Learn chest control: open the chest, arch the body, give an impulse, set off – with the DFB technique model, the handball rule and milestones.
The honest answer up front: With the chest you control high balls by opening the chest wide towards the ball, tilting the upper body slightly back so an arch tension forms, tensing the chest muscles and giving the ball an impulse in the new direction of movement straight away [1]. Then you set off and control the ball on the ground [1]. That is how the DFB technique model describes it.
Interesting: many coaches say "pull the chest back and cushion". The DFB instead describes an active impulse with tensed chest muscles [1]. Both are taught, and there are hardly any studies on chest control itself. What you do know: the first touch decides, and every reception should prepare a follow-up action [1].
When chest instead of thigh? As a rule of thumb: if the ball arrives at chest to head height, the chest is your surface; if it falls at hip to stomach height, you rather use the thigh (practice, not a study finding). The DFB shows both in the model as control of high passes [1]. What matters is that you decide before the pass and not only when the ball is already there.
Your partner throws the ball high from 3 m. Fix your eyes on the ball and open the chest wide towards it [1]. The arms stay close to the body.
Milestone: 8 out of 10 throws hit the middle of the chest.
Tilt the upper body slightly backwards so an arch tension forms, and bring the opened chest under the ball so it can fall onto it [1]. Weight stays on the balls of the feet, knees slightly bent (practice).
Milestone: 8 out of 10 balls fall at most one step in front of you.
At the moment of contact you tense the chest muscles and give the ball an impulse in the desired direction [1]. Your hips and shoulders turn slightly in that direction beforehand. If you want the ball to the right, the impulse goes diagonally right.
Milestone: 7 out of 10 balls land in a 2 m target zone beside you.
The ball is still in the air when you already set off. You control it with your next touch on the ground, as the model describes [1].
Milestone: 6 out of 10 balls are under control after two touches and rolling in your direction.
In a DFB goalkeeper drill the outfield player first receives flat balls and later has to control and carry balls with the chest when the goalkeeper throws them high [2]. The demands are increased continuously [2]. Do the same: first a throw, later a pass from a longer distance, later with a passive defender.
Milestone: 5 controls followed by a pass in a row, with a passive defender 3 m away.
Chest control is harmless, but a hard ball on the chest hurts. For beginners and children use a light ball and increase throwing strength slowly. Warm up beforehand with a programme like FIFA 11+: in a meta-analysis it cut the injury rate by 39% [5]. This guide explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training.
Look up before the pass. In a study of 27 Premier League players and 9,574 possessions, players scanned less under tight pressure, but more scanning was linked to a higher probability of completing passes – though a small one [3]. If you know before the reception where you want to steer the ball, it is already in the right space after contact.
Fix the ball, open the chest wide, tilt the upper body slightly back, bring the chest under the ball, tense the chest muscles and give the ball the impulse in the new direction [1]. Then set off.
The DFB model describes an arch tension and an active impulse with tensed chest muscles [1]. Other coaches teach cushioning. Try both and make sure the ball stays controllable afterwards.
A touch of hand or arm is not automatically an offence. It is penalised if the arm makes the body unnaturally bigger [4]. So keep the arms close to the body.
Not as a trick to circumvent the back-pass rule. That is punished with an indirect free kick [4].
We found no binding age guideline. In practice you begin with light balls and slow throws and increase slowly.
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