Master These Three Passes

When I was growing up and playing youth soccer, I had a coach tell me that passing was an art. He said that the beauty to the game was a teams ability to pass well.

Today what I wanted to discuss is, if a soccer player can master these three passes, how much more effective they will be on the soccer field. There is so much we can discuss about passing the ball...but for todays post I want to introduce the three types of passes that once perfected or at least improved upon by players it will make them and their team more successful.

The first pass I'd like to discuss is the "touch pass". You do need to develop a touch or a feel for this pass. It needs to be more perfect than the other two passes. A touch pass is a pass of between five and fifteen yards to a teammate. In developing a touch pass, a player should have several concerns;

• How hard do I hit the ball to make this pass (weight of the pass)? Too hard and I may have challenged my teammate too much in making a effortless collection. Too soft and I may put my teammate in a bad position to receive the pass.
• Do I play it to their feet or into space? If it is played to feet, can I play it with proper pace to the proper foot which will allow my teammate to become more dangerous with this pass?

A complete soccer player should be able to make a touch pass with either foot and with either the outside of the foot or inside of the foot.

The second pass to work on is the "lofted or chipped pass". This pass also requires a feel for it to be effective. A lofted or chipped pass can be anywhere from 15 yards to 50 yards in distance. Ideally you want to hit the ball on the bottom half of the ball and follow through. A lofted pass when struck well will land softly with back spin not allowing the ball to roll away. This a great pass to play over a defenders head or to play more direct to a target player by bypassing other players and defenders.

The third pass is the "driven pass". With a driven pass, you are generally looking to strike the ball hard and straight. It can almost feel like the player is taking a shot on goal. Some specific times that a driven ball may make sense is when a player wants to change point of attack or there is a slight opening and a midfielder is trying to slot a ball behind a defender allowing one of his attacking players to run onto the ball. Again with all of these passes, being able to perfect them with either foot is key.

If coaches incorporate training their players to master these three passes and players work on mastering them, you and they will see more possession and more dangerous plays typically resulting in more goals being scored by your soccer team.

I hope you enjoyed reading about these three passes. Go over to my website www.soccerandspeedcoach.com and register to receive more information about our soon to be released DVD's on soccer and speed skills development.

Have a great day!

Gary

www.soccerandspeedcoach.com