How To Do Football Kick-Ups: The Complete Guide
Sit in the stands at any Premier League game and look at the players warming up before kick off. Chances are, many of them will be using Kick-Ups as one of their chosen methods of getting game-ready.
Is it just a coincidence that so many of the worlds best players use Kick-Ups to lock in their skills before it’s time to perform?
It’s no coincidence.
What may seem like a simple exercise to some is in fact one of the most essential techniques a player can have, if they want to reach the elite level of ball control. When done consistently, Kick-Ups can be game-changing.
What should Kick-Ups look like?
You’ll see here that the ball is spinning back to Jack with each touch, and that it’s at a consistent height each time.
The ball is just in front of him - not too far forward that he has to lean to reach it, and not too close to his shins to that it’s hard to touch.
How to do proper Kick-Ups with good technique
Below you’ll see the steps to our foolproof formula for being able to do 100 Kick-Ups every time. For the full breakdown on how to nail 100 Kick-Ups in 20 Days, take our short video course here. It has all the details you need - nothing is missed.
Hands to bounce
Hold the ball at chest height, drop it and let it bounce. As the ball comes up, aim to get fully underneath it with your strong foot. You’ll notice that with the best Kick-Ups, the ball spins back to you - and this is essential for maintaining control. Repeat this until you feel confident. Then, aim to do 2 touches off the bounce - one with your strong foot, and one with your weaker foot.
Flick-up, weak to strong
Now it’s time to take it up a notch, and start with a flick-up rather than a bounce. To nail the flick-up, roll the ball back, point your toes down and lift up through the dead center of the ball.
Aim to get the ball above knee height with your flick up. This will make the next steps much easier. After the flick up, touch with your weak foot and then your strong foot, completing 2 Kick-Ups. Practice this until you are confident in your control. Some top tips: don’t lock your knees (this will make the ball harder to control), and stay light on your toes.
Knee to kick drill
Time to progress. The truth is, you may not need to use your knees to get to 100 Kick-Ups. But knee control is an great skill to learn because it can save your Kick-Up streak from ending if you touch the ball too close to your body. Knee control also makes you look like a true baller!
When using your knees, the angle at which your knee meets the ball is very important. You want to meet the ball with your knee completely flat. If your knee is too high, the ball will travel straight into your chest. If it’s too low, the ball will travel too far away from you. Secondly, you want the ball to land just above the knee, towards the thigh (this increases the surface area and your chances of good control).
How to practice Kick-Ups
Put your phone away and eliminate any distractions. For a fully focused session on Kick-Ups specifically, we recommend training solo. At Street to Stadium we recommend practicing Kick-Ups for 20 minutes every day for 20 days, which we see as optimum time to reach your first 100.
Many of the students who have taken our ‘20 Days to 100 Kick-Ups’ online course have got there even sooner! The key for fast progress is to begin at the first stage (’Hand to Bounce’) and only progress when you are confident in being able to execute that stage without frequent errors.
The simple steps to 100 kick ups
Our online course gets you there in 20 days or less.
This is how Kick-Ups help your game
Strength & range of movement
Elite football players have great range of movement across their feet and ankles. On a technical level, this involves biomechanics (and the dorsiflexion and plantarflexion of the foot), but for now the key thing to recognise is that pro players need to be able to control the ball effectively while their foot is in different positions. Over time, Kick-Ups help players develop this strength by continuously engaging the foot in the upward position. Strong feet, ankles and lower legs help prevent injury, but also make you a formidable player over time.
Coordination and motor skills
Whether you play 11-a-side, Street Football, or Panna, your touch is everything - especially for attacking players. Kick-Ups are a foot dexterity drill, which means they are a great way to increase mind/muscle connection and improve your touch. With every Kick-Up, your brain is sending signals down to your feet and asking them to position themselves correctly to engage the ball. When you get to the skill level required to do 100 Kick-Ups, you have successfully improved these mind muscle pathways to a high level. On game day, you’ll see the results of this. A controlled, reliable touch will become second nature.
Composure
Take a look at your favourite players when they run with the ball. How do they look so calm, relaxed and skilled under high pressure situations? The answer is composure. They have trained their touch to the point where it is predictable. They know just how much weight to apply to their touch to result in the ball behaving predictably, even when moving at speed. Remember - our nervousness with the ball only comes from not knowing what will happen, or hitting and hoping for the best. This is not the pro way.
Kick-Ups are one of the best exercises for developing composure over time, because every Kick-Up session is a chance to learn how the ball behaves and train your touch. If you do 100 Kick-Ups every day for a year, you will have used your touch 35,600 times - and that will have an incredible impact on game day. It will make you cool, calm and composed when it counts.
Injury prevention
You can’t just roll off the couch and go into an intense game or training session. The muscles in your feet and legs need to loosen up and engage, to prevent injury. When used as a warm up exercise, Kick-Ups allow the muscles and tendons in the foot to flex and engage at a safe pace, without any sudden jerking movements. That’s why you’ll see so many pro players doing Kick-Ups before a game.
What is Street to Stadium?
Street to Stadium is the official online course academy built by world champion Street Footballer and pro football coach Jack Downer AKA ‘Street Panna’. At the academy, you’ll have access to the same tips and techniques that Jack teaches pro players during his 1-on-1 sessions. Our goal is to help create pro players every single day, through focused learning and a supportive community which grows every week.
To take our ‘20 Days to 100 Kick-Ups’ online course or browse the other courses available, hit this link.
