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Russell Milton's Tips and Hints
(Penalties and Losing a Defender)

Penalties

Virtually every player, at some point, will find him/herself stepping up to take a penalty. Often this will be crucial to the outcome of a match.

Here are some tips to successful penalty taking:

Take your time and relax.
Ignore the goalkeeper.
Imagine how it will fell when you have scored.
Try and place the ball in the top/bottom corner.
Look at the whole goal, NOT where you are placing the ball.

Although these tips will work for most, every player has their own approach to penalties. It’s a lot easier to experiment with different penalties when you’re winning comfortably, but remember to still be respectful to your opposition! (I wouldn’t advise trying an Henry and Pires!).

The most important tip is to stay relaxed and enjoy the challenge!

Losing a Defender

Its much easier to control and play the ball when you are in space, but sometimes a defender will mark you, stopping you finding space. The only option left to you is to try and lose your defender!

There are many different ways to try and do this, and you will find some more successful then others, try some of these:

Try walking away from your team-mate with the ball then suddenly sprint towards.
Try walking towards your team-mate with the ball then suddenly sprint away.

(Crucial to these is timing; you must change direction AND speed in time for the pass to reach you in space)

Swap positions with a team-mate who is also marked. This often confuses defenders giving you space.

(You must have good understanding and communication with your team-mates to do this successfully!)

If you are being marked closely then use your body against the defender to get some space.

(Be careful not to foul your marker but you can lean against then push off to gain an extra yard of space).

As I said earlier, and with everything in football, some of these will work well for you, others may not work as well. It’s all about practising and working hard!

Keep working hard and believe in yourself.

Russell Milton

Cotswold Granite & Marble
The Beauty of Stone

Last updated 24 January 2008