Amazing Tackles Can Win Major Matches
September 1, 2008
Is your tackling ability on a world class level? What would it take for you to elevate your skill to the world class level? Do you have what it takes to be a tackling specialist? You very well could and it all starts with you and simple fundamentals.
Tackling Defined
Tackling – is your ability to take the ball directly from your opponent. (pretty simple huh?)
What tackling looks like?
Players with strong tackling skills are excited about stripping the ball from their opponent. They look forward to and are as excited about taking the ball from their opponent as they are about scoring goals. Similar to they way a cat claws at ball of yarn, the tackling specialist knows just when to pounce on the ball.
Tackling should never be timid in nature. If you are going to tackle the ball go for it and get it. Don’t tackle your opponent with any doubt in your mind or you will have lost the battle before you begin it. Furthermore, you stand to risk injury to yourself if you are timid in your ability to tackle strongly.
Fabio Cannavaro, 2006 FIFA Footballer Of The Year, embodies the genius of tackling. With cat like reflexes Cannavaro’s tackling ability and defensive organization was on of the key reasons Italy won the World Cup in 2006.
The Right Action At The Right Time
Smart tackling requires a strong ability to read the game and more importantly the player from whom you must take the ball from. You have study their body posture, movement and the cues they give you. Look to see if they are timid on the ball an test them with your own jab (false step toward the ball) as it may just shake their control.
Picking the right time to tackle may be one of the more important aspects of the skill. Many times players are beaten by their opponent because they were not patient enough to see the right moment or are over aggressively by diving in and find their opponent blowing by them.
Allow your opponent to really show you the ball. For instance, when a striker is barreling down on goal and he exposes the ball out in front of himself more so than he appears comfortable with. This is the time, pounce on that ball like a tiger does on its prey and don’t look back.
Ideas for action:
- Watch game film and take note of how various defenders tackle in various situations.
- Record you own play and watch/review your tackling behavior carefully.
- Challenge a few friends to 1 v 1, 2 v 2, and 3 v 3 games where the number of successful tackles that cause a change of possession earn a point.
- Run ladder footwork drills to improve foot movement speed for tackling.
- Count the number of successful tackles you make in your next game. Then work to beat your tackling record every game.
As part of FFC’s series on, “24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer” we are discussing each key element in 24 successive blog posts every Monday, Wednesday & Friday over an 8 week period inside the respective Game, Body and Mind sections. For more information about the 24 Key Elements get our Players Assessment Kit here. Be sure to also subscribe to FFC by email or RSS - just visit the subscribe button in the top right corner of the page.
What ideas, input, experiences or resources can you share?
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