Ballhoggedness

I watched a 13-14 yr. old girl playing soccer today that was at a higher level than anyone else on the field. She could beat players at will and did so everytime she got the ball for at least the 20 minutes I watched (last 20 minutes of the game).

Here's what I noticed though. Her teammates would readily pass the ball to this player but she never once passed to any of them. I'm not exaggerating when I say not even once. This girl would beat multiple players and regularly get into the penalty box area but always loose it. Eventually enough defenders would steal the ball from her. Despite this player's skill being far superior she never scored (game ended 0-0) and lost every ball given to her because she never passed. The opposition team moved the ball much better but did not have many standout players.

Why would this be okay with the coach and team? I know people like to talk about player development but it seemed like the rest of the team's development as put on hold while the already skilled player benefitted. According to my count there were always 22 players on the field. It wasn't a tennis match.

How do you know it's "ok" with the team and coach? Maybe they are working on it.

Players with dribbling talent don't pass for a lot of reasons- and some of the reasons are skill or technique related, and not simply an issue of will or personality.  

It's easy to figure out what teams you are talking about, but I don't follow the age group or the teams, so I don't know who they are. But it's quite possible that the coach is going to be working on combination play, how to support the player with the ball, and when to pass vs. when to go 1 v 1, and even dribbling technique (learning to beat a defender while maintaining close control- a move that works in the midfield might not work when the defense is more compact and there is a second defender a couple of yards away). At any rate, it's a good problem for a team to have, isn't it?  There is plenty of time to teach that player and team how to use the skills in a way more beneficial to the team.

"Despite this player's skill being far superior she never scored (game ended 0-0) and lost every ball given to her because she never passed."

and that's the problem, they have NO vision and lose the ball. coach needs to work on this, a good rule is when you have beat 2 people its time to look for the pass. nothing worse than a kid who misses the easy layoff for a goal and the win while they have their head down looking to beat their 4th player. very very frustrating, these are competitive games to win, not dribbling contests...

GoFigure wrote:I watched a 13-14 yr. old girl playing soccer today that was at a higher level than anyone else on the field. She could beat players at will and did so everytime she got the ball for at least the 20 minutes I watched (last 20 minutes of the game).  

Here's what I noticed though.  Her teammates would readily pass the ball to this player but she never once passed to any of them.  I'm not exaggerating when I say not even once.  This girl would beat multiple players and regularly get into the penalty box area but always loose it.  Eventually enough defenders would steal the ball from her.  Despite this player's skill being far superior she never scored (game ended 0-0) and lost every ball given to her because she never passed.  The opposition team moved the ball much better but did not have many standout players.

Why would this be okay with the coach and team?  I know people like to talk about player development but it seemed like the rest of the team's development as put on hold while the already skilled player benefitted.  According to my count there were always 22 players on the field.  It wasn't a tennis match.

Couple of things to look for as they will tell you a lot about the situation:
. where are her eyes while she is dribbling and beating people? Up and scanning the field or down on the ball with no vision of the field, teammates or opponents more than 18 inches away from the ball?
. what are her teammates doing while she is beating people? Making runs and getting open, of falling back on defense preparing for when she turns the ball over?

What does it mean to loose a ball? I see that mentioned here frequently and I assume people know how to spell lose. Is it like playing the opposite of tight, like she is loose with the ball?

Also, how is it she can beat people between the 20s but not dribble it in to the goal? You'd think she would get it in at least once if she was dominant.

intrinsic wrote:How do you know it's "ok" with the team and coach? Maybe they are working on it.

Players with dribbling talent don't pass for a lot of reasons- and some of the reasons are skill or technique related, and not simply an issue of will or personality.  

It's easy to figure out what teams you are talking about, but I don't follow the age group or the teams, so I don't know who they are. But it's quite possible that the coach is going to be working on combination play, how to support the player with the ball, and when to pass vs. when to go 1 v 1, and even dribbling technique (learning to beat a defender while maintaining close control- a move that works in the midfield might not work when the defense is more compact and there is a second defender a couple of yards away). At any rate, it's a good problem for a team to have, isn't it?  There is plenty of time to teach that player and team how to use the skills in a way more beneficial to the team.

I can only go by what I witnessed not get into the mind of the coach. If the coach was working on the situation he/she never said anything to that effect despite being vocal about everything else during the time I watched. The player was without question capable of getting her head up to see where she was going and it was always toward the goal. The opposing defense had picked up on it. The team with the strong player had players in support positions but I did not notice many runs or over laps. But one thing that was clear is that as the strong player would be nearing multiple defenders the passing options were always there. She never once passed.

As for it being a good problem to have, I wonder. Usually at this age the passing game has begun to develop for teams. These were not academy teams playing. My guess would be that some of the parents would get frustrated after seeing the same result over and over. That's not a good problem to have. I was not close enough to either parent groups to hear much of what was said so maybe they were fine with it.

How competitive will this team be the day their single stud player is injured or leaves the team?  Some like this style, but I would stay away from a U14 or above team that is coached to play this way as it doesn't benefit none of the players including the stud.  The effects already show if they can't finish and are losing the ball.  It doesn't take a good opponent but a few minute to figure it out and shut them down..

I am curious as to what level of play this was in, LH, PPL, rec, school league? A few scenarios come to my mind. Maybe one of the coaches is her dad and encourages her to play this way in hopes she will be noticed. Maybe the parents and other players are tired of it, but feel their hands are tied? Maybe the rest of the players are equally skilled but are taught to pass to her. Maybe the team plays even better without her because then they can actually play as a team and have multiple players who can score. Once again, just a few scenarios came to mind, but I am sure it can be very frustrating for the rest of the players.

silentparent wrote:"Despite this player's skill being far superior she never scored (game ended 0-0) and lost every ball given to her because she never passed."

and that's the problem, they have NO vision and lose the ball. coach needs to work on this, a good rule is when you have beat 2 people its time to look for the pass. nothing worse than a kid who misses the easy layoff for a goal and the win while they have their head down looking to beat their 4th player. very very frustrating, these are competitive games to win, not dribbling contests...

No! No! No! Clearly, the soccer Nazis haven't gotten you to the re-education camps. Don't you know? You can't develop if you're winning. You must sacrifice winning today so that players can develop and win later. (Exactly when it's okay to start playing to win is not exactly clear - we just know it's not okay anytime a kid is playing in NTX)

Now, get out there and throw the game and develop.

Lawnboy wrote:

silentparent wrote:"Despite this player's skill being far superior she never scored (game ended 0-0) and lost every ball given to her because she never passed."

and that's the problem, they have NO vision and lose the ball. coach needs to work on this, a good rule is when you have beat 2 people its time to look for the pass. nothing worse than a kid who misses the easy layoff for a goal and the win while they have their head down looking to beat their 4th player. very very frustrating, these are competitive games to win, not dribbling contests...

No! No! No!  Clearly, the soccer Nazis haven't gotten you to the re-education camps.  Don't you know?  You can't develop if you're winning.  You must sacrifice winning today so that players can develop and win later.  (Exactly when it's okay to start playing to win is not exactly clear - we just know it's not okay anytime a kid is playing in NTX)

Now, get out there and throw the game and develop.

yes sir! 

Some food for thought on this.
A former coach of my kid's (Argentinian/World Cup Player/coach) told me, when asked this very question about kids not shooting or shooting too much, or dribbling too much.
His response was:
'I can teach anyone the skills of dribbling/shooting - but never when to do either. It's up to that individual to determine when they should do so. If we tell them when to shoot or dribble, and, more importantly, when NOT to do either - it can do far more damage to their development than good'.

I have found, without exception, those with the problems of kids hogging the ball are parents and players, not coaches (at least, not good coaches).

show me a ballhog and i will show you someone who is 99 percent guaranteed to turn the ball over nearly every time they touch it...

silentparent wrote:show me a ballhog and i will show you someone who is 99 percent guaranteed to turn the ball over nearly every time they touch it...

yep

Ball hogging is a developmental stage every kid should go through. Some coaches encourage/allow it longer than others. My dd started late in soccer, was a natural passer and never went through this stage. I wish she had, as it would've made things much easier for her to play at a high level when she got older. u12 and below there should be no such thing as ball hogs....just players who don't pass.

In my youth, my coach would squash that bad habit straight away. He would set 11 in their positions and take the ball hog to the half line and say, "go ahead, score by yourself." Coach would let the ball hog try to score, running them ragged, until they got frustrated enough to say, "I can't do it by myself!"  No one ever did. Then he would add a two more players to support and introduce the triangle. Then coach would run the three together against the 11. It was pretty effective in laying down the foundation for our passing game.

What you described could be an issue of fellow teammates not feeling confident enough to support the player with superior skills. However if the player with superior skills couldn't finish alone, then for all the superiority displayed, it was all for not.

I think it depends on the age. When my DD first came to academy I explained to the coach she has never met a ball she wasn't going to shoot. Soccer to her was I run to win the ball wherever it is, take it, then head to the goal and beat everybody in my path until I score. He said don't worry she will learn. She works so hard to get the ball she doesn't want to give it up. It's like giving her this great christmas present and then telling her okay now I want you to give it to your sister. She continued to play that way in academy running like crazy and finally in one game she beats a few girls on the dribble. makes it into the box and just stops, knock the ball across to a teammate who walk it into the goal. The coach went crazy as if it was the biggest play ever for the pass. He made such a big deal of it she was hooked. She learned you can get attention for not only scoring goal but by passing too. There is nothing wrong with a ball hog. Messi was a ball hog and so where many other greats. It's up to the coach to teach soccer without curtailing creativity

There is nothing wrong with a ball hog who makes CORRECT decisions. Most dont because they always believe they can beat that one last player. Its like an addiction. Its even worse when filmed and you watch them squander scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity....vision makes messi great, and he beats the right people at tbe right time, not head down mindlessly dribbling for its own sake..

thats why it depends on age. Because at a younger age they wil not make the correct decisions and no messi at a young age did not make the correct decisions he was just a kid. that is what he learned with Barca. So not messi at 20 but messi at 8. Kids make mistakes, they lose the ball, some hog the ball, and a coach has to teach them the game so they develop into a productive player

go99 wrote:thats why it depends on age.  Because at a younger age they wil not make the correct decisions and no messi at a young age did not make the correct decisions he was just a kid.  that is what he learned with Barca.  So not messi at 20 but messi at 8.  Kids make mistakes, they lose the ball, some hog the ball, and a coach has to teach them the game so they develop into a productive player

I think it depends less on the age of the kids(assuming we're not talking about five year olds), I've seen some upper level academy teams play an excellent passing game with no "ballhoggedness" so I think it mostly depends on the coach. The coach sets the tempo for the team and the captains on the field without the coaches' intent the player will continue to play an "individualistic" game.

okay so we are talking about 2 different things. You are talking about a coach building his team. I am talking about building a player. In the end teams don't go anywhere, players do

go99 wrote:okay so we are talking about 2 different things.  You are talking about a coach building his team.  I am talking about building a player.  In the end teams don't go anywhere, players do

You're talking about players, I'm talking about players. I'm talking about building a player to integrate into a team.

no we are not talking about the same thing. Just as you said make the player so that he fits into the team. I say make the player the best player that they are. The problem with the ball hog isn't that he hogs the ball. The problem is he has to learn when and were so that the ball creativity is productive. Many of the great players where ball hogs as kids

It is always ugly and obvious to see this level of quality on the pitch as an observer or parent of someone on the team. However, unless you are on the team, you do not know what may be going on. Who knows...maybe this is strategy for the entire team (minus the one girl) to work on passing to the open player (the one girl being full-time open). What strategy!

I've coached for quite a long time and one thing I haven't heard mentioned yet is "trust".

I've coached many excellent dribblers and "ball hoggers" whose big reason for not passing is that they didn't trust their teammates.

I've had girls tell me that they will only pass to a particular player because she knows that that girl won't lose the ball or that she will get a return pass. If you get into their mind, their logic is sound.

I have found that as the surrounding players' skill increases, trust increases and a lot of the ball hoggedness drops on its own.

My 2cents!

go99 wrote:okay so we are talking about 2 different things.  You are talking about a coach building his team.  I am talking about building a player.  In the end teams don't go anywhere, players do

Agreed go99.  I love to watch possession soccer.  I think the creativity and collective skill and brains to do it well is like chess....compared to kickball or dribblefest...checkers.

That said I don't want to see a team of 8 years olds who can only move the ball with one touch short passing  and pattern play. Those players will be handicapped when they get older and need basic 1v1 skills to play at the top level. They can become robotic, system players.

Players, especially girls, who can routinely beat players off the dribble are highly sought after, rare commodities. As frustrating as it may be to watch a kid selfish on the ball oblivious to their teammates,  they aren't made by forcing them to pass in academy.

Now I imagine a  u14 ball hog has to stay on bad teams because real problems break out being selfish at that age on a team with multiple other talented players.