Edition 39

Welcome to the Soccer Newsletter. Today's edition will discuss deal with serving balls early to get them behind the defense.

Serving an early ball simply means that rather then getting the ball out wide and then taking it all the way to the end line before crossing it back out, you would get the ball out wide and serve the ball much sooner so that rather then playing it in front of the defenders, you are serving it behind the defenders.

The reason that serving balls early is an effective means of attack is that the attacking players would
be receiving the ball with their momentum going toward the goal. However, if the defenders get to the ball first, they also would be receiving the ball while facing the goal they are defending. If the defender
gets to the ball first, they have to both receive it and then turn it while probably under pressure, kick the ball over the end line, or play the ball back to the keeper while under pressure. In each case, it puts the defending team under a great deal of pressure.

Another advantage to the early serve is that it forces the keeper have to make a quick decision as to whether to come off of her line or not to try to win the ball. If she does make the decision to come off of her line, she now has to fight both her opponents as well as her teammates for the ball as this would have to be a very quick decision that frequently isn't made in time for the defenders to get out of the way.

The only negatives to the early ball is that it's somewhat of a hit or miss situation. If it works then it creates a great goal scoring opportunity. If it doesn't work, then it causes a loss of possession and can lead to frustration. An example of this is if the early served ball is hit too high and hard. The ball then sails over the goal and people start yelling to get your hips turned and other nonsense since they don't realize that this very well might have been the correct ball but simply poorly struck. As long as the server is willing to take a chance and also deal with the consequences, then this can be an extremely effective ball to play.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please send them to comments@finesoccer.com or post them to the FineSoccer forum at http://finesoccer.com/forum.htm

Have a great day.

Lawrence