Ball hogs

[NHRef]

I have had to deal with two types of ball hogs as a coach:

1) The "ego" type, where he keeps the ball because he thinks he is the only one on the team who won't loose it, or will only pass to 1-2 others cause they are the only ones worthy of passing to.

2) the true ball hog. Would rather do it on his own than as a team.

Dealing with #2 is tough, he just can't believe it can be done when he doesn't have the ball. This guy all you can do is get on his back and make him play soccer as a team sport.

Dealing with #1 is tricky. He might actually be right, especially at younger or town levels. You have to be carefull because it could turn into him getting down on his teammates, ruining any work you have done to build up the weaker players. Depending on his personality you can try making him a "leader" to help the other weaker players, of course the wrong personality and this backfires.

the other players are good at dealing with it in my experience, they will get on his back. I have also participated in scrimmages in practice with the kids and have personally taken the ball from the ball hog, then point out where he could have passed to keep team possession.

[prk166]

One man's ball hog is another man's Maradonna.

[Theo P]

I definately do not agree with anything SCoach says. What he does is ruining the game. But what I have to say is that it is even worse when the ball hog is a crappy player and he thinks he is good. The hog on my team trys to dribble players and ends up losing it every time. I can't stand that guy.

[SCoach]

It's fine if you don't agree with me. But know this. A great many successful coaches in this country, and indeed in the world, do exactly as I have talked about. In our business we call it "trainingthe personality player" and there have been many lectures on it. On the women's side of the game, Anson Dorrance has had more success than practically anyone and he discusses this on his lecture tour as well as in his books and videos. Learning to coach this type of player gives you the Ronaldos, the Van Nistleroys, the Shearers, the Peles, and the Maradonas of the world.

There are a million and one soccer players who can pass the ball, but darn few who can put a team on their back when the championship is on the line, and win the game for you. That's why coaches pay big money for those players.

Remember that.

[Blippity-Blip21]

I agree with the Scoach on everything except wording. Confident players are a great asset. Very true. Give me two or three confident players on a team, and I'll show you a goal a game. But they need skill more than they need confidence. And they need a team before even that. The individual scores goals, the team wins games. Ball hogs, who just dribble, are a liability.

I'm Irish too, the way I deal with them is to make a tackle with the chest as well as the feet. It's poetic, you know, the way they fall to the ground as the ball goes off on it's own path...

[riceburner3508]

the ball hogs your talkin about scoach, are the ones that know when to keep the ball and drive it down the field at the right moment. theres nothing wrong with that, because as you said, in clutch situations somebody has to take control.

but i think when this post started, the issue was those little ******* that like to keep the ball all the time, no matter how good they are, and criticize their teammates for their own mistakes. all they do is ruin the beautiful game and ruin the fun for their teammates. the only way to handle these kinds of ball hogs is to get everyone on the team to confront the coach and tell him about the kid thats hoggin the ball. if everyone on the team can agree on it, the coach will definitely listen.