Soccer long range shooting tactical lessons of 2010 World Cup
The outstanding events of the Netherlands vs Uruguay contest, were the goals by Bronckhorst for the Netherlands, and Forlan for Uruguay. These goals resembled each other they were almost like twins.
That the soccer world is in a state of confusion is evinced by: the conflicting reports re the distance of the shots, how far they traveled from shot-point to target; the lack of attention to detail in terms of exactly how the shot distance is measured (shot-point to middle goal-line or shot-point to goalie?); and, the lack of attention to whether the kmh reports for the speed of the shots reflected the average speed in flight or the max speed during flight.
Best I can determine looking at the conflicting reports and the low quality (given the equipment I am using) video clips on the internet, the distance from shot-point to goalie on the Bronckhorst shot was 33 meters, and the distance from shot-point to goalie on the Forlan shot was 21 meters.
There are several reports that the Bronckhorst shot was 68 mph, and a couple of reports state that the Forlan shot was at 45 mph. I believe these speeds refer (for a change) to average speed of ball in flight not max speed of ball in flight; if these figures were for max speed of ball in flight, one would never expect the shots to have managed to result in goals.
I estimate the Forlan shot at 45 mph average speed and 64 mph top speed in flight, traveling in the air for 1.11 seconds during flight.
I estimate the Bronckhorst shot as at 68 mph average speed, and as at 109 mph in terms of max speed during flight, traveling in the air for 1.12 seconds during flight.
The Bronckhorst shot then seems to have been right on the borderline in the sense that if it had been faster it would have been impossible for the goalie to stop. Seems the goalie hesitated for an unusually long amount of time before leaping towards the ball, which makes the goalie's achievement in getting as close as he did to the ball with his hand, notable.
The Bronckhorst shot was spinning in a motion somewhere between a backspin and a spin to the left. Bronkhorst shot the ball at about a 20 degrees right angle relative to the ball movement before the shot, with the front inside of his left foot.
Judging from the spin on Bronckhorst's shot, I estimate that from the goalie's point of view, the ball swerved to the goalie's right as it came at that goalie, and swerved upwards compared to a ball without swerve. The ball ended up above the goalie's hand and from the goalie's perspective to the left of the goalie's hand. seems the goalie was fooled by the backspin on the ball sending the ball upwards, and that the goalie from a horizontal perspective overcompensated for the swerve on the ball which sent the ball on a curve towards the goalie.
The Bronckhorst shot appears to have been a case of a team and a player being aware of exactly how much range their shooting had given the power of their shots and the peculiar characteristics of the Jabulani ball (lighter and with less seems than previous World Cup ball); it was shot from the maximum of this range. The Bronckhorst shot appears to have been a very skillful achievement combining tactical wisdom, power of shot, and good aim. It reminds me of the earlier long shot by Oscar Perez of Argentina, which similarly appears to have been shot from maximum range and placed accurately.
In the Forlan case, from the goalie's perspective the ball passed slightly to the left of the goalie's outstretched hand and so was not stopped from entering the net. In this case it appears the goalie undercompensated for the (from the goalie's perspective) swerve of the ball to the goalie's left , which was caused in part by the ball spinning to the right (from the shooter's perspective). The goalie positioned himself initially directly in the path of where the ball would have gone had it not swerved to the goalie's left; the goalie was then caught off guard to the point of being able to get only one hand in the direction of the swerving ball. Forlan's shot would not have been a goal absent the swerve on the ball which confused the goalie, given the speed of the shot, the distance between the shot-point and the goal, and the distance between the goalie's position at shot-time and the position of the ball as it crossed the goal-line.
All this reminds me that the computer program I wrote which estimates whether a practice shot would have been stoppable by a goalie, does not take into account confusion caused by swerve and has so far been used only with a replica of the 2006 World Cup ball, not with the replica of the 2010 Jabulani ball.
There is alot of talk about the 2010 Jabulani moving in ways that deviate from the straight line; I've found that my shots with the replica of the 2006 World Cup ball from about 20 meters produce swerves of up to four feet left or right.
A tactical lesson here appears to be: a player's maximum range is the distance from which a well-placed shot of his would be unstoppable by a goalie; players should figure out what their maximum range in terms of shooting is; players should fire shots from this maximum range; an advantage of long range shots is that the longer the shot, the greater the swerve on the ball.
@2010 David Virgil Hobbs
That the soccer world is in a state of confusion is evinced by: the conflicting reports re the distance of the shots, how far they traveled from shot-point to target; the lack of attention to detail in terms of exactly how the shot distance is measured (shot-point to middle goal-line or shot-point to goalie?); and, the lack of attention to whether the kmh reports for the speed of the shots reflected the average speed in flight or the max speed during flight.
Best I can determine looking at the conflicting reports and the low quality (given the equipment I am using) video clips on the internet, the distance from shot-point to goalie on the Bronckhorst shot was 33 meters, and the distance from shot-point to goalie on the Forlan shot was 21 meters.
There are several reports that the Bronckhorst shot was 68 mph, and a couple of reports state that the Forlan shot was at 45 mph. I believe these speeds refer (for a change) to average speed of ball in flight not max speed of ball in flight; if these figures were for max speed of ball in flight, one would never expect the shots to have managed to result in goals.
I estimate the Forlan shot at 45 mph average speed and 64 mph top speed in flight, traveling in the air for 1.11 seconds during flight.
I estimate the Bronckhorst shot as at 68 mph average speed, and as at 109 mph in terms of max speed during flight, traveling in the air for 1.12 seconds during flight.
The Bronckhorst shot then seems to have been right on the borderline in the sense that if it had been faster it would have been impossible for the goalie to stop. Seems the goalie hesitated for an unusually long amount of time before leaping towards the ball, which makes the goalie's achievement in getting as close as he did to the ball with his hand, notable.
The Bronckhorst shot was spinning in a motion somewhere between a backspin and a spin to the left. Bronkhorst shot the ball at about a 20 degrees right angle relative to the ball movement before the shot, with the front inside of his left foot.
Judging from the spin on Bronckhorst's shot, I estimate that from the goalie's point of view, the ball swerved to the goalie's right as it came at that goalie, and swerved upwards compared to a ball without swerve. The ball ended up above the goalie's hand and from the goalie's perspective to the left of the goalie's hand. seems the goalie was fooled by the backspin on the ball sending the ball upwards, and that the goalie from a horizontal perspective overcompensated for the swerve on the ball which sent the ball on a curve towards the goalie.
The Bronckhorst shot appears to have been a case of a team and a player being aware of exactly how much range their shooting had given the power of their shots and the peculiar characteristics of the Jabulani ball (lighter and with less seems than previous World Cup ball); it was shot from the maximum of this range. The Bronckhorst shot appears to have been a very skillful achievement combining tactical wisdom, power of shot, and good aim. It reminds me of the earlier long shot by Oscar Perez of Argentina, which similarly appears to have been shot from maximum range and placed accurately.
In the Forlan case, from the goalie's perspective the ball passed slightly to the left of the goalie's outstretched hand and so was not stopped from entering the net. In this case it appears the goalie undercompensated for the (from the goalie's perspective) swerve of the ball to the goalie's left , which was caused in part by the ball spinning to the right (from the shooter's perspective). The goalie positioned himself initially directly in the path of where the ball would have gone had it not swerved to the goalie's left; the goalie was then caught off guard to the point of being able to get only one hand in the direction of the swerving ball. Forlan's shot would not have been a goal absent the swerve on the ball which confused the goalie, given the speed of the shot, the distance between the shot-point and the goal, and the distance between the goalie's position at shot-time and the position of the ball as it crossed the goal-line.
All this reminds me that the computer program I wrote which estimates whether a practice shot would have been stoppable by a goalie, does not take into account confusion caused by swerve and has so far been used only with a replica of the 2006 World Cup ball, not with the replica of the 2010 Jabulani ball.
There is alot of talk about the 2010 Jabulani moving in ways that deviate from the straight line; I've found that my shots with the replica of the 2006 World Cup ball from about 20 meters produce swerves of up to four feet left or right.
A tactical lesson here appears to be: a player's maximum range is the distance from which a well-placed shot of his would be unstoppable by a goalie; players should figure out what their maximum range in terms of shooting is; players should fire shots from this maximum range; an advantage of long range shots is that the longer the shot, the greater the swerve on the ball.
@2010 David Virgil Hobbs
Labels: soccer, soccer ball shooting, soccer balls, soccer tactics, world cup
posted by David Virgil at 2:42 AM
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