Turning - Key Points & Consideration

Each session within these pages contains individual coaching points relevant to that specific session. The below are general, turning related coaching points, presented in line with the FA's 4 Corner model.

Dribbling - Key Coaching Points (FA's 4 Corners)

Technical	Psychological
First touch and technique of turning Different types of turn (Cryuff turn, outside of the foot, open body up and receive back foot etc. etc. Lots of ways to turn - be creative!) The "no touch" turn Passing accuracy and weight for the player receiving to turn Movement off the ball to find a space to receive and turn without traffic or opponents - "lose your marker". Speed of turn - quicker generally better.	Decision making - what type of turn to use in what situation and whether turning is even the right thing to do. Awareness of what's around you? Where is the player you want to pass to next, your team mates, where are the opposition players? Confidence - try things without fear of failure. Be positive and back yourself to turn effectively. Determination - if things don't go right, try to understand why and have the confidence to have another try. Communication - help your team mates to turn effectively with the ball by communicating with them.
Physical	Social
Low centre of gravity Strength and technique to hold off defenders and shield the ball (use an arm to hold them off). Agility, speed of footwork & balance - general work on these will aid a player's ability to turn effectively. Fitness	Encouraging others - be positive! Communication - working as a team. Have fun!

Technical

Psychological

First touch and technique of turning
Different types of turn (Cryuff turn, outside of the foot, open body up and receive back foot etc. etc. Lots of ways to turn - be creative!)
The "no touch" turn
Passing accuracy and weight for the player receiving to turn
Movement off the ball to find a space to receive and turn without traffic or opponents - "lose your marker".
Speed of turn - quicker generally better.

Decision making - what type of turn to use in what situation and whether turning is even the right thing to do.
Awareness of what's around you? Where is the player you want to pass to next, your team mates, where are the opposition players?
Confidence - try things without fear of failure. Be positive and back yourself to turn effectively.
Determination - if things don't go right, try to understand why and have the confidence to have another try.
Communication - help your team mates to turn effectively with the ball by communicating with them.

Physical

Low centre of gravity

Strength and technique to hold off defenders and shield the ball (use an arm to hold them off).
Agility, speed of footwork & balance - general work on these will aid a player's ability to turn effectively.
Fitness

Encouraging others - be positive!
Communication - working as a team.
Have fun!

Considerations for Turning Sessions

A few things to think about for any turning session...

Size and shape of area - this will depend on the age and ability of your players, as well as what specifically you want to work on. If your session is on turning in tight spaces (say to practice turning in a packed penalty box to then shoot), you will want a smaller area than if you're working on your wingers turning and driving into space down the line. Consider what you're trying to achieve and set the space accordingly.
Avoiding queues and lines - this goes for virtually any kind of session, especially anything you're running in the winter when it's cold, but try to avoid too much standing around. Practices that are designed to keep everyone engaged, mentally and physically are generally going to mean more touches, more involvement and more fun.
Developing everyone - at younger ages especially, all players should be given the opportunity to develop all their skills. It would generally be best to ensure everyone gets a turn to play every role in a practice and of course turning is a key skill in all areas of the pitch, so you'll definitely want all your players comfortable turning with the ball.
Make things game realistic - once your players have a good grasp of the basic technique, look to move into more game realistic practices... turning with the ball after receiving a pass, rather than starting with a static ball for example is much more reflective of what might happen in a game. Introduce defenders, team mates whose role it is to make runs to drag defenders away, a goal so they can turn and follow up with a shot etc. All these sorts of things will give your players a much better chance of coping with what they will face in a match than just turning unchallenged. The jump from that to a full match situation is too big to expect young players to make it effectively.
The surface - of course it's preferable to practice on a decent surface the majority of the time, but the reality is that on match days, your players will have to cope with all manner of surfaces. Some pitches are fantastic to play on and others are horrible, bobbly things covered in mole hills. Whilst a 3G surface or nice grass pitch is great for working on turning with the ball, building muscle memory and allows a much higher chance of success for less confident or younger players, it won't hurt your team to get used to using different training surfaces when possible. Having to cope with keeping the ball under control in longer grass, on muddy pitches or on harder, summer surfaces will benefit them in the long term. Success rates may go down on these types of surfaces initially, but your players ability to adapt and cope with any situation will be improved. Of course, the reality is that you get what you're given in terms of training surfaces, but just be aware of the difference the players will find from 6 weeks of building up their skills on a 3G pitch to then suddenly playing their first game of the winter on a muddy, waterlogged pitch where they suddenly can't do what they did in training and giving them a bit of leeway and encouragement.