Soccer Tips - How to Defend

Soccer How to: Learn how to defend in soccer with this instructional video.

Hi, I am Sam Snow, the Director of Coaching Education for US Youth Soccer. With the help of Sara and Regine (ph),we are going to show you some of the information regards to how to defend the first defender. Go ahead Regine get down into the grid a little bit, Sara has got the ball. Sara is going to try to dribble across the grid. Here we go, coming a defender, good and stop. Come back and set it up. So what we need to clean up coaches, is the speed at which Regine is coming in. She came in so fast that time, Sara was able to fake her a little bit and then just go right around her. So we want her to come fast first to cover the yardage and then when she gets about five yards away, three yards away from the dribbler then she is going to get down low to the ground and go slower so she is under control to be able to defend against the dribbler. Play, good and leave it that's a good tackle. Sara come back here and collect the ball. Regine gets set back up, good. So now go ahead and play. Now you see coaches that Regine is doing a much better job in terms of her timing and coming in on the ball. She covers the ground first, with good speed then when she gets close to the dribbler she is slowing down, good. Same thing just come in this way, same thing come in this way and she is showing some patience, getting her hips right, her footwork right, looking for the timing to make the tackle. Then Sara comes towards this end, Regine down towards that end. Alright, so now Regine what I want you to do this time is when you come at the dribbler, come in at an angle so you can begin to get her to go where you want her to go. Play, good, leave it. Sara come here with the ball, Regine let me take your place for just a second and all we are going to do, you are good right there, all we are going to think about is, as I go in at Sara I want sometimes to come in at little bit of an angle so that I can begin to force her where I wanted to go. Maybe I wanted to go this way to me left, maybe I wanted to go the other way, so then I would simply come in, Sara back up a couple of steps then I would simply begin to come in a little bit at a different angle, alright so I can begin to force her to go where I want her to go. Maybe in a game that's to take her away from the goal, maybe it's to take her away from her teammates, maybe it's force her towards the boundary line, so I got a better chance of defending against her. So think now about your angle as you come in as well as your speed as you come in. Play, good. Sara has the ball, start over. So a good patience on the part of Regine there making her tackle with her back foot, showing some good timing, play. She is beginning to come in at a little bit of an angle now, maybe she is forcing Sara on to her weak foot, the dribbler onto her weak foot. Leave it, come here. So Regine, maybe you are trying to get her onto her weak foot by the angle you come in, maybe you are trying to take her where you have a better chance to make an attack with your strong foot. Play, get in now, yes. When she fumbles in a little bit that's when you get in for the tackle. Very good, come on in girls, come on in here. So that's the beginning of the first defender in regard to her speed an angle of approach, showing some restrain when she gets in tight, showing some control over her body when she gets enclosed to make confident tackles. For more information go to www.usyouthsoccer.org or to your state soccer association website.