Sometimes You Go Back, To Go Forward


Sometimes You Go Back, To Go Forward

If you have ever seen my social media feed, you will know that my kids play soccer. I coach one of their teams, referee for two teams, and cheer for the other. This past weekend my oldest son and I traveled a few hours away for a soccer tournament. At the U14 level players understand soccer and can play at a very high level. The teams that are successful, can control the game and pass the ball around very efficiently. When the offensive player gets the ball and is pressured they look for another player to pass to. What separates the mediocre teams, from the really good teams, is how they attack.

The mediocre teams attack towards the goal and sometimes are pushed back by the defense, but they continue moving forward. The attack is met with defense that tries to clear the ball downfield, which sometimes results in a game of kickball. Kicking the ball back and forth does nothing for the attack unless someone has a bad touch in which you capitalize. Since you are waiting for others to make a mistake before you score, your goal opportunities are less and you are not as successful as those teams that have a plan.

The really good teams look at the field in an entirely different way. They have the same goal of moving the ball forward and ultimately scoring a goal. Their process of getting there is entirely different. They too pass the ball around the field and when met with resistance will pass to a different player. But for them, the attack comes from the back. There will be many times when the attacking team is met with resistance that they must reset and start over. This is shown with negative passing. Players that run into a roadblock as they are attacking, look around and will pass backward. Negative passes allow the team to reset and look for a new plan of attack that will expose a different opportunity that may not have been there before. Those passes control the game and showcase the know with all that those players have on the field.

As a society, we dribble down the middle of the field and when there is no lane to pass, we continue pushing forward. The ball may be stolen 100’s of times, but we don’t change the plan of attack. Too often we are afraid of what will happen if we don’t keep moving forward.

Next time you get the ball and are moving down the field, look around and look for opportunities to pass the ball and create opportunities to score. If as you are moving forward, you look around and don’t see an opportunity to pass the ball up the field, it is ok to do a negative pass. Those passes will reset your offense and create totally different opportunities.

Stop. Reflect. Make sure your plan of attack is the right plan and don’t be afraid to reset and go at it again.

Be The One who sometimes goes back to go forward.

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