Tackle the ball,not the player?

Remmy

Hi all
Just looking for some advice off some football veterans.I'm new enough to the sport and still finding my way.I was put on wing back on a match recently.Here is the scenerio so.The opposing team's full-forward has the ball and he's running with it in my direction.I run towards him and tilt slightly leading with my shoulder.Longstory short I get turnstiled after impact and end up facing the opposite direction watching him trundle along.The best example i can give is o gara trying to tackle someone:DI obviously got right back up and gave chase but he was too far ahead at that time.

I'm reminded of newton's third law because I'm 6foot1 and 12 stone and the other guy was around 6foot4 and 14stone:o

My question is what would a more experienced player have done in this situaition?Should I have swept to the side and tried to won the ball from his hands?Any feedback on this would be great so I can apply it to future matches.thanks.

li@mo

Here's my few pointers:

Stay on the toes.....this makes your rections quicker and you can change direction much sharper.

Keep your arms out wide making yourself big.

Approach the player do not let him by you. You may need to back pedal slightly.

Always tackle the ball....not the player.

Try to tackle the ball when the player solos or bounces the ball as these are the times when he is not in possession.

Tackle with the near hand. The far hand tackle allows the opposing player to grab it and pull himself down earning him a free.

Stay on your feet.

Thats about it really. There's alot of luck involved aswell

Edit: From reading your post it sounds like you ran straight at him and he basically brushed you aside??

Dont over commit yourself. Stand off him until the time is right to make the tackle

Remmy

thanks!I always get that said to me about tacklling the ball and not the player.It must be a mentality with people starting out to concentrate on the player.Thinking back on it I don't know what I would have achieved by shouldering the guy,maybe the ball coming loose if i'm lucky?

Yep your last comment was dead on.I ran straight into him and he dropped his shoulder and that pushed me back.Your right I probablly overcommitted.

phil

Front on tackle is the most difficult to master, there's no way of doing it well. When you are tackling, you have a few advantages:

1. Players are not allowed to "charge" through (i.e. run over you). If you can put yourself in between where the player is and wants to go (i.e. if he's stepping to his right, you step to your left so you're in front of him - you're kind of body checking, but not in an illegal way). You will at least impede progress and make it difficult. Chances are if he gets by you though, he will be doing so at pace and you are not, so you're less likely to recover if you fail.

2. Start making progress to run alongside him. This can depend on the situation. In a situation where you're tackling in their half this makes most sense. Start to run before he gets to you, so you can be at full pace by the time he does and run alongside him. At this point, the tackle can be made once he has to take a play (a solo or a hop) and you can even work in point 3 (the shoulder charge). Giving a player space like this can work against you if they're in a scorable position (i.e. you're giving them space to kick) or if they're close to someone in a scorable position (i.e. you're giving them an easy pass).

3. Work in a shoulder tackle. Obviously, you need to be at an angle. However, many players carrying ball will turn into you to take a shoulder even if you're not at a 90 degree angle though, so you can work this into situations where a player is running fairly close to a straight line at you. Make sure you have some momemtum built up. Remember your junior cert physics (momemtum = mass * velocity)

This takes practice and lots of it. There are many inter-county players who haven't yet mastered how to tackle properly even some who play in defense. It doesn't work for every situation, sometimes giving players a bit of space who are faster than you means they'll skin you and shouldering players who are physically much stronger than you will end up with you on the ground and them running on. The one thing to remember though is that a tackle in football is not necessarily dispossessing the man with the ball directly. Some of the most effective tackles involve shadowing the man as closely as possible so that he cannot pass effectively to a team mate. This involves putting fist or foot to the ball which is very difficult to do if some fella is right on your shoulder.

The best advice I ever heard was that tackling is stopping a player doing what he wants to do. So if you can second guess in a split second what would be the easiest route for a player to effectively get rid of the ball into an attacking position, then you stop that route.

phil

li@mo wrote: »

Keep your arms out wide making yourself big.

All great advice, but just be very careful with your arms out... this can lead to a silly free if the player sidesteps you. Your automatic tendency is still to try to tackle and you'll often end up with your arms around the players torso or head resulting in a free. Making yourself big works brilliantly, but keep your arms moving and don't let yourself fall into the habit of letting them wrap around your opponent if they sidestep you.

Phil.

LeoB

1) Keep on your toes, never stand still on a football pitch
2) Eye on ball, Your man should be close enough that you dont have to look for him
3) Dont attack player head on, keep a slight angle to enable you to turn if he is quick.
4) Get hand in when he plays ball hop or solo.
The only legal tackle in Gaelic football is side to side with one foot on ground so timing is vital especially if your opponent is bigger or smaller.
Agree with Phil the tackle does not always mean winning the ball, you can force an error by getting a hand in and distractiong your opponent.
Size I dont think is as important as some people make out. Technique is. Look at Tyrone, well most days:p. Small by intercounty standards but their skill level is so high. so I would say practice,practice, practice!! Perfect practice that is