He was born with soft hands. The so-called experts want you to believe this. Not the truth. Anyone willing to follow my simple instructions can develop soft hands and become more than competent at catching soccer balls.

There are three options available when preparing to catch a soccer ball with your hands. The first option, move your hands towards the ball. This is the worst of the three options. When you move your hands towards a fast moving soccer ball, you turn your hands into a virtual baseball bat. Most likely, on contact, you will deflect the oncoming soccer ball and miss the catch.

The second option is to keep your hands still. It’s not as bad as option one, but it still creates a situation where your hands act like a backboard that could easily repel the ball. Most soccer players catch this way. Teaching them to use their fingertips helps, but it is not the best solution to the problem.

The third option, the one I recommend, seems to be instinctively used by the most successful wide receivers who have been deemed to have “soft hands.” It is moving the hands slightly backwards, approximately between the thumb and the middle finger, just before the ball comes into contact with the hands. You create a basket effect. For a short period of time, your hands match the speed of the ball, in the same direction of course, and then slow down to ensure the catch. Create less chance to repel the ball and miss catches.

The movement is similar to that of a tennis player when an errant ball is crossed. Simply extend your racket and catch the ball. It seems that the ball simply sticks, almost magnetically, to the racket. However, it is the rapid acceleration and then deceleration of the hands that makes it work.

Wide receivers, grab an old tennis racket and a tennis ball. Begin by holding the tennis racket in your dominant hand and tossing the tennis ball into the air with your non-dominant hand. Once the ball bounces, point the head of the racket at the ball so that it potentially makes contact with the strings at that end. Just before it makes contact, quickly accelerate or decelerate the racket and place it in a horizontal position to cradle the ball and thus catch the ball. Once you’ve mastered the bounce, try throwing the ball into the air and catching it in the air with your racket using the same technique. Once you master this technique, you will be on your way to being a better catcher.