GIVE, GO, GIVE
When the player throwing the ball in is ready, he/she should be looking down field for their target player. As stated earlier, the target player should be standing approximately five yards off the sideline, and 15 yards down field from the thrower.
The target player should make a quick five-yard run at an angle toward the thrower calling "Ball, Ball," to the thrower. The thrower then throws the ball into the target player's feet (throwing the ball to other body parts is fine, but the feet are the easiest for most people to trap and control the ball). They collect the ball and quickly pass it back to the thrower, who has now stepped back onto the field.
As the target player passes the ball back they quickly turn and sprint down the field, parallel to the sideline. The thrower, upon receiving the pass, quickly (preferably with one touch) passes the ball down the line and back to the sprinting target player. The thrower's pass may be on the ground or in the air, depending on the situation. Essentially, the ball has traveled from the thrower to the target, back to the thrower and finally down the line to the target.
To make this strategy a drill, simply split your team into two groups and create one line for throwers and another for target players. The two groups, one at a time, work on the timing, trapping and passing needed to complete a successful give-and-go throw-in. As the target player collects their pass from the thrower, they can either go to goal and shoot or simply take a few dribbles, turn and switch lines.
What Coaches Should Look For:
- A proper throw is essential to this drill. Players must keep both feet on the ground, use both hands equally and bring the ball completely behind their head before releasing. The trapping and passing within this throw make or break the play. If target players can not successfully trap the ball, the play ends before it even starts. They must also give a nice pass back to the thrower and then the thrower must complete their pass with accuracy.
- Many times, when first working on this throw-in, the thrower will misfire their pass and knock it out of bounds. It is essential that your team practices this drill plenty so that in a game situation, they do it properly and without fear of mistake. It is also very important that the throw gets back onto the field of play quickly. If they forget the drill and stay out of bounds, the play will obviously result in disaster.
A TRICK THROW-IN: OFF THE BACK
When your team is in a hurry trying to get the ball down the field quickly, and there is no one down the field to throw to, you can use this play to help. This play is very sneaky and shouldn't be used very often. If you do use it a lot, the other team will pick up on it and it will lose its effectiveness completely.
To run this play you should have two players very close to the ball out of bounds. One player should pick the ball up (player A) and the other player should take it from him/her (player B) so that they can throw it in instead. This turn of possession is simply to set up the decoy. As player A starts their way back onto the field and down the sideline, player B simply throws it off player A's back as they run away.
The soccer ball will drop straight down off the player's back, enabling the thrower to step on the field and have the ball right at their feet. Remember, only use this play once in a while. The other team will quickly pick up on it and intercept the throw if abused.
What Coaches Should Look For:
- It is extremely important that the thrower does not throw the ball in too lightly. Often times, players will "baby" the throw because the distance that the ball will travel is so short. This will result in a whistle by the referee and a loss of possession. You must throw the ball in firmly, not so hard that you hurt your player, but hard enough so that your throw is legal.
- Coaches should also make sure that once the thrower has possession of the ball at their feet that they quickly get the ball back in motion with a pass away from the sideline. If a player tries to dribble too much with the ball in this area, they will run into their own player and lose it. If the thrower can find a central midfielder to switch the flow of play, that would be ideal.