Cross Over to Evade Defender





Courtesy of www.expertvillage.com


How to perform the Cross Over to avoid the defender


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Make the Step Believable- When you step to make the defender move in that direction, make sure its a genuine step as if you were going that way, because the defender will move towards where your body is going naturally and not keep their eye on the ball going between your legs.

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Keep your head up- Make sure you have your head up and if possible stare at the defender to see if you can make it look you are going towards the fake side to make them believe the fake even more than if you were just stepping that direction.

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Look at it from far back - This move is essentially a technique of moving the defender out of the way of your path. The more extreme you make the fake, the further out of your path the defender will go.

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Always fake towards the defenders side - The defender will stand with their one leg towards you and one behind. This is forcing you to go one direction. You use the cross over to evade the defender in that direction and then take the ball around the other side as the defender will not have enough time to get back in your way again.

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Move your whole Torso - Moving your entire Body as well as your leg and eyes towards the fake direction really adds extra authenticity to your fake and will make the defender move that direction through human instincts and in the best situation make them move back quickly and fall over known as an "ankle breaker".



Drills to use when practising


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Practise with Friends- The only way to practise this move is to do so with friends. You can do this one on one to start with and just attempt to get past them by using this move. Don't be predictable though as the defender will catch on. Use your imagination and assess the situation.


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Use this move with 3 or 4 defenders- As illustrated here, practise the move by going through 3 or 4 or even more defenders using any combination you like. The small arrows represent the fake and the large the final direction. Like I said before, use your imagination and initiative to figure out which direction to go.

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Learn to keep it sharp- The fake should be sharp and sudden and whatever you do don't make it even slightly obviously which way you are going to fake as this will be all to easy for the defender to steal the ball.

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Never have the ball in front of you- Apart from when you bring the ball round your leg have the ball by your side.


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