Handballing - football's most overrated skill

[The Passenger]

anyone else agree??

A good handball can be great and put a guy into space, but probably 80% of the team a kick would've been a better option than a handpass, but so often we see guys handpass and put somebody in a shocking position and the ball is turnover.

but still guys never seem to learn. when someone gets into trouble, the instincively revert to the handpass and this can lead to even great troubles because it allows more numbers opposition numbers to swarm the ball.

the thing about a long kick is, even if it goes to the opposition player, it's gone 50-60 metres, which means the opposition still has to make up that 50-60 metres.

 

[bacon buster]

players who can fire off a handpass to a teammate while under pressure or being tackled is a great skill

 

[The Passenger]

Originally posted by bacon buster
players who can fire off a handpass to a teammate while under pressure or being tackled is a great skill

yes that is one way in which is used to great effect, but IMO just about every player overuses the handball, and often gets their own man into a ****load of trouble.

In fact, one of the biggest frustrations I have with Daniel Kerr is how often he'll handpass despite being in open space. His does some great handballs when he gets in and under the pack and sends it out to a lurking player.

but he'll often go for a run down the wing and get to about 70-80 metres from goal than handball inward to a player who is immediatedly tackled.

 

[M29]

After sitting through the 97/98 seasons with David Calthorpe handballing every 2 seconds. I'm sick of it.

 

[Darealrath]

The reasons u mentioned as to why the handball is somewhat of a liability is the reason why those who are very good at the skill make such a difference, because they can really break the game open for those who receive the ball. Like how Greg Williams used to do.

 

[The Passenger]

Originally posted by Darealrath
Like how Greg Williams used to do.

yes, the way he used it was fantastic, and as close to perfection as you could see.

just a point in case, i'm watching a replay of the roos and demons today, and it's just after half-time and there was at least 4 streaming forward attacks from teams, ruined because they handpassed to much, allowing opposition numbers to get to the ball and smother it. rather than just put it into the forward line and hit a target.

 

[Darealrath]

Yeah i agree that it is often the cause of many problems, but i think it's more the players who don't know how and when to do it properly as opposed to the handball itself which is the problem.

 

[LongBombFromOutside50]

Originally posted by Black Thunder
A good handball can be great and put a guy into space, but probably 80% of the team a kick would've been a better option than a handpass, but so often we see guys handpass and put somebody in a shocking position and the ball is turnover.

but still guys never seem to learn. when someone gets into trouble, the instincively revert to the handpass and this can lead to even great troubles because it allows more numbers opposition numbers to swarm the ball.

the thing about a long kick is, even if it goes to the opposition player, it's gone 50-60 metres, which means the opposition still has to make up that 50-60 metres.

I disagree. The handball can be used both as a good offensive and defensive weapon, unlike the kick which is only an offensive weapon.

The handball is a good way of getting out of trouble because it is much quicker to handpass the ball than kick it, meaning the ball can be disposed of quickly, before the player is tackled.

It can be used as a good offensive weapon by a player under the pump or under a pack to dish the ball out to a player in space with more time to weigh up his options and dispose of the ball, or can be used by a stationary player to handpass to a player on the run.

I do agree though that too much handballing can result in overusing the ball and create a turnover, but it is still a vital skill of our game that must be mastered by players.

 

[DaveW]

Overrated or overused?

 

[RooMatera]

I've seen crawford unleash a 35m-ish hand ball a few times... why not just kick it.

 

[Greaves]

A handball is even better when you draw the player out towards you, and just pass it along to your free teammate...

 

[Kenny_01]

Handballing is probably the most under-rated skill.

 

[Cyclops]

Collingwood cut up Freo with good hand skills on Saturday. a lot of the time kicking was simply not an option-the pies had the screening zoning defence up and running.

In these conditions without a lot of free space to run in, a lot of blokes were forced to handball-for some reason a lot of Docker hand passes fell short, precipitating turnmovers or at least putting heaps of pressure on the next bloke.

Best of all was when the pressure forced a wild kick because the handball wasn't on, which led to easy possesions up field for our loose defenders.

Compare that to the cute little dishes from Licuria Holland and OBree, and a couple of mighty swipes from Matty Lokan that set up easy takeaways.

A very big part of modern football, knowing how and when to handball. Its pretty hard to kick when you're on your knees in the pack.

 

[AFLTN]

Have a look at Voss and the way he uses the handball, then ask the same question again.

 

[naughty monkey]

have a look at why the Crows are so good at taking the ball away from stoppages.

 

[The Passenger]

I thnk i've been a bit crucified here through wrong wordage - as DaveW said, overused is probably the word i should've used.

But I'd much prefer my team to have 250 kicks and 50 handpasses a game, rather than 150 kicks and 150 handpasses.