Indeed, ball control is a general principle that is required for all types of dribbles. Ball control is the ability to move with the ball, without losing possession, so it basically requires you to know how hard to hit the ball when moving forward with it, as well as organizing your body movement in such a way that allows you to follow up and get the ball to your feet again.
Ball control also refers to being able to trap or receive a ball without pushing it too further away from your body, which, in our case, is extremely useful in receiving dribbles. Ball control is important for all types of players when dribbling, regardless of their position on the pitch.
All dribblers should be comfortable with dribbling with all parts of your foot, the instep, inside, outside and the sole. You have to be able to move at speed while maintaining control and possession of the ball.
The most important part of dribbling is control, you need this to change direction, move the ball all over the pitch, speed up, slow down, you must learn the basic fundamental’s of guiding the ball and learn how to make your body keep up with it, the idea is to keep the ball closer to you more than anyone else
Not glued to your feet, just close enough that you can navigate around anyone who decides to lunge for the ball
Have it just close enough so you will ALWAYS be first to the ball
This is an essential skill
Control can be learned by just sprinting and taking the ball with you trying to keep it as close to your feet as possible, if you can get good enough control of the ball you won’t even need tricks to beat opponents, you just need control
Close control is your touches on the ball put it in a position where you will be, always first to it, moving at a fast pace and be able to set the ball up so you can do whatever you want with it (shoot, pass or a move) a good first touch is very helpful aswell… also being comfortable with both feet really helps
Learn to tempt players forward to tackle you, give them an illusion that they might win the ball, or attract pressure so you can pass to un-marked team mates
Also learn to turn in the direction that puts you in the best position to beat someone or where the ball is best protected, a general rule is if you get enough space always turn to face the goal, but get into the habit of turning away from defenders so the ball is protested or even dribble away from goal to invite defenders to come out and get you, just make sure you keep the ball in your complete control!
Ball control is the ability to keep the ball closest to you above all people on the pitch, without losing speed or balance
Keeping the ball closest to you means you can get to the ball first not having the ball glued to your foot
To control the ball like this you have to practice first touches with both feet and work on dribbling the ball close enough to your feet that you can burst with speed at any given time, but sufficiently far away that you won't trip over your own feet
Weak Foot Ability
Dribbles often involve using both feet and various parts of the foot (the sole, the instep, the backheel, the front, the outside or the inside) in order to work properly and your weaker foot can often cause you problems.
Being unsure of your weaker foot will leave you very vulnerable in front of an intelligent defender, since he’ll know there’s only one direction you can dribble towards using your strong foot.
Look at how untouchable Kaka is when he’s at full tilt, because no-one knows which way to turn cause he can go either way
Dodging Tackles
It is important that all dribblers are able to avoid rushing opponents, by using your control, where you leave the ball in a position that you will always get to it first, but gives the opponents an urge to lunge for it so you calm calmly cut around him
always moving the ball so you don’t get unexpectedly tackled is an important skill as well.
Control is also very much to do with your first touch and if you can keep the ball away from danger with one touch you should have no problem dominating the play.
Also when dodging tackles keep your head up and keep looking around for possible dangers or open teammates! This is important so you don’t get people sneaking up on you
Acceleration
This is probably more important then absolute speed as your first few steps usually dictate who will reach the ball first, work very hard on your acceleration as its very important, even after you push the ball past an opponent in a 1v1 unless you faked him until he fell over you will have to quickly accelerate to get to the ball first.
Learn to take lots over very short but powerful steps so you ‘explode’ off the mark, this can be as effective (if not more effective if your quick enough) as any dribbling move or cut, we all remember how the great theirry henry could beat any player at his best by simply running past them, and when he did try do fakes and moves, his acceleration left his marker eating dust.
Being faster than your opponent is one thing, but knowing how to get the ball past him AND gain back possession is the key to a successful speed dribble. If the speed difference is greatly in the favor of the attacker, he can simply push the ball forward along the pitch in an empty area and run for it.
If the space is limited, or if the speed difference is not so great between the ball carrier and the defender, the moment you start the dribble is extremely important.
You need to start upping the pace when the defender is off balance (possibly after you throw him off-balance with a movement from your body) and make sure you have enough space to maneuver around him.