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In the 4 v 0 and 4 v 1 Seattle video, the players are taught to receive across their body, but I didn’t notice much emphasis on teaching them to also pass “across your body”- in other words, many players were passing to their right with their right foot, which requires the body to turn to the right, thereby limiting vision to the left, and also showing any defenders where you are going to pass. It also is slower than passing with the left foot on the second touch. I’m guessing that this would be a key coaching point in later sessions, after the players had become comfortable with receiving correctly. Gary, is this something you feel is important to focus on with your players? Great videos and forums, thanks!
Especially for switching the field, passing across the body was the concept I was teaching, as opposed to receiving it across their body. This was for the obvious reason .. to keep the ball in motion, for the fastest switch possible. Now I can see the benefits of purposely receiving the ball across your body for other reasons, after reading everything here. Great stuff.
I’m glad you brought this up because I have seen this taught different ways and coaches I have talked to have different feelings about what foot they encourage players to play with after they receive across their body. If I receive a pass across my body and take my first touch with my right foot and on my second touch play it with my left I would agree that’s faster than receiving with my right and playing with my right. That being said I think receiving and releasing the ball with the same foot has its benefits such as pushing the ball in the direction of your target. Players should only take 1 step between receiving and releasing the ball (receive-step-release) if they use the same foot. I am interested to hear what Brian has to say about this because it is something I have seen debated and something I am not completely sure of as far as which is better or if one way is better than the other.
Brian answered the question in another thread that asked the same question, and you can see it here:
http://www.coaching.3four3.com/forums/topic/simple-4v0-rondo-question/
Passing away from the body (as opposed to across the body) can have a few advanatages in specific situations. It does create a better angle for a pass, so if space is tight and you are being squeezed in one direction it makes it harder to intercept a pass. Also, while it shouldn’t be an issue for short passes, if you are switching a ball from one wing to another or are hitting longer passes, the accuracy and pace is obviously going to be better with the stronger foot. I’ve been watching and this seems pretty common among professional players. In the 4v0 I demand that the players receive and pass across the body. In the 4v1 I demand they receive across the body whenever possible, but tell them they should pass with whatever foot conditions dictate. When I see a possession sequence break down, the receiving foot is almost always the culprit, not the passing foot.
I’ve been using rondos as a key training element with my teams for years and gotten good results, but I have to say that the the two details of receiving across the body and moving towards the receiver have made a huge difference. My current U9’s are executing on a level I used to want from my U11’s. Not just in training but in games as well.
In my experience, there are certain instances where receiving right and passing right (or left, left) can be beneficial. BUT, it is ALWAYS faster to receive with one and play with the other (across the body, of course).
The most obvious time when going right, right, or left, left would be when you are a right or left back and you’re receiving the ball wide on the touchline. IF and only if you have enough time (we’re talking half seconds here people) to receive and play with the same foot, the pass that results from that technique will do a better job of keeping the ball in play because it usually creates a bit of spin towards the inside of the field. This comes into play even more if you’re playing on a crowned surface, such as a football field. It also allows the wing back to use the foot that passes the ball to act as their plant foot and/or the first step in their run forward to over or underlap. Wing forwards may occasionally find themselves in similar situations.
It should still be noted, however, that receiving across the body and playing opposite foot is the correct form for most situations, and should ALWAYS be encouraged first and foremost in the 4v0/4v1 etc.
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