Driving is the technical action carried out by a football player when he moves the ball from one area of the field of play to another by means of consecutive touches and without losing control of the ball. The player must know how to perform a dribble correctly and also when to perform it.
Through driving, good ball handling is achieved. In this way, security is achieved while maintaining possession of the ball, as well as the ability to carry out subsequent actions. In order to carry out a correct driving manoeuvre, the ball must be hit very softly. In addition, the ball and the foot must always be very close to each other.
Types of driving
Conduction can be classified according to the contact surface:
- Inside foot driving: this is easy to learn but slower than the other driving techniques. To perform it, the player must hit the ball gently while turning the hip slightly. In this way the ball will go in a straight line.
- Driving with the outside of the foot: this is the least used contact surface, as driving with the outside of the foot is very slow. It is also quite difficult to get the ball to go in a straight line.
- Outside and inside instep driving: both parts are the contact surfaces most used by players, although it is a difficult type of driving to learn. It consists of alternating strikes to the ball with the outside instep and the inside instep.
- Driving with the full instep: this contact surface can be used at the same time as the outer and inner instep, thus achieving a faster and more effective driving.
- Driving with the sole of the foot: thanks to the use of this contact surface, the ball will be protected, so the player will be able to go out in any direction. With practice, a straight line drive can be achieved, although it is usually lateral.
- Driving with the thigh, head and chest: these surfaces are rarely used due to the difficulty of handling the ball with them.
However, the conduction can also be differentiated according to the trajectory of the ball, which can be linear, with turns, zigzags and curves, or depending on the presence of the opponent, which can be dorsal, lateral, frontal and without opponents.