Sam Snow, US Youth Soccer Coaching Director, knows we've all seen it before. At a youth soccer match, a team gets a breakaway and the crowd, and sometimes the coach, encourages the player to "go, go, go...kick it!"

In this article available in the Online Resource Library, Snow shares his thoughts on "the through ball," or the long penetrating pass into the attacking half.

Snow says there are three situations that must occur at the same time for the breakaway to be possible:

1. The first attacker must be under light or no pressure so he/she has time to get his/her head up to see the possibility of the deep pass.

2. The defense's backline must be up field and therefore there is open space behind them.

3. There must be at least one player in a high position ready to run onto the long pass.

The ultimate goal, Snow says, is for the coach to teach players well enough to recognize opportunities for "the through ball."

This article is available to download here or from the Online Resource Library. There, you can also find supplemental articles and training sessions to help players with passing and decision making, such as:

Passing Patterns to Combine by Juan Sanchez Part 1  |  Part 2

U10 Passing, uploaded by Edward Kinsey

Transforming Anticipation/Decision Making Speed to Improve Speed of Play in Women's Soccer, uploaded by Chris Clements

The NSCAA and partner organizations work to provide soccer coaches a variety of resources to help take their teams to another level. This, and many other games, training sessions and articles, are available in the Online Resourse Library. Any member can easily access the Resource Library and submit relevant content, which can be categorized and shared with thousands of other coaches in the NSCAA community.

Related Articles:

5 vs. 5 with Targets by US Youth Soccer DOC Sam Snow

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