This is Episode 008 – Receiving
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Thanks to GoalOFC for the review. I enjoy the kind words, but the constructive criticism is truly appreciated. My hope is that someday I will learn to relax and not meander to slowly to the point. Let’s see how I do today.
Today’s topic is receiving and something that I believe does not get enough attention. A lot of players and coaches think that focusing on pure receiving is boring and often want to move on to more exciting topics and drills. I feel that is a mistake.
Receiving is a cornerstone to being successful in soccer. Imagine a basketball team that is great at dribbling, shooting, playing defense and passing, but can not catch a ball. I doubt they would be very successful.
I see receiving a ball as having two major pieces. First is position.
I am not referring to being in a position that allows a teammate to pass you the ball. That is a different topic that I touched on a little in episode 6 where I talk about space.
The positioning I think of relative to receiving is the position of the player’s body relative to the field. For example: A player on the sideline should try to receive a ball with his or her back to the sideline so the entire field is open and in view. If that same player is facing a goal line, then the field that is behind him or her is out of view. And seeing the whole field is very helpful. We will get into this a little later.
A player also has to take other players into consideration and position his or her body in a way that the ball is protected from the opposition and/or open to his or her own team to make a quick pass.
But before I go into that I want to go into the importance of a great first touch. As I mentioned earlier, imagine a basketball player that dropped every ball that was passed to him. The same goes for a soccer player receiving a pass. If a pass cannot be controlled well then turnovers happen.
Before you ever get your first touch on the ball you should know what part of your body will receive the ball and what you are going to do. Just as I like to have keepers watch crosses without the stress of actually catching them, it is great to have field players watch balls served in at different heights so they can get a feel for different trajectories. It is key to know early where the ball will land so you know what part of the body will be used to receive the ball. This type of practice also provides players with an opportunity to take a quick look at the field while the ball is still in flight to decide what they are going to do with the ball when it gets to them. Being proactive and thinking a step or two ahead is so much better than being reactive and trying to figure out what to do once you have the ball in your possession.
When I was growing up we were taught to trap the ball. But you will notice that today we receive the ball. This is because trapping the ball implies that the ball is going to stop dead at your feet and you rarely want to have the ball stopped dead at your feet.
The speed and trajectory of the approaching ball will tell you how firm or soft your first touch needs to be. There is no magic formula, this just takes practice. However, a ball that is coming in hard and fast needs to have a lot of the energy taken away. Think cushion. I am sure most players have heard this and most coaches have said it, but how often do you focus a practice or even a drill on simply cushioning the ball? It won’t happen if you don’t practice.
So as often as you can, make time to practice cushioning the ball. For those who don’t know what I am talking about and for those who would just like a refresher cushioning the ball is simple. Lets say the ball is coming in hard on the ground and you are going to receive it with the inside of your foot. You need to first move your foot towards the ball so you have a longer distance to take the speed off the ball. Just as the ball makes contact with your foot, you want to move your foot in the same direction the ball is going and slow the ball down. If this does not makes any sense just go watch an egg throw contest at your next family picnic. The person catching the egg will have his hands way out in front of him and then bring them back with the egg as he catches it.
However, as I mentioned earlier, in soccer we rarely want to stop the ball dead, so it takes practice to put just the correct touch on the ball so it does not bounce away too far, but does not stop dead at your feet and make you a sitting target. When receiving a ball just a small move of a yard to either side is often enough to get past a defender or open up a passing lane. Remember to practice receiving balls with oncoming defenders so you can work on moving the ball first time to get around the defender.
As always, there are a whole lot of things that go into the fundamentals of soccer. That is why it is so important to practice these “basics” so they can be done without having to think. We want to save our brain power for figuring out what is happening on the field and not use it for remembering the fundamentals.
But let’s get back to a player’s position relative to the rest of the field. This is just as important as putting a good first touch on a ball. After all a player who has good ball control but always ends up facing the wrong direction and therefore missing opportunities does a team little good.
As I always do, let me use an example to clarify my point. Everyone has probably played keep a way in a small box. Imagine that your teammate with the ball is on your right in one corner of the box while you are down a side in another corner. When the ball is played to you, you want to keep as much of the field in view as possible. So if it is safe to do so (no defender around) then let the ball pass in front of you and use your left foot to receive the ball. This will keep you open to the entire field. If the ball is played behind you and you turn clockwise (to your right) and receive the ball with your right foot, then you have just cut off a large portion of the field. However, if you step backwards you can keep the ball and the entire field in front of you. A much better choice.
Thanks to Dean for finding my mistake in the Space podcast. If you want to know what it was check out the comments.
You will also notice that I have a different closing song. I am still using Freakno by Jeff Woolsey as my opening theme, but I decided to feature music fromMagnatune.com in the closing just for fun. This song is by Chris Juergensen and I chose it simply because the title is “Bug Lips”
You can find this song and many others at Magnatune.com. Just to clarify they are not sponsoring this podcast in anyway I just like magnatune for finding new music and they allow podcasters to use their music in a podcast without having to pay any royalty fees.
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