How to - Soccer Clearance

When hearing the phrase "soccer clearance", a lot of people picture a defender striking the ball full-force into the sky, in order to "clear" the danger and pressure off his team's defense and buy some seconds for reinforcements to come.

Although that's the classic scenario for a soccer clearing, the term is not bound to it. Actually, a clearance is done whenever a defender insures that a ball is clear of danger, regardless of how he does it. He might be kicking it, but at the same time he might be shielding it out of play; it's still called a soccer clearance.

So is there really anything to discuss about regarding soccer clearing? After all, it's a rather primitive, no-brain technique. Well actually, that's how we perceive it, but from a soccer player's point of view, clearing requires some fast thinking and decision making, perfect execution and in most cases, bits and pieces of other fundamental soccer skills.

A clear example of fast decision making is when a goalkeeper has to handle an incoming cross, but he's unsure whether he can hold it or not. So he chooses to clear the ball by boxing it out of danger, or divert it to a safe zone.

There are countless examples out there where a goalkeeper in the same situation chooses not to clear the ball, but will rather try to catch it, only to end up dropping it at the feet of one of the opposing team's strikers.

Perfect execution of the clearance is also required. Whether this perfect execution refers to defender kicking the ball into the skies, a goalkeeper boxing the ball out of danger or a player protecting the ball out of play doesn't make much of a difference.

The point is, when a player needs to clear the ball, his team and himself are already in a tough spot, with the opposing team pressing them down and close to stealing the ball. Now, unless that kick in the sky, boxing or shielding is done perfectly, the opposing team will have a good chance of grabbing possession and scoring.

Soccer clearings might also have slightly different purposes, depending on the situation they occur in. The main reason is safety, as explained in the above mentioned example of the goalkeeper boxing the ball instead of catching it.

Secondly, a clearance can be used to cut off the opposing team's momentum. For example, when the other team is pressing hard and has your penalty box under a constant siege, it's better to clear the ball as far away from your own goal as possible, whenever you get possession. This interrupts their momentum and also gives your defense a breather.

Last but not least, a clearance can provide the base of a counter attack. If a defender has the ball and is under pressure, but has no safe option to pass it to, he will choose to clear it up front and hope that his striker teammates can maintain possession, or even create a scoring chance.

All in all, the soccer clearance is not necessarily something that needs to be trained by a player. Instead, you should know exactly when a clearance is called and when you should try to solve the problem with a pass or dribble. If you're confident enough with your ball control and passing skills, you may never have to clear the ball, although certain situations are way too risky to solve through a different method than a clearing.