’s place. Since this drill involves passing skills, you might decide that you want to brush up on this skill. The good news is that you’re in luck, because Playform has over 20 unique passing drills for you to check out.

Receiving and Turning with back to goal

In this soccer turning drill, players are encouraged to check their shoulders and practice receiving the ball on a half turn. The feeder starts with the ball and passes to the attacker. Once the ball has been played, the defender can begin to pressure the attacker. Play ends either when the attacker scores a goal, if the ball goes out of bounds, or if the defender is able to steal the ball. The attacker has 5 attempts, and the players will swap roles at the end of 5 passes. During this drill, the coach should encourage players to pay attention to what they do before receiving the ball and their body position while receiving the ball.

Receiving and turning without pressure

This soccer drill is all about different types of touches and receiving the ball. Setup involves an area with a large cone or soccer mannequin in the middle. The drill starts with two players on the inside with no ball and two on the outside with their own soccer balls. The point of the drill is for the players in the middle to receive the ball from one player on the outside and then pass to the player on the other side. The player begins at the mannequin, receives the ball on the half turn and then pass the ball to the other player. So that each player gets to experience each role, the players on the outside are rotated every 5 minutes.

1v1 receiving and turning soccer drill square

This next soccer drill is another great drill to improve your turning skills under pressure. After all, when you’re playing a match, you’ll regularly find yourself in the position of needing to play a ball while you’re under pressure from a defender. This drill is best played in small groups of four players, with 2 players at opposite sides and 2 players in the middle, one attacker and one defender. Whichever player the attacker receives the ball from, they must try to play a pass to the opposite player. If they are able to do this, they will receive 3 points. However, if the attacker is unable to go forward after receiving a pass, they can reset and pass it back to the outside player. Meanwhile, if the defender is able to take control of the ball and score a goal in either of the two goals, they will receive 1 point.

2v2 turning and receiving with a magic player

A magic player sounds pretty intriguing, right? This drill aims to help players find gaps to receive the ball which they can turn and play forward. It requires 7 players in total, it is important that the team in possession has more players as this will allow them to find gaps more easily. 2 target players will be neutral and keep possession of whichever team has passed them the ball. The remaining five players should be divided into teams of 2 with 1 player acting as the neutral player similar to the outside target players. Each team must try to move the ball from one target player to another, and they will receive 1 point if successful. The team who ends up with the most points is the winner!

Receiving and turning in the square soccer drill

This soccer practice drill relies on repetition. After all, the more you practice a skill, the better you’ll get at it. Players must check in and receive the ball on a turn whilst maintaining an open body position. 8 players participate in this drill, with 4 players on the sides and 4 in the middle. The goal of the players in the middle is to check in and angle themselves in a position to receive the ball, then look to pass to someone on the outside. The coach should encourage players to use both feet as a good soccer player will have the ability to play the ball accurately with both feet.

Conclusion

By incorporating these turning drills into your soccer training, you’ll be able to improve your skills in no time. If you’re looking for more soccer practice drills, download the Playform app and check out our range of individual drills for all stages and abilities. Playform also has fun competitions in which you can challenge your friends to see who will come out on top. Even if you just want to improve your overall fitness, Platform’s range of Physical drills will help you get in shape. With Playform, improving your soccer skills is just a few clicks away.