How to - Soccer Shielding

Soccer shielding or protecting requires a combination of physical prowess, balance and anticipation that a player should train upon if he wants to improve his shielding skills. 

Although shielding is mostly important for attackers and central defenders, all players on the pitch will probably find themselves shielding the ball at some points during a match (except the goalkeepers of course, they can easily dive down to grab the ball with their hands).

 
Of the three qualities a player should have in order to shield a soccer ball well, physical prowess is probably the most important. Since shielding requires you to use your body as a wall between your opponent and the ball, the stronger you are and the larger your constitution, the easier it will be to do so efficiently.

A good build will keep the opposing player behind you, unable to push you away and get the ball, hence the importance of physical work out in a soccer player's training program (obviously, physical work out has several other advantages; it's not trained with the sole purpose of allowing a player to shield the ball better).

Balance is quite important as well with soccer shielding, since your marker will constantly try to throw you off balance to get to the ball. Using his entire body, or his shoulders, he will try to take you off balance and immediately extend his foot for the ball. That's where it pays off to have good balance skills and be strong on your feet.

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Usually, a good balance can be obtained simply by positioning your feet and body correctly (knees slightly bent, feet forward, etc) but it does help if you have strong leg muscles, especially if you're dealing with an equally strong opponent.

 
Last but not least, anticipation. Anticipation is not always essential with soccer shielding, but it definitely is a good skill to have since you'll be able to quickly think like the defender and decide where to move the ball so that you can shield it better. 

Since we're here, let me tell you that it's extremely important not to shield the soccer ball statically and you need to move it sideways or forward, while you look for a passing option.

 
From a defender's point of view, anticipation also pays off when shielding the soccer ball. You'll be able to block your opponent easier if you can anticipate which side he's going to try and tackle the ball away from you.

 
Unfortunately, anticipation is a skill that can hardly be trained. The only way you can efficiently train anticipation is by learning to think like your opponent. For example, if you're an attacker, try to put yourself in your man marker's shoes: what would you do if you were a defender and your direct opponent would be shielding the soccer ball?

 
An easy way to train soccer shielding is with the help of a friend. Each of you should take his turn at shielding the ball, with the other player acting as the defender. As the attacker, try to keep the ball shielded for as long as possible, or try to dribble it past your friend. 

The defender will try to throw you off balance (with legal methods of course, not pushing you around) and get the ball, or at least stop you from dribbling him. After a few tries, switch positions so you can also learn how to think from the other side of the ball.