chest control

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Controlling the ball with your chest can help you in so many different ways like setting you up for a shot, pass, cross, keeping the ball in play and can quicken your play in a game. Let’s take you through the steps:

Controlling the ball with your chest can start to hurt after a while and when controlling from a pass. Therefore, we recommend you stop when pain or bruising starts to occur.

Step 1

If you’re by yourself, throw the ball above your head and keep your eyes on the ball.

Step 2

Position yourself so the ball will drop onto the upper part of your chest. You may need to lean back a little so the ball doesn’t hit your face.

  • The more you find yourself directly under the ball, the more you will need to lean back.
  • You should try and tense your chest for cushioning. One thing that helps create tension in your chest is having your arms up like so.
  • Arms are a vital part of the chest control technique.

Try to avoid pushing your chest into the ball, as if you’re in a match situation and the defender is near you, you run the risk of the ball going away from you and more towards the defender. You want to keep the ball as close to you as possible after the control, which is why we recommend you let the ball drop onto your chest.

The only exception to this is if you know you have the space in front of you, only then should you push your chest into the ball.

Step 3

As you become more familiar with how to chest control, try different methods like running with the ball in your hands, throwing the ball in the air ahead of you and jump to meet the ball whilst running.

  • You can also attempt to chest control by getting someone to throw/kick the ball to you or rebound the ball off a wall.
  • If the ball is coming towards you at or above chest height, you need to make sure your chest is tensed (remember arms up to help with the tense), keep your back straight and your aim is to cushion the ball, so try and go back with the ball a little in the direction the ball was travelling.
  • You can then include the chest control as part of your training for other areas like shooting or passing.