How to - Soccer Passing

Soccer Passing - regardless of your playing position, if you want to be a professional you will have to master most of the passing techniques in the game. There are of course a few exceptions. For instance, a central defender will have no reason for training crossing, because he will rarely (if ever) get into a crossing position; attackers don't really need long ball passing skills and so forth. 

Midfielders on the other hand are pretty much obligated to be in full control of all soccer passing techniques, since they will handle most of the team's passes.

Fundaments of Soccer Passing

By definition, a pass is the transfer of the soccer ball from one player to his or her teammates, but of course that's a little vague since that "transfer" requires a lot of mixed up skills in order to be effective. Let's take a look at some of the most important soccer passing skills in today's game:

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Pass Power – The power of the pass can often make the difference between a good or a bad one. For example, a through ball is useless if it is too weak, because it's based around the ball swimming through an open gap between a sea of legs. If the through ball is too weak, one of the defenders will grab possession.

 
Crosses are equally good examples of the importance of pass power in soccer: a powerful cross will be much easier to divert inside the net by the attacker, since the attacker himself won't have to apply any force on the ball (he will simply use the force from the cross). 

Weak crosses can easily be cleared by defenders, or collected by the goalkeeper. However, the wall pass (or the one-two) is probably the soccer passing technique that requires the most control over the strength of the pass.

 
Precision – The importance of pass precision should be pretty obvious and it's one of the skills you'll want to focus most during training. Pass precision requires a combination of eye-foot mechanics, vision and technique that makes this skill rather hard to perfect. Precision is usually inversely proportional with the length of the pass, so a long ball will always be harder to hit perfectly than a 5-meter pass.

 
Timing – The timing of the pass is often just as important as its precision and power (if not more in some cases). Obviously, timing is more important in offensive situations, since with defensive passes this factor tends to become less important.

 
Knowing when to release the ball has several advantages: you will avoid having your teammate get caught in the opponent's offside trap, you will make full use of a teammate's sprint, allowing him to take out an opponent with his or her speed and you can catch your adversary on the wrong foot, allowing your strikers to take advantage and score.

 
I doubt anyone can say whether any of the above mentioned three factors are more important than the others, but depending on your position on the pitch you might want to work on a specific one. For example, central defenders won't need to chisel their timing skills, because their passes are usually short and safe. Wingers need a lot of power and precision on their passes, but timing is still not as important (you usually don't have that much time to choose your crossing moment either).

For midfielders on the other hand, timing is extremely important and so is precision. As you can see, different roles can make more or less use of the three fundamentals of soccer passing, but it's advisable that you train all three at a time, since they work as a whole.

Types of Soccer Passes

Soccer Passing >> Direct Pass – The direct pass is the most commonly used in soccer. It involves passing the ball straight to a teammate and it's usually used in your own defensive third, or for building the play on the sides. Direct passes are predictable, but they're also played safely so that they insure a good possession. Ideally, a player will always have at least 2 or 3 direct passing opportunities, so he can develop the play further and not have to resort to a dribble.

 
Soccer Passing >> One-Two's – One two's are also called wall passes, because the player who initiates the one two uses the other player as a "wall" to bounce the ball off him. The wall pass is probably the most effective type of pass, but also the hardest to pull off perfectly since it involves a great deal of precision and timing from both players.

 
Wall passes are most effective in the central area of the pitch, usually in the attacking team's offensive third, but that doesn't mean that they're most commonly used there. Actually, most wall passes occur on the wing and they're used as a springboard for a cross. They're not used so much centrally, because it's tough to make it happen in an area crammed with opponents that can either intercept the pass, or block the attacker or the "wall" player.

 
Soccer Passing >> Tunnel Passes – Tunnel passes are also called piercing or through passes and they can be very effective, when the ball carrier and the receiving attacker can coordinate their moves to perfection.

 
The trick to a successful tunnel pass is timing. The ball carrier needs to lay off the pass when he is in the right position and the attacker needs to make sure he's not in an offside position to receive the pass. This combination can be obtained through constant practice, but don't expect to get it right at all times. There are so many things that could go wrong when trying a tunnel pass that it might seem like a waste of a good possession, but if the pass succeeds, the attacker can create a dangerous opportunity.

 
Even if the attacker doesn't necessarily end in a one-on-one position with the goalkeeper or in a good crossing position after a tunnel pass, a successful one always unbalances defenses and creates panic and havoc amongst man-markers.

 
Soccer Passing >> Passing Into Space – Passing into space is becoming more and more important in today's fast paced soccer, since you can't afford the precious seconds that you lose when receiving the ball in a static position. Therefore, most passes will have to be played on a future position, with the receiver initiating the run even before the pass is triggered. Actually, the ball carrier will have to be supported by at least 2 players making runs, in order to give him options for a pass into space. However, passing into space is not as easy as it might look.

 
The player that initiates the pass must quickly notice the pace and direction of the receiver, whereas the receiver must make sure the passer notices him. The receiver will also have to make sure he's not offside when the pass is out (this is usually countered by attackers by running parallel on the edge of the other team's defensive line, sprinting towards the goal when the pass is hit) and he must also focus on trapping the ball perfectly.

 
Soccer Passing >> Long Balls – Long balls can incorporate the other types of soccer passes, so you can have a direct long ball or a long pass into space (you can't have long ball one twos or tunnel long passes though). The long ball has several advantages, including being able to skip an entire line of your enemy's defense (the midfielders) and the attacker's pressure.

 
A long ball is also a great way to initiate a counter attack, since the receiver will be left with fewer defenders to handle. However, long balls can also be easily deflected and cleared, the receiver of the long ball has to perform a tricky trapping of the ball and he usually becomes cornered by the time he manages to put the ball on ground level. Besides, long passes are also harder to hit with precision so unless you base your strategy on counter attacks or unless you have full confidence in your strikers' ability to control long balls, you should base your soccer passing strategy on short, direct passes.