Learn instep ball control: cushion high balls, scan before contact and plan the next action – with the DFB model and two scanning studies from match play.
The honest answer up front: With the instep you control a high, steeply falling ball by lifting your foot to meet it and pulling it down and away at the moment of contact – the ball then stays in front of you as if on a cushion. What matters more than the foot is what comes next: the DFB calls the first touch often decisive for whether the follow-up action works [1].
Here is something hardly anyone tells you: the DFB technique models for receiving cover the inside of the foot, the outside, the thigh and the chest, but not the instep [1]. The foot movement in this guide is therefore practical experience, not a study finding. What is backed up is what you should do before the touch: look around. In a Premier League study with 27 players and 9,574 possessions, more scanning went with a slightly higher pass completion rate – a small effect, but a positive one [2].
Realistically: once your inside-of-the-foot control is solid, you need several training sessions before the instep works under time pressure (experience value).
Drop the ball from hip height. Lift your foot to meet it, hit it with the instep and pull the foot down and away on contact. The standing leg stays slightly bent (practice).
Milestone: 8 out of 10 balls stay within one step (about 1 m) in front of you.
Your partner throws the ball in an arc from 5 m. Fix your eyes on it and go to meet it with your foot – for half-high balls the DFB describes the principle as the lower leg forming a "roof" above the falling ball [1]. That is for the inside of the foot, but the thought helps here too.
Milestone: 7 out of 10 throws end up at your foot after the touch.
Glance over your shoulder briefly before the ball arrives. In a study of 783 actions in match play, players who turned their heads more often and further before receiving turned with the ball more often and more often played on in the attacking direction [3]. Have your partner show fingers behind you and call out the number.
Milestone: number called correctly and control successful, 6 out of 10 times.
The DFB recommends linking every reception with a follow-up action, such as a target pass or carrying the ball on into a dribble [1]. Control it, set the ball ahead in your running direction and play it straight on.
Milestone: 6 out of 10 repetitions with control and target pass in a two-beat rhythm.
Control the ball while walking or jogging. Your partner closes in from 2 m as a passive opponent.
Milestone: 5 out of 10 controls under pressure stay playable.
With the instep your foot goes up, often close to an opponent. Under the Laws of the Game, any action that threatens injury to someone while trying to play the ball is playing in a dangerous manner [5]. So practise first alone or with a partner without a duel. Warm up with a programme like FIFA 11+: in a meta-analysis (four trials) FIFA 11+ reduced the injury rate by 39% [4]. This guide explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training.
The DFB itself says reception can be practised at home: against a rebound wall or with throws that simulate half-high and high balls [1]. Turn it into a tempo game: throw the ball against the wall yourself, control the rebound with the instep and play it back with the second touch. That trains exactly the two touches you have in a match (practice).
You lift your foot to meet the falling ball, hit it with the instep and pull the foot down and away on contact so the ball lies cushioned in front of you. The foot movement is practical experience; the DFB model does not describe it [1].
The instep suits steeply falling balls when you need the ball on the ground right away. The DFB describes chest and thigh for high passes [1]. Which surface is better depends on time and pressure (practical experience).
Yes, the effect is small but there. Among 27 professionals, more scanning went with a higher probability of completing the pass [2]. In 783 actions, players with more head turns more often turned with the ball [3].
Yes. The DFB names a rebound wall and throws as options for solo training and advises linking every reception with a follow-up action [1].
Usually the foot is too stiff or arrives under the ball too late. Pull the foot away on contact, lift the leg earlier and bend the standing leg slightly (practical experience, not a study finding).
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