Hitting it but poking with the toes?
Contact is the next step: where on the foot the ball is struck, and a five-step laces kick. Our guide to a child who kicks with their toes covers both.
Fix the toe pokeChild Keeps Missing the Ball When Kicking: What Helps
Skill-Building Games
A swing that finds nothing is not a lack of effort.
If your child keeps missing the ball when kicking, the fix is a bigger ball, a steadier standing foot and a few easy touches, so the foot learns where the ball is.
For a long time I answered every miss with a louder "watch the ball". Then a big yellow beach ball from the shed went down in front of my child's foot, the first swing landed and the ball sailed about two metres into the hedge. The only thing that had changed was the ball.
Watch three swings first
Why a Child Cannot Kick a Standing Ball: Five Usual Reasons
If your child keeps missing the ball when kicking, the foot is usually arriving at the wrong moment or from an unsteady stand, not for lack of trying. Start with a big, light, still ball so there is more to hit and more time to find it.
Add a short wobble-free pause on the standing foot, then move to the real ball only when most swings connect. Missing is common in beginners, and kicking looks different at different ages in a study of children aged 4 to 11 (a video study of 255 children's kicking).
Kicking needs three things at once: standing on one leg while the other swings, seeing where the ball is, and getting the foot there at the right moment. A miss means one of the three slipped.
Coaches and therapists describe the same few patterns. The table below is a spotting tool, built from practitioner advice (a practitioner's guide to training kicking, a paediatric therapy practice's kicking blog, a child development blog's kicking tips), and it has not been tested.
| What you see | What it usually points to | First thing to try |
|---|---|---|
| The foot swings over the top of the ball | The ball is small or low and hard to judge, or the child is looking at the target. | Try a bigger, lighter ball for a few tries (therapy practice) and say "eyes on the ball until the foot has gone through it". |
| The foot arrives late or stops short | The swing is being timed from too far away, or the ball is moving. | Make the ball stand still and start one step closer, as in rungs 1 and 2 below (practitioner's guide). |
| The child wobbles, hops or topples | Balance on the standing leg is the weak link. | Play Statue Kick, below, before more kicking (child development blog). |
| The foot lands on top of the ball and the child slips | A small ball can be stepped on while overshooting. | Try a larger, light ball (therapy practice). |
| The child stops after one miss and will not swing again | The miss feels bigger than the ball. | Count touches, not misses (see the kind-words section below) and keep the session short. |
Pick one row per session, because a child told five things stops swinging. These are the usual practitioner explanations and untested reasoning, and none has been tested as a cause in children aged 5 to 9.
If the foot is meeting the ball but landing on the toes, see child kicks football with their toes, which covers where on the foot the ball is struck.
Six rungs, one at a time
Miss the Ball When Kicking? Start With a Big Soft Ball
The order below comes from practitioner advice: a still ball first, then distance, then a short approach (a practitioner's guide to training kicking), with the task adapted so the child succeeds most of the time (a practitioner's guide to adapting ball tasks) and a larger, light ball (a paediatric therapy practice's kicking blog). It is a sensible default, not a tested method, and the reasoning that a big ball is more to hit, lighter and slower to react to is untested.
Ball size has some evidence, but it is mixed. One small, old catching study found a bigger ball easier (48 first graders in the first design, a 1981 catching study with first graders) and another found the smallest ball easier (45 children aged 7 to 8, a 1980 catching study of children aged 7 to 8). Neither was about kicking, so ball size is a thing to try, not a rule.
- 1
The biggest, lightest ball. A beach ball or a big foam ball on soft grass, still, with no run-up. Stand beside the ball on the standing foot, then swing. Any touch counts.
- 2
One step in. Same ball. The child takes one small step and swings. If the stand wobbles, go back to rung 1 for a session.
- 3
A medium soft ball. A lighter ball a little smaller than the real one, still on the spot, no run-up.
- 4
The real ball, standing still. Their usual ball, with a rolled-up sock marking its spot so it starts in the same place each go. For choosing the ball, see what size football your child needs.
- 5
A short run-up. Two to three steps in, the length the Skills for Action page uses (practitioner's guide). Mark the start with a shoe.
- 6
A slow roll. The grown-up kneels to one side, out of the line of the kick, and rolls the ball slowly across from about two metres, and the child waits and swings as it reaches the sock. A moving ball is harder because the child must guess where it will be (practitioner's guide).
Move up a rung when most tries connect; about seven in ten is a rule of thumb, not a standard. Move back a rung whenever the child gets cross, and call it normal. Nothing here is a tested programme.
Balance and timing, two minutes each
Kicking and Foot-Eye Coordination for Kids: Three Short Games
England Football lists balance and coordination as worth playing at for this age group (England Football's article on movement skills), and a study of 337 children aged 6 to 10 treated a stability skill as its own movement skill (a study of stability skills in 337 children). No study found shows these games fix missing, so treat them as low-pressure play.
Statue Kick
For balance. The child swings at the big ball, then freezes in the finish pose for a count of three, like a statue. A wobble-free freeze counts as a point even if the ball barely moved. Keep a wall or fence nearby to touch if needed.
Balloon Bop
For foot-eye coordination. Keep a balloon off the floor with a foot, a knee and a hand, taking turns. A balloon floats slowly, so the eyes have time to guide the foot (child development blog). Clear any burst pieces at once.
Sock Gate
For timing. Two shoes make a gate and a sock marks the spot a metre beyond it. Roll the big ball slowly through the gate from the side, staying out of the line of the kick, and the child waits and kicks as it reaches the sock. Nobody counts misses.
For a warm-up, stand on one leg and count to five with a hand on the fence if needed, then swap. A hopping-and-freezing "Freeze!" game is also described by a coaching site (a coaching site's movement games).
When the ball starts to connect in Sock Gate, try the real ball, then see toe taps for touches on a ball the child can already reach.
What to say, and what to count
Keeping It Kind When Every Swing Misses
Count touches, not misses, so the score only ever goes up. Two minutes is enough, and stopping on a connect is a good ending.
Let your child have a say in which rung to play, so the choice is theirs and not yours.
"Shall we count the touches and ignore the misses?"
A child who hears "watch the ball" five times stops hearing it, so name one thing per session. If your child backs away from the ball rather than swinging at it, start with when your child is afraid of the ball.
A calm signpost, not a diagnosis
When Missing the Ball Goes Beyond Practice
Missing a still ball is common while kicking is new, and in a video study of 255 children aged 4 to 11 kicking components generally improved with age (video study). An article cannot tell a beginner from a child who needs a closer look, so this one does not try.
The NHS describes developmental co-ordination disorder (dyspraxia) as "a condition affecting physical co-ordination" (the NHS page on developmental co-ordination disorder (dyspraxia) in children). Its symptom list for older children includes difficulty with hopping, jumping, running and "catching or kicking a ball", plus stairs, writing and dressing, and says children may "fall over a lot" or avoid team games (the NHS symptoms list for older children).
The NHS also says a definite diagnosis does not usually happen until a child is 5 or more (NHS).
A plain reading: if missing the ball sits alongside several other everyday movement difficulties, if weeks of easy practice make no difference or if your child is upset or avoiding games, mention it to your child's GP, health visitor, school nurse or the school's SENCO, as the NHS suggests (NHS). They may refer to an occupational therapist or paediatrician.
Asking is not a label, and it does not mean something is wrong. Football alone is rarely the whole picture either way. The NHS pages do not mention football or say how many missed kicks matter, so there is no number to give.
What is known and what is not
What the Research Says About Missing the Ball
A cross-sectional video study of 255 children aged 4 to 11 found kicking components generally improved with age. It describes how kicking looks across ages, not how to change it, and it used maximal kicks. Only the record was read.
A validation study of 337 children aged 6 to 10 treated stability (balance) skills as separate from running, throwing and catching. It supports "balance is its own skill" and does not show that balance practice fixes a missed kick.
Two small catching studies of ball size, 48 first graders and 45 children aged 7 to 8, pointed in opposite directions. They were about catching, not kicking, they date from 1981 and 1980 and they are small.
Practitioner pages on the order of steps, success most of the time and a larger light ball (one, two, three, four) are opinion from practice, with no trial cited. England Football's article on movement skills lists agility, balance and coordination as the focus for ages 5 to 11, but it is guidance for adults running sessions and no drill was tested.
No study found tests a big-ball ladder or a balance game for children aged 5 to 9 who miss. I would rather say the ladder is a sensible default than pretend a study picked it. For the medical side, the NHS is the place to check, starting with the NHS page on developmental co-ordination disorder (dyspraxia) in children.
Quick answers
Common Questions About a Child Who Keeps Missing the Ball
Why does my child keep missing the ball when kicking?
Usually one of three things slipped: balance on the standing leg, seeing where the ball is, or timing the swing. Watch three swings and pick one (practitioner's guide, therapy practice). This is a practitioner explanation, not a tested finding.
Why can my child not kick a standing ball?
A still ball is the easiest start, and most children get there with practice (practitioner's guide). If balance wobbles, play Statue Kick, and if the foot goes over the top, try a bigger, lighter ball.
Does a bigger ball really help?
It is worth trying. Practitioners suggest a larger, light ball, and two small catching studies disagree on ball size (1981 study, 1980 study, therapy practice). No study tests it for kicking in children aged 5 to 9.
Is missing the ball a sign of dyspraxia?
On its own, not enough to say. The NHS lists kicking a ball among many everyday movement difficulties (NHS symptoms), and a definite diagnosis does not usually come before age 5 (NHS). If you are worried, talk to a GP, health visitor or school SENCO.
How long should a session be?
Two minutes is plenty. Stop on the first good touch and count touches, not misses.
When should I move to the real ball?
When most tries connect with the bigger ball. A rule of thumb is about seven in ten, and it is not a standard. Step back whenever the child gets cross.
Keep going
Where to Go From Here
Three places to go next, depending on what you saw.
Backing away from the ball?
A slower route in for a child who flinches, starting with a roll.
See the slower routeWant the whole Skill-Building Games shelf?
More short, calm games for one skill at a time.
See Skill-Building GamesTonight's five minutes
Find the biggest ball in the house.
A beach ball or a big foam ball will do. Put it on soft grass, stand beside it on the standing foot and swing for two minutes. Count the touches out loud and stop on the first good one.