It’s our second Fast Footwork Friday challenge: happy feet! Happy feet activities (also called inside-inside) help you develop balance, coordination, a soft touch on the ball, quick feet, leg strength and endurance. All of these are important for soccer players.
You can practice happy feet in small spaces, even indoors! Use the inside of your feet to tap the ball from one foot to the other, and back. Stay balanced: keep your knees bent, and your head over the ball. Take soft touches: you want to tap the ball, not smack the ball.
Video demos
We’ve posted a series of short video demos below, most around 20 seconds long. There are 9 challenge levels. Things start easy with level 1, but get a little harder with each new challenge level. Check below the video gallery for descriptions of each level.
Descriptions
Start slowly as you try each challenge. When you start to “get it” and are having some success, that’s the time to see if you can go faster. If you are struggling, go slower, stay patient, and believe in yourself.
Is it fun? It depends on how you look at it. If you work at the challenges, you’ll become a better soccer player. And when you become a better soccer player, you’ll score more goals! So the footwork challenges may not be fun right now, but they will bring fun later on.
Our mascot LiCec has some advice:
“These challenges are hard, but if they were easy, anyone could do them! Be patient, believe in yourself, and with practice, you can become a ruler!”
“I won’t be able to help, but my uncle Cecil might be hiding in the trees cheering for you.”
Level 1: basic
- Start by standing behind a ball and jogging in place.
- Step to the ball and use the inside of your feet to softly tap the ball from one foot to the other and back again.
- Try to stay in place, without moving forward, backward or sideways. Your toes should be pointed forward, not outside or inside.
- Stay balanced: keep your knees bent, and head over the ball. Start at slow speed, and go faster as you gain confidence.
The most common reasons kids lose control of the ball:
- hard touches instead of soft taps; practice will help build a soft touch on the ball
- being too upright (stiff knees) or leaning back, instead of keeping your knees bent to stay balanced and keeping your head over the ball
- toes pointed at an angle instead of pointed forward
- leg muscle fatigue; this is hard work, and it’s OK to take an occasional rest break!
Level 2: speed
- Use the inside of your feet to softly tap the ball from one foot to the other and back again. Ask your mom or dad to time you. How many touches can you get in 10 seconds?
- Parent tip: Let your daughter get into a rhythm before you start the clock.
- Goal: 20 touches for beginners, 30 touches for experienced players, and 40 touches for rulers. If you reach a goal, set your next goal 5 touches higher. With practice, you may even get to 50 touches in 10 seconds, which is excellent — that’s five touches every second!
Level 3: spinning
- Do happy feet while spinning around to your left and to your right.
Level 4: forward and backward
- Things get harder now, because you need to move forward and backward while keeping the ball under control.
- Do 10 happy feet touches while staying in place, then another 10 happy feet touches while moving forward.
- To move forward, turn your toes slightly out as you do your happy feet touches.
- Do 10 happy feet touches while staying in place, then another 10 happy feet touches while moving backward.
- To move backward, turn your toes slightly in (“pigeon toes”) as you do your happy feet touches.
Level 5: sideways
- Things get harder again, because each foot has to do something different. To go sideways while doing happy feet, one foot needs to take a firmer touch, and the other foot needs to take a softer touch.
- Start by doing 10 happy feet touches while staying in place.
- Keep taking happy feet touches, but start moving to the right: take a firmer touch with your left foot, and a softer touch with your right foot.
- Do another 10 happy feet touches while staying in place.
- Keep taking happy feet touches, but start moving to the left: take a firmer touch with your right foot, and a softer touch with your left foot.
Level 6: add a bottom (sole) of the foot touch
- Start with your right foot and do five happy feet touches.
- Lightly step on the ball with the bottom (sole) of your left foot. This touch is a stop, not a stomp.
- Repeat the pattern starting with your left foot: do another five happy feet touches, and then stop the ball with the bottom (sole) of your right foot.
Level 7: add a sole of the foot “slide” touch
- This is a slight change to level 6. Start with your right foot, and do four happy feet touches.
- Make a “slide” touch (also called on out-in touch) with your right foot:
- Lightly step on the ball with the bottom of your right foot to stop it.
- Roll the ball to the right using the bottom of your right foot.
- Tap the ball across to the left using the inside of your right foot.
- Repeat this pattern starting with your left foot: Do four happy feet touches, and then a slide touch with your left foot.
Level 8: add outside of the foot touches
- Things get harder again, because you’ll need to mix happy feet with outside of the foot touches.
- Start with your right foot, and do five happy feet touches.
- The fifth touch will make the ball roll toward your left foot. Use the outside of your left foot to push the ball further to the left.
- Repeat this pattern starting with your left foot: Do five happy feet touches, and then finish using the outside of your right foot to push the ball further to the right.
- The big challenges: Can you keep the ball moving the entire time, and take a touch every time you raise your foot?
Level 9: add sole and outside of the foot touches
- You’ll finish this challenge series by mixing happy feet touches (inside of the feet) with touches using the sole and outside of your feet.
- Start with your right foot, and do five happy feet touches.
- The fifth touch will make the ball roll toward your left foot.
- Lightly stop the ball using the bottom (sole) of your left foot.
- Immediately push the ball to the left using the outside of your left foot.
- Repeat this pattern starting with your left foot: Do five happy feet touches, stop the ball with the bottom of your right foot, and then finish by pushing the ball to the right using the outside of your right foot.