PAGE  20
by Gary Rue
garyrue@bellsouth.net
(Gary's Series of Articles of Teaching Passing)

NOTE:  Gary did not write these exercises and tips with the idea that someone would publish them.  I subscribe to the Soccer-Coach-L e-mail list and Gary is one of the coaches that posts extremely well thought out replies.  These are some of Gary's posts that I collected for use in coaching my own teams.   I approached Gary and he was gracious enough to allow me to publish them here.  If you like what you see or have a question about one of the exercises you can reach Gary at garyrue@bellsouth.net There are 50+ more pages of Gary's posts categorized at the Home Page of Exercises of the Day by Gary Rue. Click here and enjoy.

Passing - Series Introduction

     There are many skills in which a player needs to be trained. Passing is certainly a skill that all players should be able to perform accurately and consistently, if the team and the player is going to be successful. Unfortunately, there is more to the art of passing than the actual technique.

      Passing can (and should) be taught at a very early age, but many players under the age of 8 may not be mature enough to grasp many if any of the concepts of space and team play. Most all players will have problems with many spatial concepts until after the age 12.

     It's not the passing skill that is the problem at the early age, but rather the confidence level on the ball, the awareness of the teammate and the understanding of the need to pass the ball with a purpose. The skill must first be taught, then the player needs time (years) and experience to implement the skill in game or game-like situations.

     In the coming days, I will provide my thoughts on the art of passing and specifically how to train players to be fundamentally sound passers. I will focus almost entirely upon passes made with the foot.  The areas I plan to cover include:

• Fundamentals (includes the different parts of the foot)
• The "Other" Foot
• Skill Development Exercises
• Passing Exercises That Promote Movement
• Passing under Pressure Exercises
• Passing Exercises for Conditioning
  
  Later!
  Gary Rue

Passing Fundamentals - Kicking Foot Surface

There are seven distinct passing areas of the foot (in order of importance):

1. inside of the foot
2. instep
3. front foot
4. toe
5. heel
6. outside of the foot
7. sole of the foot

• Inside of the foot
  is the most commonly used and most accurate of all foot surfaces. The inside of the foot is the area on the side of the foot where the arch is. Most of the passing discussion will be dedicated to this area.
  
• Instep
  is the power area of the foot. It is slightly off to side of the top of the foot, just inside the shoe laces. The hard bony knob on top of the foot is the epicenter of the kick.
  
• Front foot
  the hitting surface is on the top of the foot, just above the little toes, near the bottom outside part of the shoe laces. This pass requires the foot to be turned inward. This surface can be used for a short touch pass, or for a powerful, long swerving ball.
  
• Toe
  the oft maligned (as it should be) area is actually useful in certain pressure situations. The foot surface area is the tips of the toes or the toe box of the shoe. It is not a recommended strike zone for training young players. Unfortunately, too many players forego proper passing technique to gain the extra power a toe poke provides. The toe poke produces a pass that scoots instead of rolls. It is also a fairly inaccurate technique.
  
• Heel
  can be very useful to provide a surprise passing direction. Though the heel has as much power potential as the toe poke, it is most often used for short quick passing.
  
• Outside of the foot
  is not a very useful technique. The front foot (described above) should be used in most situations. The area of the foot is exactly opposite that of the inside of the foot. To pass with the outside of the foot, the player has to "slap" at and punch the ball with a sideways movement of the foot. Players often turn completely sideways to play this pass, usually to keep from passing with their "other" foot.
  
• Sole of the foot
  is the least used passing surface. Good dribblers that use the sole of their foot for ball control find this pass useful in certain situations. Instead of the heel pass, the ball can be rolled backwards by the sole of the foot. In very tight and pressured situation, the ball can be pushed a short distance forward by rolling the foot forward over the ball.

     Only the first three surfaces, instep, inside and front foot techniques will be discussed further with any detail.

Passing - Inside of Foot Mechanics

          (Please note - I am working on replacing the diagrams below)

     The inside of the foot pass is the easiest technique (for most players) and the most accurate of the foot surfaces. The inside of the foot can deliver a soft pass or deliver one with a good bit of power. The ball can be lifted (to some degree) and swerved with the inside of the foot. Pigeon toed players often find the inside of the foot a difficult technique, however. They generally have to distort their bodies to make this pass, which is not conducive to a good passing accuracy.

     There a couple of key points when using the inside of the foot. First, the ball should be played very close to the heel of the kicking foot. The ball should not be played closer to the toes than dead center of the foot arch. The following figures will (hopefully) show the reason the ball should be played close to the heel.

     In figures 1 and 2, the player is trying to pass the ball too far up on the foot. In figure 1, the ball is close to the ground and the player should be able to make a good touch, though it is possible that the ball may go up in the air as the foot is below the center of the ball. However, in figure two, the ball has bounced in air and will probably fly over the top of the player's foot (how many times have we seen this happen?).

              __
     /   \
| |     | |          | | <-- ball off the ground
| | / \ <-- ball     | | \__/
| ||____| |          |_____
|_________) <--foot  |________) <-- foot

Figure 1                                              Figure 2


      In figures 3 and 4, the player is playing the ball closer to the heel where the leg is behind the ball. In figure 4, where the ball has bounced off the ground, at least the leg will be able to block the ball and the player will still be able to make contact.

  /| |\
   | | |           |    | | <-- ball of the ground
  /| |\ <-- ball    \| |/
   | |_|__           | |_____
  \|_______) <--foot |________)

            Figure 3                                    Figure 4

     The second point is the foot position and angle. The foot should be off the ground so the contact point on the ball is in the center of the ball. This is somewhere between 1.5 and 3 inches off the ground, depending upon the size of the ball. The foot is raised by bending the knee of the kicking foot.

     Figure 5 shows the foot angle caused by raising the ball of the foot above the heel. Locking the foot at this angle does two things: 1) it provides a better chance of contacting a bouncing ball; and 2) it provides a firm foot during the pass. The locked foot provides strength in the pass and will not break down into a "floppy foot."

           | | <-- leg
           | |       _ __
          /| |  \ / /
ball--> | | |_/ / <-- foot
          \| /
           |_____/

Figure 5

      In summary for the inside of the foot pass, play the ball back towards the heel of the foot, bend the knee to raise the foot to the center of the ball and lock the foot by raising the toes above the heel to provide strength and stability in the pass.

Passing - Front Foot Mechanics

    The front foot pass is useful in many situations. The term front foot originates from the fact that this pass occurs with the most forward foot (i.e., the foot that is in front). On short passes, this pass is usually quicker to make than the inside of the foot. Also, the pass can be made easier on the run without much foot adjustment. On long passes, the front foot is an excellent technique for bending the ball.

     To make the front foot pass, the foot is pointed downward (like the instep pass). Often the toe box is turned slightly to the inside, though not always. However, this pass cannot be effectively made if the foot is turned outward.

     The ball is contacted on or around the bottom outside eyelets of the boot, just above where the last two toes are connected to the foot. This is a fairly broad surface on which to strike a ball, so with training, passing accuracy should be high. The hard part is getting the player to turn the foot inward. Pigeon-toed players will find this to be their primary passing technique.

     Below, the X marks the approximate spot on the boot where the ball is
contacted.


     *_*_*
  * (    )  *
 *  (    )   *
*  ( _ _)    *
*   0==0   *
*   0==0   *
*   0==0   *
*   0==0   *
*  X0==0  *
*   0==0  *
 *           *
  *         *
   *      *
    * * *


     The ball is contacted at or just below the center of the ball. If the toes are angled up a little and the ball is contacted just below center, the ball can be put into the air. Unless the ball is hit dead center, it will have a right spin if hit with the right foot (and left spin with the left foot). This is similar to a slice spin on a golf ball. It is usually best to "miss" this pass to the right of center if using the
right foot, as a left center contact may cause a mis-hit.

     If the ball is to the side of the kicking foot, it easily can be played sideways. This is an excellent technique for square or diagonal passes as in a wall pass. Passes forward can be played as well, often with a little swerve to the pass, especially if struck with pace. One footed players will find this technique invaluable for making passes that generally mandate the use of the off-foot--for example, a right footed cross when running towards goal-line on the left side.

     The front foot pass may be the most overlooked and under-utilized passing technique by young players. However, pressure situations may require this passing technique more often than other foot surfaces.

Passing - Instep Foot Mechanics

     The instep pass (or shot) is made by pointing the foot towards the ground where the heel of foot is almost directly in line with and above the toes. This is refereed to as locking the foot down. This foot shape (pointing towards the ground) must be kept throughout the ball strike and should be held into the follow through. If the toes are allowed to bend upward, the hitting surface of the foot becomes angled upward, causing the ball to go up. Squeezing the toes may help to stabilize the foot through the hit and keep it locked down.

     Generally, a men's 9 1/2 shoe size is considered the maximum shoe size where the instep is in line with the center of a size 5 ball. When the foot is too large, it can be turned slightly out or even towards the inside (that is, the toes are pointed toward the support foot) until the instep can contact the center of the ball.

     In the figure below, a boot (notice the studs) is in the locked down position, striking the ball with the instep at the center of the ball.

    _ / / ___
<( / / \
  <| ) / \
   <| ) \ /
    <|)\___/


      The ball is struck by the hard bone on top of the foot (the instep), generally just to the inside of the top second or third eyelet on an average boot. Notice, it is not on the laces. If the ball is hit to the right of center, the ball should start to spin and curve towards the left. If the ball is struck just below center with the instep, the ball will probably rise. A strike to the lower right of center should
generate a ball with side topspin that would rise and curve down.

      If the ball is struck dead center, the ball would be spinless. This type of ball is often referred to as a "knuckle ball" where tremendous power can be generated and the ball's flight is somewhat unpredictable as there is no spin to stabilize it. This is an extremely difficult ball for a GK. In a low pass, the center hit will "scoot" on top of, until the grass slows it down and "grabs" it. The ball then will go into a topspin which will keep it's course true and the bounces minimal.

Here is an additional comment from David Graham who runs the Soccer-Coach-L mailing list from Canada.

      I have often found it helpful to tell players to "curl their toes into the sole of their shoe" or "press their toes down against the bottom of their boot". This automatically tends to point the toes down and locks the ankle in the down position.

     Gary talks not only about passing but about shooting. When practicing shooting with the instep drive, players should be encouraged to experiment with different strike points and follow-through methods to produce different effects. "Brushing up" on the ball by sharply raising the knee of the kicking leg as the ball is contacted will produce topspin which will make the ball "dip" in the air; the more topspin, the more pronounced the dip will be, and like all forms of swerve, it will really kick in as the ball slows toward the end of its flight.

Cheers, DG

Passing - Kicking Leg Mechanics

     The kicking leg on a pass is most important for generating the pace of the pass. It plays a big role in the direction of the pass and the type of pass as well. Depending upon which part of the foot is being used will determine the type of leg action that is needed.

     For the inside of the foot pass, not much leg back swing is required unless the pass must travel some distance very quickly. Actually, the longer the leg back-swing, the longer it takes to make the pass and potentially, the more possibility for inaccuracy.

     Note, however, that a lot of pace can be put on the ball with almost no back-swing. With a stationary ball, place the support foot directly beside the ball and the kicking foot behind and pointed at the ball. By just turning the foot (no hip movement) and striking through the ball with the inside of the foot, the ball can be passed with good pace.

     Two points can be addressed here. First, the kicking leg knee must be bent at strike time. The bending of the knee raises the foot off the ground and puts the striking surface of the foot in the center of the ball. Players that "brush" the grass on their pass will cause quite a few inaccurate and low paced passes. Their passes will tend to rise of the ground because they are striking it below center.

     The second point is to provide plenty of follow through. The reason for the follow through is to encourage striking all the way through the ball. If the leg swing stops too soon, then it is probable that the leg swing started to slow down before the strike. Deceleration at or prior to strike time is never good. In fact, even the softest touches require acceleration at strike time. Follow through is the key to accelerating through the touch. In addition, the follow through forces the body to go forward and not lean back--this is goodness.

      From this stationary beginning, the leg can move into a backswing and through the ball. One key point must be made here, the hips should NOT   be involved in turning the foot. Many players tend to do this on their secondary kicking foot. When the hip is involved, many other problems can occur which will help dissuade players from using that side - something we coaches need to prevent.

     When to turn the foot may be a key issue with some coaches and players. Some like the foot turned during the back-swing, while others wait until strike time to turn the foot into the ball. If the foot is turned early, the back-swing may be restricted causing the hip to come into play and there may be some power loss in the swing due to tighten leg muscles. However, a late turning foot may not be as accurate. Trained players should be able to work this out without much assistance from a coach - just watch for overuse of the hip.

     To summarize the leg swing mechanics:

• Use only as much back-swing as needed
• Use only the leg muscles to turn the foot, not the hip
• Bend the knee to raise the foot to the center of the ball
• Accelerate through the ball into a long follow through
  
  

      The kicking leg swing on the instep and front foot passes are similar to the above. Because of the power that is needed when using the these foot surfaces to pass the ball over great distances, the hip may need to come into play, to generate more speed and power to the kick. The foot surface must be properly place at the time of impact with the ball. The follow throughs should also be generous, as well. With both of the instep and front foot passes, the foot should continue to be locked in position with the body going forward and the knee keeping its angle. That is, do not allow the leg to straighten as this action will probably start prior to ball strike.