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| Better Soccer Coaching recently published an article on how to coach the slide tackle (issue 53, 30 April 2007). One of our members, Robert from Canada, raised the point that the slide tackle is potentially very dangerous if performed incorrectly, and indeed he has had a dreadful experience in his own coaching to support this. So, should we coach this dark art to kids or do we leave it out of the game until our players are older? Any views? Regards
Dwyer
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| Did he give any details of what the dreadful experience was? It would be helpful to know the risks.
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| Hi, Until FIFA outlaw the slide tackle it's a valid tackle, and whilst agreeing that it can potentially be dangerous, so can any tackle - I find a block tackle can be just as dangerous with young children. Let's face it who hasn't marvelled at a great slide tackle. I coach it (if the weather is wet), because I want the kids to be able to excute it properly if they do do it, but my mantra is always stay on your feet if at all possible 'cos if you don't make the slide tackle you're out of the game. Tony
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His son (don't know what age) had his leg broken in two places as a result of a slide tackle in a match last year, so you can see where he's coming from.
Dwyer
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You're right - when executed properly it looks great and is extremely effective (think Bobby Moore and Mark Lawrenson). And I agree too that the block tackle can be equally harmful if not coached properly. My own son is a bit too fond of the slide tackle. When he does it it looks more like a kung fu manouevre. I guess the issue is not whether they should do it, but how we should coach it?
Dwyer
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Where would Steven Gerrard at Liverpool and Gennaro Gatttuso at AC Milan be without having the sliding tackle in their armour? They are the key reason those teams are in the Champions League final, how many hundreds of soccer-mad kids are going to watch the final and see those key players winning the ball with a sliding tackle.
Real Madrid scored their 4th and potentially the most important goal of their campaign when the ball was won off a defender with a sliding tackle. It is an essential skill to have.
Dave Clarke, Editor of Soccer Coach Weekly and Better Soccer Coaching
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Hey guys,
It's Robert from Calgary, Canada, and I'm the coach whose 16-year-old son had his leg broken in two places by a slide tackle (no call, no card, by the way). I'm sure that if the tackle had been a centimetre off on one side or the other, he would have gotten up from it -- as most players do. Believe me, I know this kind of tackle will always be part of our game, but the point I wanted to make is that it's too often fueled by testosterone and performed by players who are, essentially, well behind the play. We've all seen it -- you can see a slide tackle coming five seconds before it happens. Intuitively, I guess the solution is to teach players to use it properly -- and sparingly. But frankly, at the youth level, slide tackles scare the crap out of me. (And folks, I've been coaching and playing for 30 years and they've always made me nervous, long before my son was injured.)
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Very sorry to hear about your son. The sliding tackle is something that needs to be taught properly, and I wasnt trying to diminish the horror of what you experienced when I said all the best players had the sliding tackle in their armoury. This is a topic Soccer Coach Weekly has covered, the vasly experienced Fulham FC coach Tony Rock did a step by step guide in SCW in March explaining exactly how it should be coached. The more teams that coach it properly the less likely awful accidents like this happen. And as you point out those of us that double up as referees have a duty to penalise poorly executed ones. Maybe that way we will make the sliding tackle a properly coached skill.
Is your son back playing and has it affected him?
Dave Clarke, Editor of Soccer Coach Weekly and Better Soccer Coaching
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Hi Dave,
No worries, and thanks for your concern. Fortunately, my son has recovered fully and is playing again. The breaks were clean and he is in good physical shape. I agree with your point about coaching it properly, but the reality is that it's just not happening -- at least not around here. And until that happens, kids will continue to be injured. In some ways, it's not unlike the ongoing debate in hockey over whether body-checking should be allowed at younger ages. Do we ban it until our kids are old enough and mature enough to understand how it should be done properly, or do we teach it now in the hope of reducing injuries? All in all, a very worthwhile discussion, I think.
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Perhaps as coaches, we owe a duty to all players to coach the slide tackle and to coach it correctly. Not to encourage it but to show the kids how its done properly in order to prevent injuries such as this one occurring.
Woolston Rovers Warrington
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