Have you ever seen a player with the ball, before they fall offside? What do they often do?
They frantically throw the ball away, thinking this action may somehow avoid them being called for ‘offside' - despite their best intentions, the ‘offside' rule still applies, regardless if they have the ball, or not!
Plus, in their futile efforts, they’ve also thrown away the very thing that could help them avoid getting penalised for offside.
"USE THE BALL!” I always say (or perhaps shout)!
There is a provision in the ‘offside’ rule that specifically states, a player may ‘lean on the ball’ in an offside area.
Let’s explore this: It’s the player that must not go offside. The ball is not the player. The ball is, the BALL! Therefore, as long as no part of the player makes physical contact with the ground in the offside area, it's ALL good!
SO! If you find yourself gaining possession of the ball, in a precarious position, that could land you offside, I repeat — "USE THE BALL!"
To familiarise yourself with this skill, grab a partner and get them to pass to you, while you make a hard and fast drive to the circle edge, or transverse line. Upon catching the ball, focus on a soft landing, with bent knees, and then practice using the ball for balance by pressing it into the ground in front of you (lowering your centre of mass will also help with the execution of this skill).
Remember, there is to be no physical contact with the offside area infront — this includes fingers!
With all her aerial prowess, we will forgive Shamera for going offside in the below picture, and instead, thank her for demonstrating (in pink) what not to do. 😉
Fortunately, the offside rule in its entirety, is not too cryptic, and in actual fact, is quite easy to interpret. It’s a minor infringement, that sees the opposing team awarded a ‘free pass’ taken from where the infringing player made physical contact with the ground in an offside area.
Surprisingly though, many aren’t familiar with the provision to lean on the ball, or haven’t been shown how to utilise it to their advantage, so share it around with your teammates, players and coaches.
And of course, let me know if you have any questions!
PS. There are other ingenious ways for players - who don’t have possession of the ball - to avoid falling offside. The usual dancing along the line, cut the corner, and jump out of court, is one way — but can you think of another? Clue, it involves some teamwork (and may be pictured somewhere on this website)! Let me know in the comments if you know what I’m on about!
𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 ’𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴’ 𝘴𝘦𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳.
𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸.
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