Quickly Playing the Ball ‘Short’
Instead of punting the ball up-field or holding onto the ball for a while, sometimes you may want to quickly play the ball back to a (defender) back-player. This allows them to start making passes and starts building an attack and is generally a great way to just keep up the pace of the game in your team’s favor.
The risk here is that you give the ball to a Back-player in a dangerous position, so be sure not to throw your teammate under the bus like that!
The Long Throw
If you see an opposition attacker has come too deep into your half of the field, you might spot an opportunity for a long throw – especially if you see a defender or midfielder making a run in the open. This is useful if you are trying to allow your team to counter an attack and a great way to give your team some pace over the opposition.
These are just a few of the ways you can control the pace of the game. There are many more. But most importantly, you have to train your reactions to intuitively know which move is the best move to make. If you have to make a quick move, a few seconds can make a big difference. It’s definitely worth taking some time to work on in practice and see how it pays off.
