The foundation phase is vitally important for developing two key areas:
- A technical hard drive
- The ability to outplay your direct opponent
Building this strong foundation gives young players a solid technical base and the ability to dominate 1v1 situations they’ll face throughout their careers.
But there’s a key learning stage that underpins all of this: players understanding their bodies and how they can use different areas to effectively control, move with, and release the ball.
The 16 Surfaces
A recommended starting point is teaching children about their feet - how each area is used in football.
Each foot has 8 usable surfaces:
- Inside
- Outside
- Laces (instep)
- Sole
- Toe
- Heel
- Inside toe area
- Outside toe area
With two feet, that’s 16 surfaces players can use to manipulate the ball.
How many of these are your players genuinely comfortable with?
The Bergkamp Standard
The player who inspired this way of thinking about technique was Dennis Bergkamp.
He seemed to play with no technical limitations. He could use all areas of the foot to effectively receive, move, and release the ball with devastating effect for Arsenal and Holland.
In his autobiography Stillness and Speed, Bergkamp describes his childhood:
“Most of the time I was by myself, just kicking the ball against the wall, seeing how it bounces, how it comes back, just controlling it. I found that so interesting! Trying it different ways, first one foot, then the other foot, looking for new things: inside of the foot, outside of the foot, laces… getting a sort of rhythm going, speeding it up, slowing it down. Sometimes I’d aim at a certain brick, or the crossbar. Left foot, right foot, making the ball spin. Again and again. It was just fun. I was enjoying it. It interested me. Maybe other people wouldn’t bother. Maybe they wouldn’t find it fascinating. But I was fascinated.”
The Relationship That Matters Most
This playfulness and exploring with the ball is something we need to bring to the focal point of player development.
The relationship between the player and the ball.
Before tactics, before positions, before team play - there’s a child and a ball. The quality of that relationship determines everything that follows.
Players who are fascinated by what the ball does when they touch it differently become players with no technical limitations. Players who never explore remain technically restricted throughout their careers.
Linking to Everything Else
All your technical work should connect to three fundamental actions:
- Control the ball (receiving)
- Move with the ball (dribbling and running)
- Release the ball (passing and shooting)
The 16 surfaces are the tools players use to execute these actions. Different surfaces suit different situations. The more surfaces a player can use confidently, the more solutions they have available.
Practical Application
For young players:
- Make them aware that different surfaces exist
- Show how each surface makes the ball behave differently
- Encourage wall work and free exploration
- Celebrate when they try new surfaces, even if unsuccessful
- Create challenges that require specific surfaces
For older players:
- Assess which surfaces they avoid
- Design practices that force use of weaker surfaces
- Connect surface choice to game situations
- Develop both feet equally - 16 surfaces, not 8
The Foundation of Technical Freedom
Players who understand their feet and can use all 16 surfaces have technical freedom. They’re not limited by what they can’t do - they have options in every situation.
This doesn’t happen by accident. It requires coaches who understand the importance of this foundation and create environments where exploration is encouraged.
The next time you watch your players, ask: how many surfaces are they actually using? The answer tells you where their development needs to go.
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