KICK-tionary--Soccer Dictionary--Athens Soccer Academy

Kicktionary

  Athens Soccer Academy's

Soccer Dictionary 

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• Advantage  The clause which gives the referee the power to wait before calling an observed foul thereby preserving an attacking play's momentum (and advantage). A foul should not be called if it would punish the attacking team more by awarding the restart. 

• Assist  The pass immediately before a goal is scored is credited as an assist. 

• Athens Soccer Academy  The Soccer Academy located in Athens Ohio and the home of  How To Soccer. 

• Attacking Space  Passing or moving into a strategic space, typically behind the defense.

•  Attacking the Lead Leg  In a one-on-one situation with the defender sideways-on, the dribbler moves the ball into the opposite direction from the way the defender's hips are pointed. 

•  Attack the Gap  A pass or a run that splits defenders. 

• Back Post  The furthest goalpost away from the ball. 

• Balance  Principle of Defense; a team concept implying good cover and using both width and depth.

• Ball in and out of Play (Law 9)   The ball is out of play when it has wholly crossed the goal line or touch line, or when the referee has stopped the game. 

• Touch or Ball Touch   Refers to a player's ability to mesh with the ball. Good balltouch allows the player to dribble down field while looking ahead and not down, for example. 

• Touchwork/ Ballwork  Is a tool to build touch, control, confidence and skill.  Ballwork involves rolling the ball and using the various soccer specific surfaces of the feet.

• Behind The Defense  Anything in that space closer to the goal than the defense. 

• Be Patient Patience is a key skill for a defender, as they should only commit (attempt to win the ball) when they have proper cover and when the ball is 'shown' to them. 

• "Cauldron of Competition" UNC-Women's Coach Anson Dorrance coined this term. 

• Chip   (v): To lift the ball in the air using the feet; to send a 'flighted' ball with the specific goal of having it land in a designated position (i.e. at the end of a teammates run). (n) a lofted ball. 

• Concentration  Principle of Defense; also called compactness and implies getting an adequate number of players behind the ball in a given area to deny space. 

• Corner Kick (the)  See Law 17 in USSF Laws of the Game.

• Defensive Depth  Principle of Defense; The strategic positioning of defenders to create layers and offer cover or support to the pressuring defender. 

• Delay  Principle of Defense; Slowing down the attack to disrupt the attacking rhythm and to allow for more defenders to get behind the ball.  

• Depth Support  Principle of Attack; Players on the flank offering good passing lane options. 

• Distribute (v) Distribution (n) To pass (v) or a pass (n). 

• DOGSO  Denying an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity: Two types- by foul and by handling-- both result in a send-off.

• Driven Ball  A ball struck with the laces, through the center, using the two pivot levers of the hip and the knee, and typically following through on the kicking foot.

• Duration of the Match  (the) See Law 7 in USSF Laws of the Game.

• Extra Time/Allowance for Time Lost  Law 7 of the Laws of the Game instructs the referee to provide this allowance for substitutions, assessment of injury, removal of injured players, time wasting, and any other causes. SARTA Principle. 

•  Field of Play (the)  See Law 1 in USSF Laws of the Game.

•  Finishing  To finish a ball is to score or shoot on goal using finesse rather than power.

• First Touch  A player's first critical touch after receiving the ball.  Players learn to settle and prepare a shot off the first touch and to attack space behind the defender using the first touch. 

• Flank  The outside lanes of the soccer pitch. The area from where services happen and balls are played down the line.

•  Flashpoint  The moment in a game where the emotional content surges, and the tension level increases.

•  Fouls & Misconduct  See Law 12 in USSF Laws of the Game.

•  Fourth Official  See appendix in USSF Laws of the Game. 

•  Frame  The frame is the goal. "Put the ball on frame".

•  Free Kicks  See Law 13 in USSF Laws of the Game. 

•  Give-n-Go/ WallPass/ 1-2   An archetype play wherein two players combine such that A passes to B and moves into space behind opponent G, as B passes into that space. The rhythm is a quick 1-2.

• GoalFace The opening between the crossbars.

• Goal Kick (the)  See Law 16 in USSF Laws of the Game.

• Handling  Deliberate use of the hands by a player other than the goalkeeper.

• Hitting the Whistle  Referee term for a whistle blast. Typically the intensity of the blast corresponds to the intensity of the appropriate sanction.

• Improvisation  Using individual technique, skill, or magic to change the game. The choice to use improvisation should assess the amount of risk involved.

• Keeper/ Goalkeeper/"Keeper"  Is the last defender and the first attacker. Also called keep, netminder, goalie, etc. The goalkeeper is permitted the use of hands within their own penalty area.

• Kickaround  Term heard in England;  the equivalent of a pick-up game. The entire soccer community 6-60 year-olds all play on the same field in the same game. The kickaround serves the function of social soccer. It encourages vitality and community.

• Kickoff  The start and restart of a soccer match.

• Kickwall  A flat surface used to rebound the ball back to a single player or number of players. Kickwalls offer the lone player a return passer.  Kickwalls can be combined with any size goal to create an intense goal area training environment. 

• Laws of the Game  United States Soccer Federation (USSF) version of FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) directives in the current year relating to the manual with the 17 Laws.

• Leading Pass  Otherwise known as a ball into space. A leading pass is directed in front of someone in motion. The pass is designed to meet the target. The leading pass can be one of timing where the desire is to intercept the trajectory of a running teammate, or it can be one of persuasion, that is, a pass made into space (typically behind the defense) with the intent of 'suggesting' to a teammate where to run.

• Magic  A moment in the game when a player or team exhibits the unexpected, the unbelievable, and the impossible.

•  Match Minute Tracker  Tool used by How To Soccer to provide point by point match analysis.

•  Mental Image  The construction of a mental image is important for a player to gain consistency in technique. The mental image is the ideal technical image with the intended result. For example a penalty kick which is perfectly placed.

•  Method of Scoring (the)  See Law 10 in USSF Laws of the Game

•  Mobility  Principle of Attack; Using off the ball runs to offer strategic support and to create space.

•  Near Post  The nearest goalpost to the ball and presumably the shooter.

•  Negative Ball  A pass backward toward a team's own goal.

•  Number of Players (the)  See Law 3 in USSF Laws of the Game .

•  Offside  See Law 11 in USSF Laws of the Game.

•  Offside  When a player becomes involved in play from a position nearer to the opponents' goal than the second to last defender at the moment the ball is played forward by a team mate. Involved in active play means the player has interfered with play, interfered with an opponent, or gained an advantage by being in that position. Goal Kicks, Corner Kicks, and Throw Ins are exempt.

• Offside Position  An attacker who is nearer to the opponent's goal line than both the second-to-last defender and the ball is said to be in offside position, provided he is not in his own half. Being in offside position itself is not an infraction.

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• Overcommitment  To over-commit as a defender is to run past the ball or attempt a tackle in such a way as to render oneself out of the play.

•  Penalty Kick (the)  See Law 14 in USSF Laws of the Game.

• Penalty/Penalty Kick/ Spot Kick   A specific type of direct free kick from the penalty spot 12 yards from the goal line. At the taking of the penalty kick, only the goalkeeper and the shooter are allowed within the penalty area until the ball is played. 

•  Penetrating Pass  A pass into the space behind the defense.

• Penetration   Principle of Attack; Using runs, passes, shots, etc. to split the defense and attack the space behind the defense. 

• Player-Persona  This refers to the psychological transformation of people into players when they step onto a soccer pitch.

•  Player's Equipment  See Law 4 in USSF Laws of the Game.

•  Possession  To have possession of the ball; ball possession.

• Possession Game  A ball game in which teams try to gain and hold ball possession.  Games in a small area such as 3V3, 4V1, and 5V2. 

• Pre-Game  Preparations before a match by official, players, etc.  For officials this involves discussing how to handle various scenarios.

• Principles of Play  The foundation of core principles which leads to an understanding of the game across levels.

•  Procedures to Determine the Winner of a Match  See Appendix USSF Laws of the Game.

• Recovery  To move from a position behind the ball to a position closer to your goal than the ball when you team does not have possession. Recovery runs are back toward your own goal.

•  Referee (the)  See Law 5 in USSF Laws of the Game.

• Service  To set a ball up in front of goal to be finished. To place the ball into a space where the attacker can score using a single touch.

• Shell/ Defensive Shell  All or most players from a team staying near to their goal and behind the ball. Shell defenses can only hold for so long and need an effective outlet target player to relieve the pressure and provide attack.

• Signature Youth Moves  Are soccer tricks or fakes with the ball designed to unbalance your opponent to the direction you intend to go in.

• Soccer Instruction Books  Assist coaches at all levels. A few good resources, Coaching Soccer Successfully by Rees and van der Meer and The Soccer Coaching Bible, a compilation of articles by collegiate and professional level coaches.

• Space   A key soccer term. Effectively it means all of the pockets of unoccupied space on a soccer pitch (field) during play. For a player to get "open" or get free of a mark, he/she must "create space". It is to extricate yourself from tight coverage. For the ball space is anywhere players are not. So a ball can be played across the field 'into space' for a teammate running forward from behind; a ball can be played forward through a gap in the defense or in the air, for a team mate to run on to.

•  Split  Any time a ball passes through two opponents, the possessing team is said to have split them.

• Start & Restart of Play (the)  See Law 8 in USSF Laws of the Game.

• Stay one's Ground  Staying one's ground means to keep oneself between the ball and the goal as a defender. It does not mean to stand still, but to move with the dribbling attacker, to shadow the attacker, and to apply pressure on the ball.

• Strike  To kick a ball using a finishing or driving technique. To get good contact. See driven ball.

• Studs-up  Usually in reference to an illegal sliding tackle in which the defender shows his cleats, or studs. Given the risk to endanger another player, the referee will typically stop play and deal with a studs up tackle.  

• Support  A player who does not have the ball wants to support the player with the ball by moving to an area where an open passing lane is available (i.e. moving into space). Good ball support allows the attacker to choose from options, and therefore the game is not predictable.

• System of Play  The method or style a team uses to win games. System refers to team lineup shapes such as 4-4-2 (4 defenders, 4 midfielders, 2 attackers), or 3-4-3 , etc. Also a system can refer to the strategic method behind the style a team plays. 

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• Tackle  A technique used to steal the ball.

• Tactics  Using strategy in the way the game is played.

• Technical Area (the)  See the appendix, USSF Laws of the Game.

• Techniques  The individual skills in the game such as the volley, the chip, etc.

• The Lanes  The typical patterns players run to attack different parts of the field. In front of goal, for instance, the lanes would be those curved paths starting out near the penalty area and tracing to each post and in front of the goal. 

•  Throw In (the)  See Law 15 in USSF Laws of the Game.

• Touch/ Ball Touch  Touch on the ball, refers to the sensitivity of a player's ball control.

•  Training  Practice

• Under 8/ U8  This is shorthand for a player who falls within the birthday requirements to play as an under 8 player. In the United States an Under 8 player should stay under 8 years of age until after August 1.

• Width  Principle of Attack: spreading to use all of the available space across the width of the field, and staggered to provide depth. 

•  "Winners!" The term "winners" is shouted by players and coaches as the ball is about to drop from the air into a crowd, such as on a punt. The term reminds the player to get a well-timed vertical leap and above all to be strong in the air.

• World Cup  64 nations final to a four year around the world tournament. See FIFA the world's governing body for the sport of soccer. 

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