Soccer Tennis Starter

Develop soft aerial control — cushioning bouncing and dropping balls with instep, thigh and chest — inside a self-refereed game that never feels like a drill.

Mark a 12x16 yard court split in half by a 'net' — a line of cones, a bench, or poles laid across hurdles. One pair on each side. Each rally starts with an underarm-style serve: a gentle scooped kick from the hands behind the back line.

1. Serve diagonally over the net from behind your back line.
2. The ball may bounce ONCE per side; teams have up to three touches between them before it must go back over.
3. No catching, no hands — feet, thighs and chest only.
4. Score a point when the ball bounces twice on the opponents' side, fails to clear the net, or lands out.
5. Rally scoring to 11; serve swaps every 2 points; teams swap ends at 6.
6. Run a quick round-robin if you have multiple courts — winners move up a court.

• Get under the ball's flight early — move first, touch second.
• Cushion, don't kick: let the surface give as the ball arrives.
• First touch UP and soft, so your second touch has time.
• Use your partner — a control and a set-up beats a desperate hoof.

• Players boot the first touch straight back over — demand control first: touch one kills it, touch two or three returns it.
• Feet are rooted as the ball drops — coach early movement under the flight before any touch.
• Serves are blasted and rallies die — the serve starts the rally, so it must be gentle and diagonal.

• Reduce to two touches per side, then one.
• No-bounce rule for one game — everything volleyed.
• Third touch must be played by the second player (forces a teamwork touch).

• Allow two bounces per side.
• Allow a catch-and-drop for the first control.
• Lower the net to a single line of flat cones.

• One bounce maximum per side.
• Maximum three touches per side before the ball crosses the net.