How to Do the Scissors Soccer Move

Last Updated: July 30, 2021

One of the most common but effective moves in soccer is the scissor. Used in games from junior varsity to the World Cup, this fluid move uses the outside of your feet to fake going one way before cutting to the other. What's more, variations and additions make the move even more useful and tricky, especially if a defender gets wise to the original move.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Performing a Scissors

1
Understand the total move before diving into the parts. A good scissors is simple and fluid, and it is much easier to understand the smaller steps once you know the total goal. For a right-footed fake, you bring your right foot around the ball, faking a touch with the outside of your foot to the right. Instead of touching, however, you loop around the front of the ball, land on your right foot, then use the outside of your left foot to go to the left of the defender.
- Go online and watch experts like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo performing the move at top speed to get a great example of perfected scissor moves.
- NOTE: These steps explain a right-footed scissors, where you step over the ball with your right foot, then push off to the left. For the inverse, simply reverse the feet.
2
Start with the ball a foot or so in front of you, slightly to your right. If this is the first time performing the move, practice without the ball moving or at a very slow jog. If jogging, take a light touch so that the ball is rolling forward as you approach it. You want to keep the ball close to you throughout the move.^{[1]
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- While you can practice the first few standing still, you should work on both still and moving scissors to be effective in a game.
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3
Stay up on the balls of your feet throughout. You never want to come down completely on your feet with a heavy landing. You need to be able to spring in either direction in an instant.
4
Lower your butt slightly into an athletic crouch. Your knees are bent and you're leaning forward slightly at the waist. You want an even, relaxed, and quick posture.
5
Bring your right foot around the front of the ball, clockwise. Leave your toe pointing down so there is a smaller area needed to get around the ball. This also prevents a defender from poking the ball out. If you're using your left foot, go counter-clockwise.
6
Spring off your left foot as you're landing, transferring weight to the right foot. As you come around the ball, shift your weight towards the right. This both fakes out the defender and allows you to land on the right foot, which you push off of to go left.
7
Land your right foot 1-2 feet to the right of the ball. You need room to get your left foot around the ball and touch it away from your defender. Make sure you're landing on the balls of your feet, not your heels, so you can spring up quickly.
- As you land, begin bringing your left foot to the right side of the ball.^{[2]
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8
Use the outside of your left foot to push the ball to the left, around your defender. This touch should be diagonally forward and to the left. As you perfect it, try to cut down the time needed to land and spring off your right foot -- the faster the better.
- This touch might be somewhat large -- it should be big enough to get the ball quickly past the defender but still allow you to catch it before anyone else.
9
Change speed after your touch to blow by the defender. A change of speed is essential to pull off any move, and the scissors is no different. Use your left-footed touch to burst into a quick sprint, blowing by your defender before they realize the fake.^{[3]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Perfecting Your Scissors

1
Practice the looping fake around the ball with both feet to increase your speed. Set the ball in front of you, get up on the balls of your feet, and practice alternating loops around the front of the ball. Simply keep doing the scissor part of the move without pushing the ball away. Focus on speed and precision, getting your feet quickly around the ball and landing on your toes each time.
- As you get better, add the final touch as well. Scissor, then touch to the left with the outside of the foot like a normal move. Then use the inside of your left foot to gently touch the ball towards your right side. From here, perform a left-sided scissors, alternating back and forth.
2
Get your head and shoulders involved for a more dramatic fake. A good player sells the move with their entire body, not just their feet. A good way to do this is with your upper body. If you're faking right, turn your head and your eyes to the right as well, drawing the defender more to this side of the body. As you perform the scissors to the right, dip your shoulders to follow your feet to the right, making the jump to the left even more devastating.
- Your hips will dictate which way you go. Keep them facing the defender to stay light and agile.
- As a defender, watch a player's hips when they perform a move. This helps avoid falling for head fakes.
3
Keep your fake as close to the ball as possible. The shorter your arc around the ball the faster you can perform it. By keeping your toe pointed down and practicing a short, quick scissor around the front of the ball you shorten the time it takes to perform the move and get around the defender. The faster your fake, the more effective you will be.
4
Practice performing scissors at faster and faster runs. As you master the move, start doing it from faster motion. Keep the ball in front of you as you dribble, picking up speed as you practice the move at game tempo. Note how fast you need the ball to be rolling as you do. The ball needs to have enough momentum to keep rolling forward as you scissor over it.
- It's okay to slow down slightly before the move -- even desired -- as it allows your burst of speed right after the scissors to blow by the defender.
5
Use the move effectively when defenders approach at an angle. The scissors can be performed whenever, but it is best when a defender is coming at you diagonally. This means their momentum is already carrying them to one side, making your fake twice as effective. Say the defender is coming at you diagonally from the left side of your body:
- If the angle is shallow (they are more in front of you than to the side), fake to the right and go left, away from their momentum.
- If the angle is wide (they are more to the side of you), fake to the left, towards their body, then push the ball forward and right to send them harmlessly behind you.
6
String several fakes together for a double or triple scissors. As you get better you don't have to stick to just one fake. Watch Cristiano Ronaldo for a masterclass in the multiple-scissors, which leaves most defenders as a puddle of weak knees. To perform it, simply spring back off your right foot into a left-footed scissors, wrapping around the front of the ball instead of pushing it away with the outside of your foot. You can then land on your left foot and touch off with your right, or do another scissors.
- This move takes a bit more time, and the ball generally needs a bit of extra forward speed to stay under your body.
7
Add an extra touch to the left to master the "advanced" scissors. In a traditional scissors the ball doesn't move until you do, which smart defenders can read and intercept. The advanced scissors adds one extra touch at the beginning of the move to throw off the defender's timing. To pull it off:
- Use your right foot to take a touch across your body, towards the left foot.
- Keep your right foot in the air after the touch.
- Immediately after the touch, wrap your right foot around the ball like normal. The ball should still be moving across your body.
- Land on your right foot as the ball reaches your left foot.
- Take a big touch with the outside of your left foot to blow by the defender.^{[4]
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Expert Q&A

Question

How can I perfect the scissors move?

Bernat Franquesa
Licensed Soccer Coach & Head of Methodology at APFC
Bernat Franquesa is the Co-Founder and Head of Methodology at APFC (Albert Puig Football Concepts), a youth development program for players and coaches with headquarters in San Diego, California. APFC provides soccer training for youth and educational content and consulting services for coaches, academies, and clubs. At APFC, Bernat is responsible for co-developing and applying technical guidelines for player development programs. He has been coaching soccer in Catalunya and the US since he was 15 years old.

Bernat Franquesa

Licensed Soccer Coach & Head of Methodology at APFC

Expert Answer
Question

Is it easy or will I need to practice?

Community Answer

It will take practice to perfect this move.
Question

I use this move a lot but sometimes it just doesn't sell the fake. Any ideas why?

Community Answer

You could be using it too often, your fake could be too quick, and you could be telegraphing what you're about to do. Or you could just not be doing it fast enough.

Warnings

Make sure that you are ready when you perform this move out on the soccer field, as it takes hundreds of practice attempts to pull off.

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