How to Promote Strength in Shoulder-To-Shoulder Duels

Provided by: Amplified Soccer

The following post comes from Lift Your Game.

Until about the age of 10, shoulder-to-shoulder duels aren't a big part of the sport of soccer.

However, past this point, and especially from the age of 13 onwards, strength becomes much more important.

Here's how you can help your players come out on top more often when running side-by-side with an opponent.

The Technique

If a player isn't taught properly, they will likely lunge in with the shoulder, resulting in a foul, or at least knocking them off balance. Therefore, teaching the right technique is critically important.

The number one rule is to keep the elbows in at the body. This makes it much harder for the referee to award a foul. It's also important to avoid leaning in too far, for exactly the same reason - if you dip the shoulder, it immediately becomes a full-on barge.

Instead, the player should focus on maintaining their balance. The key to mastering this, other than practice, is to focus on the movement of the hips, rather than just the shoulders. You need to keep your center of gravity as low as possible in order to avoid being pushed off the ball. Your hips give you the balance you need to maintain your position in a one on one duel.

It's also important to keep the knees bent and feet at least a foot apart to help promote improved balance.

The final thing to consider is how you shield the ball. The truth is, you can be as strong as you like, but if a smaller, quicker player can snag the ball anyway, it won't make any difference.

Again, the key to this is in the hips. You want to ensure they're between the opponent and the ball - not just your shoulders. Remember, if you're between the opponent and the ball, it's impossible for them to do anything without fouling you. Always focus on the ball.

Building Strength

Once a player reaches about the age of 16, strength becomes increasingly important in winning shoulder-to-shoulder duels. Smaller players will bounce off larger guys at this age.

As a coach, you may not necessarily be responsible for prescribing gym routines for your strikers, wingers, or defenders. However, you can give them some advice to help them improve.

The key areas to focus on are core and upper body strength. Squats, deadlifts, and bench presses are a great place to start. Even pushups and pullups can do wonders for upper body strength, provided the athlete is dedicated enough to stick to their workout routine.

Putting It Into Practice

Here are two drills you can use to improve technique once you've covered the fundamentals of shoulder-to-shoulder duels with your players.

1. Penned In

Make a square, and put three or four players inside it.

Stand on one of the corners, and pass the ball in to a random player. If they can keep possession of the ball inside the square for five seconds before successfully passing it back to you, they score a point. If they are tackled, another player has to try and achieve the same outcome.

In theory, the players will have to shield the ball with their bodies, involving a good amount of shoulder-to-shoulder contact. If this doesn't happen, make the square a little smaller.

2. The Chase

This drill is better for training wingers and fullbacks, as it mimics those one-on-one situations where players will be running alongside an opponent, chasing a through-ball.

Create two queues of players facing down the pitch. Stand between them with a few balls handy, but still keep the two queues as close together as possible.

Pass the ball firmly, straight down the pitch, in the direction the players are facing. As you kick it, each pair of players can set off, aiming to reach the ball first. By keeping the lines close together, you should ensure a decent amount of shoulder-to-shoulder action.

You can also modify this drill to focus on on-the-ball duels by starting the ball with the player in one of the two queues. Instead of reaching the ball first, the player with the ball's objective is to run it into a small popup goal, about 40 feet in front of them. The opponent (from the other queue) must catch them and dispossess them before this happens.