You're watching your U10s play on a Saturday morning and one of the parents turns to you and says, "He's got great technique, hasn't he?" They're pointing at the kid who just smashed a volley into the top corner from 20 yards.
And yeah, that was a nice finish. But is that "good technique"? Or is it a kid with a strong leg who got lucky with the contact?
The technical corner of the Four Corners model is one of the most misunderstood parts of youth football development. Because most of us — coaches, parents, even some badge-holders — have a pretty narrow view of what technique actually means at grassroots level.
Technique isn't just about what looks good
Here's what technique does NOT mean at U8-U12:
It doesn't mean the kid who can do 50 kick-ups. That's coordination and practice, which is fine, but it tells you almost nothing about how they'll perform in a match.
It doesn't mean the kid who can ping a 30-yard crossfield pass. That's impressive for a 10-year-old, but if they can't receive a simple ball under pressure, the long pass is irrelevant.
It doesn't mean the kid with the best YouTube skill moves.
What technique actually means in the Four Corners model is much more practical. It's about how well a player can execute the core actions of the game — receiving, passing, dribbling, shooting, heading — under varying degrees of pressure, with both feet, in match-realistic situations.
The key phrase there is "under pressure." A kid who can pass beautifully in an unopposed drill but panics when a defender closes them down hasn't developed that technique properly yet. And that's fine — they're 9. But recognising the difference matters.
What to actually look for at each age
Technique development isn't linear and it definitely isn't the same for a 7-year-old and an 11-year-old.
U7-U8: At this age, you're looking at whether they can control the ball and move with it. That's about it. Can they dribble without the ball running away? Can they stop the ball with their foot rather than standing on it? Can they kick the ball roughly where they want it to go? Don't worry about weak foot. Don't worry about first-time passing. Just ball familiarity.
U9-U10: Now you're starting to see technique under light pressure. Can they receive on the back foot and turn? Are they starting to look up before they pass? Can they use the inside of both feet? This is where the separation starts to happen — and it's tempting to focus only on the "technical" kids. Resist that. The ones who are behind just need more touches, not less game time.
U11-U12: By now, you want to see technique applied in game situations with real pressure. First touch into space. Disguised passes. Awareness of what's around them before the ball arrives. This is also where heading gets introduced properly, and where shooting technique — placement, not just power — starts to matter.
The "both feet" question
Let's be honest. Most grassroots coaches don't actively coach weak foot development. It sort of gets mentioned — "try using your left foot!" — but there's no structured approach to it.
At elite academies, weak foot work is baked into every session from U7 onwards. Not as a separate drill, but as a condition. "This round, left foot only." "Receive with your right, pass with your left." Small constraints that force repetition.
You can do this too. It doesn't need its own drill. Just add it as a rule in games and practices you're already running. Over a season, the difference is noticeable. A 10-year-old who can comfortably use both feet has twice the options every time the ball comes to them.
The technique trap
Here's something I've seen catch out a lot of coaches, especially dads who played a decent level themselves. They over-prioritise technique at young ages because it's the easiest thing to see and coach.
"Work on your first touch." "Get your body over the ball." "Follow through." These are all valid coaching points. But if that's all you're doing — drilling technique in isolation — you're missing the bigger picture.
The Four Corners model gives technique a significant weighting (around 30% at most age groups), but it's deliberately lower than the psychological corner. Why? Because a player's willingness to try a new skill matters more than the skill itself at U8-U12. Confidence drives technique development, not the other way round.
The best technical coaching at grassroots level doesn't look like coaching at all. It looks like kids playing small-sided games, making loads of mistakes, and figuring things out. Your job is to set up the right games and conditions, then ask the right questions afterwards. Not to stop the game every 30 seconds to correct a body position.
How to coach technique without killing the fun
A few things that actually work:
Use constraints, not instructions. "Two-touch maximum" forces better first touches without you saying a word. "Can only score from inside the box" encourages close control and combination play. The game does the coaching.
Praise the process, not the product. "Great first touch into space" beats "great goal" every time. You're reinforcing the technique that led to the outcome, which means they'll repeat it.
Demo quickly, then let them play. If you want to show a skill, keep it to 30 seconds. Quick demo, one or two key points, then back into a game. Kids learn by doing, not by watching you talk.
Track what matters. It's easy to have a vague sense that "yeah, they're improving." But tracking specific technical markers — like whether a player is starting to use their weak foot more, or whether their first touch is consistently taking them forward rather than backwards — gives you real data to work with.
That's where something like InsideFooty can help. Rather than relying on gut feel, you can log technical observations across sessions and see genuine progress over weeks and months. It's particularly useful when you're preparing for parent conversations and want to show concrete development rather than saying "yeah, they're doing well."
The takeaway
Good technique at youth level isn't about highlight-reel moments. It's about whether a player can do the basics — receive, pass, move, shoot — consistently, under pressure, with both feet, in a real game.
And the fastest way to develop that? Not drills. Not YouTube skills. Loads of small-sided games, the right constraints, and a coach who's patient enough to let mistakes happen.