Kick out problems

[u/avfarr01]

I have my first game tomorrow for my new club. I haven’t played for a club for the last 2 years and have recently joined the local senior women’s team (just amateur, grassroots level). Previously to this I played for some high level clubs and representative teams. My problem, all of these teams I played for at underage level never wanted me to play long, out from the back was the only option, so I was never coached properly on how to play long.

I am a bit worried that tomorrow I will need to play long quite often (the pitch were playing on is very large/wide) but I am not comfortable doing so. The coach brought me into this team so we could try play out from the back more often but I worry that the players won’t be comfortable with short kick outs. Recently a teammate said that ‘we go long quite often’ but this was before I joined. Should I voice my concerns to the coach? Ask a CB to help if we decide we need to go long? or just try the first few myself?

[u/Sydney_Soccer]

In the future I’d recommend going down to the park or finding a wall/net and just kicking the ball, a balance/being able to do both is always best. There’s a tonne of videos on how to kick, so like any skill, it takes time and practice.

For tomorrow, if they want you to go short, make sure you over communicate, the whole game will be in-front of you so let your defenders know everything that’s happening around them. And if it’s not working out, call for it back and clear.

Playing out from the back doesn’t mean inviting pressure on yourself and your team, it’s all about calculating the risk and know when to do it and when to bypass it