by Alex Brown

Created on: July 15, 2010   Last Updated: July 18, 2010

The "offside trap" is one of a few tricks that every team, especially the last line of defense, needs to know. If done right, this trick can stop many goal scoring opportunities.

The basics of the offside trap are actually pretty simple: the defenders wait until the opposing team is about to hit the ball up to the forwards (or strikers or whatever you choose to call them), then sprint up to the half-field line. If this is done right, the opposing team's striker will be caught past the last defender (or in other words, he's between the defending team's last defender and the their goalie), and called offsides.

The offsides trap can be used in many situations; a through ball, a free kick, a corner kick, along with several others. When using it for a free kick, timing your run is a lot easier. As soon as the player starts running towards the ball, sprint up to the line. As for a corner kick, it only works if the taker of the corner kick passes it to one if his or her teammates instead of kicking it into the box. If the corner taker passes it, odds are that the player he or she passed it to will pass it back, and you can take this opportunity to get that player offsides. As for regular play, it can be used at any point but having an experienced sweeper (lone player and "last defender") would hep very much.

One of the main things that goes wrong is the defenders timing their run incorrectly. Many people make the mistake of thinking that if the player receives the ball past the last defender, he is offsides. This is wrong. If the player is past the last defender when the ball is kicked (emphasis on those last five words) he is offsides. If the defenders wait until the ball is kicked and then run past the forward, he will not be offsides (otherwise called "onsides", and he'll have an undefended run to the goal.

Although the offside trap is a handy trick, over-using it can be very dangerous. If one of the defenders doesn't bust his butt to get up to the line, the opposing player may not be called offside. Every single player needs to sprint up to the line. Having a way to get the message across (like yelling a number or holding up a fist; something your players can recognize easily and react to quickly) would be very helpful. Another problem could be a referee making a poor call. Refs aren't all-seeing or have a sixth sense, and they're bound to make a mistake. Make it as clear as possible that you've passed the opposing teams striker by going past him or her at least a couple of feet so the ref can easily tell the forward player is offsides.

All that the offside trap needs is a little skill and some good timing, and it's a great trick to have under your belt.

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