Main objective in soccer is to score 1 goal more than the opponent. Dribbling and passing, although they are important, are nothing more than the process to increase the success rate to score the goal.
When you play sports that you have to face an opponent, such as any martial arts, soccer, basketball, football, and so on, you need to understand the suitable distance between you and opponent; in Japanese word this is called “Ma-ai”.
In soccer, passing is the fastest way to transfer the ball from one place to another, compared with dribbling. Another advantage is when passing you do not get tired so much since all you do is kick the ball. However, if you do not understand “Ma-ai” and randomly passing the ball, then the turnover rate increases and providing the opponent with the chance of them scoring the goal.
What is Ma-ai?
If you have taken any Japanese martial arts you may have come across the term Ma-ai. This is the maximum distance that the person can reach with their arms or legs. In sports like fencing, Ma-ai also includes length of the saber. Without understanding the length of the saber it is not in your favor to win.
In soccer, Ma-ai will be the maximum distance that one can reach with their leg. So when dribbling, if you stay outside of the Ma-ai of your opponent they cannot take the ball away from you because they cannot reach. However, as you enter their Ma-ai, whether with dribbling or passing, you will have more risk of losing the ball.
Ma-ai of passer and defender
Passing is the skill, which passer delivers the ball to receiver.
However, during the game you will have a defender(s) who will try to interfere that process. Therefore, as a passer, you will need to create a clear pass way between you and the receiver.
As shown on the picture to the right, when the passer deliver the ball outside of the red area, the defender will not be able to touch the ball, hence, it is the safe pathway. Something that this picture is not showing is above the head. This will be determined by the height and jump of the defender, however, as long as you can put the ball outside of his/her reach, then the pass will be successful.
Ma-ai of receiver and defender
Obviously, the defender's job is to not allowing passer to deliver the ball to the receiver.
Even if the passer moves around and create the pathway by understanding the reaching distance of the defender, if the receiver does not move to the outside of the defender's reach, then the pass has less chance of succeeding.
Also, if the receiver is marked by another defender, the receiver has to move outside of the two defender's reach.
Passing that works even within the Ma-ai
Soccer is very fast pace sports. As the level of the game increases defenders will closing into you faster and may not able to secure the proper ma-ai. But if you understand the concept of ma-ai, even within the defender's reach, there are three path that you can safely pass the ball to your receiver.
First path is their ankle region. Even with lower pass, if the height of the pass is around the defender's ankle area, the pass is more likely to be successful. Reason is, habit of defender is to block the ball with foot and thigh. When reaching with foot part that is wide open is the ankle area. Of course, this required more precision of passing skill and timing but it is rather easier passage.
Second path is their waist region. Compared with ankle region, the pass will become higher, however, this is also an area that defender has difficult time blocking the ball because of similar reason as the first one. Waist area is very difficult to maneuver for the defender because of inability to head the ball or kick the ball. Because of that, the pass of that height even within their ma-ai, becomes more effective.
Third path is between the legs. Although the positioning is important for this, however, when you try to run away from the defender's ma-ai, defender also have to chase you, which creates spreading of the leg. This works best when you are dribbling down the line. Instead of using your inside kick, this patter would be more effective when you use your pinky of your foot.
All 3 pathway will become more clear and meaningful when you understand the ma-ai of your opponent and your second movement will become more flawless.
What to Practice?
At this point, you've probably understood the importance and concept of ma-ai. However, to understand and to executing the understanding can be different.
Here is where you should start.
First, practice keeping the distance from defender. Remember if the defender can stretch their leg and touch the ball you are within their distance. Stay outside of it. Start from obvious distance where you know for sure that the defender cannot touch the ball then gradually close in.
Second, you may need to start a conversation with your teammates about what you are intending to do. Teammates may not understand what others are doing and need to be communicated with their team. Let them know where you want them to be so you can send the ball to them without interference of the opponent.
Remember coaches tell you what to do overall but actual play on the field is done by players and not the coach.
Third is the application of what you have learned during. If you are not applying what you have practiced, then there is no point in practicing. It is up to you to apply what you have practiced during the match. You may fail for the first few times, however, your game performance will improve drastically when you understand what to look for.
Kota Shimada
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