Throw-ins: The ugly ducklings of restarts
by Oliver Weiss on 04/06/10
Every weekend soccer players take throw-ins, sometimes as many as 20-30 per game. Many players often throw the ball to the other team and thus turning a clear advantage into a disadvantage and a loss of ball possession for their team. Others are called for a foul throw and possession changes again. A case can be made for a ‘National Throw-In Crisis'. Soccer adWeiss takes a closer look.
Usually any player on a team can take a throw-in. Proximity to the ball mostly determines who gets to take it. Unlike other restarts like penalty kicks, free kicks, goal kicks, and corner kicks where the coach or team designate a player with special skill for that restart, the throw-in seems to not require much skill at all. Soccer adWeiss disagrees and thinks that throw-ins are restarts, too, and deserve more respect and attention! Here is why:
- Players often throw the ball to the other team = Loss of Possession
- Players are called for foul throw-ins = Loss of Possession
- Players throw balls to teammates awkwardly = Loss of Possession
- Players show opponents too easily where they will throw the ball = potential Loss of Possession.
- Players (especially younger ones) take up to 20-25 seconds to take a throw-in, thus resulting in a Loss of Playing Time. (20 throw-ins x 20 seconds = 400 sec. = approx 6.5 minutes of playing time lost.
- The Throw-In is the one restart that occurs more than any other restart in the game. Thus, lots of opportunities to KEEP POSSESSION.
Here is our Soccer adWEISS for improving our national throw-in crisis:
1. How to Execute a Throw-in:
As a coach, spend about 5-10 minutes a week on throw-ins, especially when kids are between ages of 5-12. Teach them proper throw-in form:
a. Keep both feet on or behind the line. Feet must be on ground during the throw.
b. Both hands grab ball, place ball behind head and throw ball in one motion.
c. Player must release ball above head. You cannot hold onto ball past the head.
Sounds simple, right? It is not. Everyone on the team should practice throw-ins.
2. How to Show for the Ball:
Practice how to get open for a throw-in which will also help kids how to get open for a normal foot pass as well. Explain the concept of opposites: Check away and then come close to receive ball near the thrower. Check to the thrower and then sprint away to receive ball down the sideline or away form the thrower. Standing and waiting for a soccer ball is not ideal unless you are completely unmarked.
3. Receiving the Throw:
Show players where the best place is for receiving a throw-in: Anywhere between the knee and foot. Why? Because it can be trapped easily (and more importantly) quickly in that area. Show players how to trap the ball when it is thrown to that area (use inside of foot to cushion ball). Tell players not to throw ball on the ground in front of team mate so that it bounces up on the player’s thigh of chest. The opponent will have an easier time getting to it and steal the ball.
4. Teach Deception / Trickery on throw-ins:
If you want to throw the ball backwards towards your defenders or goalie pretend to throw it forward first and then quickly change direction and toss ball backwards and vice versa. Players love to be tricky or disguise their attention. This will make them less predictable on the field and guarantees more possession after a throw-in. Make sure team mates are ready for this trickery by calling their names prior to throwing ball to them.. Also, teach them how to take a quick throw-in when the other team is still arguing that they should be the ones throwing it in. Last, but not least: Pick up the ball for a throw-in when it seems uncertain who is awarded the throw. Referees sometimes don’t know who’s throw it is. They will award the throw to the team that picks up the ball first.
5. Practice Tips:
Blow your whistle every 60-90 seconds during a practice scrimmage and award random restarts to team that has the ball. Except, to restart the game use a throw-in wherever the play was stopped. So, players will have to practice throw-ins in the middle of field while scrimmaging and not just when the ball crosses the sideline. That way everyone has a chance to learn how to throw the ball properly and can pick up the nuances of this underappreciated restart. Stress quick throws to surprise opponent, proper receiving area, etc. Players will learn to judge pace of ball, distance to team mate, and how to find best positioned team mate. Receiving players will learn to control ball better and how to get open more.
Leave the refs alone!
by Oliver Weiss on 02/24/10
The Situation: Last weekend I witnessed another group of parents/spectators lash out at a referee during a youth soccer game. I have seen this sort of behavior way too many times in past years. Thus, it will be my first Blog topic to see if we can't improve this negative side product of youth soccer or youth sports in general.
From my point of view, as a coach, the referee in that game was probably a 7 on a 10 point scale. His decisions certainly had no impact on who won the game. He did a decent job of making calls most of the time. However, after the group of parents harrassed the ref about his calls, the players of the same team reacted to questionable calls, too.
At the time, it was the middle of the 2nd half, the score was 0-0. What was the final? You guessed right...the team whose parents complained loudly ended up losing 0-1 and rightfully so. Once the players focused on the referee's calls, their performance suffered. They lost sight of their own need to play better. They followed their parents's lead by whining and crying about something that during the entire history of sports has never changed: A referee reversing a call he has just made.
The question remains: Why do people (parents, players, coaches, fans) think they have the right to lash out at the refreee at youth games all the time? What's the point? Wrong decisions are always part of any game. Players mistrap balls, referees will miss a throw-in here and there. It happens. Or is it our sense of justice that makes us risk a public spectacle. Whatever the reason, the venom and anger displayed when a ref makes a bad call is just too much at times and sets a bad example for everyone involved. 9 out of 10 times the complainers end up losing the game; and sometimes more than just the game.
So, why do it anyway? Is it a reflex, an innate response so uncontrollable to humans that we are willing to risk so much for nothing in return? What it says to me is that there is a certain level of disrespect for the game and the players involved. The funny thing is that in about half the situations the referee actually makes the right call.
My SOCCER adWEISS is simple:
For Players: Don't complain, move on right away. Get ready for the next play. Expect mistakes to be part of any refereed game and accept the fact that you may be wronged from time to time. If you cannot get ready for the next play, your team will lose out. You will not be ready to defend or focus on what you need to do next. Also, your play generally deteriates because you are still thinking about a past call. On the contrary, make poor refereeing the motivator to do better as a player and as a team. Turn something negative into a positive whenever you can. It's the same thing in life.
For Parents: Try not to get your heart rate up unnecessarily. Accept the fact there will be errors made on the part of the referee (or at least the way you see it). Those "wrong decisions" are a true chance for your son or daughter to experience "adversity" in their sport, one of life's great lessons. Why ruin that opportunity for your kid? Isn't that the reason you want your kid to play sports in the first place?
On the other hand, if you want to become an informed critic of the Laws of the Game, try to become a referee yourself. You will be much more forgiving of refereeing mistakes in the future when you discovered that it is always the referee's discretion to make a callor not. That discretion is the true determiner of the quality of his calls.
For Coaches: It's a fact that you will win games because you did not confront a referee about his decisions. Your players will follow your lead and be much more focused on what they CAN control: Their performance! Trust me, it works every time.
Welcome to my SOCCER adWEISS Blog!
by Oliver Weiss on 02/24/10I would like to welcome you to the newest feature of our webiste: The Blog! Here, I'd like to share tips, advice, coaching points, and experiences from the soccer field straight to you, the player, coach, parent, or soccer fan in general. I hope to present challenging ideas for training, thought provoking advice for the game, and new and different ways to look at the same. The goal is to help players become better, make parents more knowledgable, and allow fans to become more appreciative of the game's intangibles and subtleties. In the end, I hope the topics are fun to read and insightful at the same time. See you on the soccer field this weekend...
