No matter what move you use, remember to keep moving forward as you do it. Stopping completely will take away your momentum and give the defender a chance to close in on you.

If you find yourself too close to the defender, you can modify this move by tapping the ball away at a sharper 90-degree angle. Dodge the defender and accelerate toward the goal. For a variation on this, open up your hips to one side. Use the inside of the foot on that side to curl the ball across your body and accelerate in the opposite direction. You can also morph this into La Croqueta by tapping the ball across your body with the inside of one foot to the other, as though you’re passing it to yourself, then flicking it to the side and accelerating. [3] X Research source

To put the defender even more off-balance, try a double body feint. Step hard to one side, then the other, and then tap the ball away to the first side. Lunge faster so that the defender can’t step in and take the ball.

To make this move even more distracting, quickly circle one foot around, then the other, and tap the ball away with the first foot. Sell the stepover just as much as you would a feint, shifting your weight and arms hard to the side.

Try not to dribble with your laces when you’re near defenders. This is a good dribble for when you’re trying to cover a large amount of space. It can, however allow the ball to get away from you, so it’s not effective when you’re under pressure.

Even if you don’t have many moves mastered yet, taking smart touches and keeping the ball close can help you be a more effective attacker.

Once you’ve gone through with your right foot, switch to dribbling on your left. When you’re turning around a cone, try to leave as little space as possible between the cone and the ball. Go through the cones 5 times on each foot.

When you get back to the gate, stop the ball directly on the line with the outside of your foot. Complete 10 back-and-forth runs on each foot, giving yourself a minute to rest before switching feet. This drill will train you to keep good ball control while moving at speed and to quickly break down your steps to make cuts or quickly change direction.

Do this drill for 10-15 minutes to work on your control with all the surfaces of your feet. This is also a great drill if you’re low on practice space.

Focus on mastering one move at a time. Once you get one trick down, learning more advanced ones will get easier and easier.