Today's topic deals with using your body while speed dribbling.
REMEMBER TO DRIBBLE WITH SPEED MEANS TOES DOWN USING TOP OF FOOT TO PUSH BALL AHEAD WITH 6-10 STRIDES BETWEEN TOUCHES TO RUN AT FULL SPEED WITH CONTROL.



Many players think of shielding as something to be done while dribbling in confined spaces and under pressure. An example can be seen below. The black player is using his body to shield the ball from the yellow defender.



However, it's also important to use your body to "shield" while speed dribbling. The difference with speed dribbling is you are simply trying to get the defender to be directly behind you so that the only way for them to get to the ball is to foul you or go around you.

Too often, young players will beat their defender and then try to dribble on an angle away from the chasing defender



The problem is, unless the defender is significantly slower than the dribbler, it's faster to run without the ball than with it so this gives the defender a good opportunity to recover.

The alternative is to cut the defender off so that they must run further than you in order to get to the ball (or foul you).





Doing this small thing will increase your likelyhood of getting all the way to goal, or getting fouled, as opposed to being overtaken and losing the ball on a tackle.

Today's newsletter addresses the issue of making runs to make it difficult on the opponent.

As an example, we are going to use a corner kick situation. Many runners, if they are going to make a far post run will start outside of the far post to position themselves to make it easy to get where they want to go.


The problem with this is that it allows the defender to see the runner and the ball by positioning himself properly.

The alternative is to start your run from the middle and then bend it outward.


When you make this bending run away from the ball, it forces the defender to either watch the ball, at which point he loses visual contact with you, or he watches you and loses visual contact with the ball. Either way puts you at a major advantage.

This is one of the many advantages of making bent (or curved) runs. It makes it easy for you to see and difficult for the opponent.

Don't think of this as something that just works on corner kicks, take advantage of these types of runs all over the field and good things will happen.

Today's topic deals with refs that cheat.

A player tackles from behind in the box, takes the player down and a penalty kick is awarded.....the ref must have cheated.

A team stalls throughout the game and then gives up a goal in extra time....the ref must have cheated.

The ball goes out of play and the ball is awarded to the other team....the ref must have cheated.

A player tries to time a run for a through ball and gets called for being in an offside position....the ref must have cheated.

A player gets tripped inadvertently and the opponent doesn't get carded....the ref must have cheated.

Time runs out before your team gets to hit a shot on goal and the ref blows the whistle for the end of the game...the ref must have cheated.

There are so many times throughout every game that someone seems to feel the ref has cheated that it makes me wonder where people are finding all of these dishonorable refs.

Amazingly, there are refs that must be cheating against both teams in the same game.

Or, is it possible that the refs are actually quite honest and are doing the best they can? Maybe the pk should have been awarded. Maybe the extra time was justified. Maybe the player really was offside. Maybe the trip really was inadvertent. Maybe time really did expire.

Before you assume the worst of people, ask yourself, what incentive would these refs really have to cheat? Do you think they are being bribed? Do they hate you personally? Are they being blackmailed?

It's been my experience that when a ref sees something from the field, and I see something from the sideline, a large majority of the time, they are correct and I'm the one who is wrong.

There are times when a ref might miss a call but there is a BIG difference between missing a call and cheating. Really give some serious thought before you slander someone by stating they have cheated.

Today's topic deals with keeping possession of the 60-40 ball.

Just because a player can get to a ball before the opponent does not mean they will be able to keep possession of the ball. In the diagram below, the ball is slightly closer to the black player than the yellow player.

Most likely the black player will arrive at the ball before the yellow player but if the black player tries to keep the ball where it is, the yellow player will have a good opportunity to tackle the ball away.

If the black player can get to the ball with enough time to get his body between the ball and the yellow player, he can successfully shield the ball.

However, in many cases, it's difficult for the black player to get to the ball with enough time to do so. In a 60-40 situation, or a 50-50 situation, the hope is to simply get their first.

An extremely effective method to keep the ball when you barely get to it first is to simply poke the ball into space that is opposite the opponents momentum In the diagram below, the black player gets to the ball first and then pokes the ball on an angle into space that is against the yellow players momentum. he would then chase the ball down and have possession with some time.



Basically, this is very soft pass to yourself. Not only do you want to make the pass into space against the momentum of the oncoming opponent but you also want to make sure no other players are in that space either.

This is an extremely effect way to keep possession of a ball when pressured by an oncoming player.

Today's topic deals with beating a player with the first touch.

The black player passes to his teammate. The defender closes in on the receiving player.

If the receiving player traps the ball dead, it gives the defender the opportunity to tackle the ball and go in the other direction.

The alternative to stopping the ball dead is to keep the ball moving. Frequently this is done by taking the touch into space away from the defender

However, another option to consider is to take a hard touch past the defender and use their momentum against them. As the defender is closing the space, take a hard touch (almost a pass to yourself) past the defender and take advantage of the fact it's difficult for them to stop and change directions quickly.

By doing this, not only will you be attacking the space behind the defender but also, the next time a similar situation arises the defender will most likely be much slower to close the space which will relieve pressure and make your job easier.

Today's topic deals with determining when to use an early serve vs taking the ball to the end line and crossing back out.

Just to make sure you understand what I'm referring to, in the diagram below, the black player out wide receives the ball and plays a cross to in behind the defenders for the runners to run onto.



The alternative is to take the ball down to the end line and cross the ball back away from the goal/keepers.



The question is, when should the player out wide look to play the early serve and when should he look to take the ball to the end line and then cross it?

Much of this decision will be made by the initial passer. If the player out wide is open and the ball is played to feet, it means the passer thinks an early serve should be considered.



If the ball is played into the space in front of the wide player, than the passer wants the receiver to take the ball down to the end line and then cross it in.



This is a classic example where the person making the initial pass is involved in not only that pass but also the next pass as well. It's why it's not good enough to just pass the ball to the open player, you want to pass it in a way to set up the next pass as well.