Lessons from other sports

Millions of people play sport every week and although Football may be our national treasure there are many other sports not just in our country but around the world that football players can learn from and improve their skills on the pitch.

American Football

Take a scroll through Instagram these days and you will see many high profile footballers confessing their love for the American game. But it’s also coaches who are now taking a look at the mechanics of the game to replicate into their own sport.

  • Tactics – Offensive and Defensive coaches prowl the touchline with playbook cards which would have been practiced over and over again in training. The Quarter Back, during rest periods, is often seen scrolling through plays on a tablet. One call on a play and the whole team knows exactly what to do. This is obviously more difficult in football because of all the different elements which impact the situation, however you can work on patterns of play with your team (or even partner on the field) such as two strikers knowing what to do when the ball is on the right wing.

  • Player runs – Every time a receiver catches the ball the replay will show the players run, from starting position to catch tracking his movement closely being marked by a defensive player. You will see that the offensive player immediately side steps to avoid being blocked off and then sprints into space. In the moments just before the player is scheduled to receive the ball they will make a sharp turn into where the quarter back is expecting them to be. They make one run to fool the defensive marker which improves the chances of them receiving the ball cleanly for the second run. You can transfer this to your game by thinking about your movement, always one run for the defender and another to get into the space you want to receive the ball in. This will give you much more space when you receive the ball.

Basketball

Another American headliner is the NBA and amongst other skills which can be transferred from football the main one to highlight is the use of the shot clock and how they work the ball around the court.

Football, especially in England can often be an end to end affair with more passion than control. That’s where basketball can be very tactical. When a defense is set up a point guard will usually bring the ball out over the half way line. The rest of the players will then space themselves out around the attacking third. Each pass is then used to move the defense around with offensive blocks often occurring and slow build up. Then when the shot clock begins to countdown the play speeds up with 2-3 quick passes releasing the space for the shooter to attempt a shot. These quick passes gives the final shooter the extra split second needed in order to get the shot away. Had the movement before hand and the quick passes to pull defensive positions around not occurred then it is more likely the shooter will be under more pressure and miss.

In football we often go to A/B quickly but if a lesson is to be learnt from basketball it is to get numbers forward first using possession and to not necessarily use the first shooting but to move the ball further to open up gaps. As soon as a defender is stretching to close down a shot the more chance it has to leave gaps around them for other players to exploit.

Rugby

Kicking and territory is a huge part of the rugby game, a 50 yard kick which pins the opposition into the defensive third is often a tide-changing moment which leads to a score 5-10 minutes later as the pressure builds.

As football is less linear than Rugby due to passes being able to go forward and players spread across the pitch this is something that is often overlooked in our sport. How often do you see a goal scored from either a) the ball being won in the opposition third or b) after countless chances and sustained pressure.

This is why players and teams should consider the amount of territory they are having in a game. If you have been under pressure for five minutes then make sure you get up the pitch by any means necessary and stay there for a prolonged period. If you have pressure on an opponent don’t play possession football as much, but instead get the ball wide and more players in the box and when the opposition do have the ball press them harder, as a team, than normal. It’s these spells of 5-10 minutes which can win games.

Netball

If you’ve ever watched a top-level netball match you’ll know that it is up there as one of the fastest paced sports out there. This is largely in part to the rule that no player can hold the ball for more than 3 seconds which means that when receiving the ball they must find a teammate sharpish. The result is that for teams to be successful they must have players who are good at moving into space to receive the ball and evade often the tight 1-on-1 marking from the opposition.

Football can therefore learn a lot from watching netball in movement and creating space. You’ll often see top level teams in training throwing a ball in a square for this reason as well as improving communication amongst players.