If you spend a lot of time watching football, there is a very good chance that you will have heard the commentator or pundit referring to a player ‘dropping the shoulder’. Although this is a phrase commonly used in the sport thanks to the prevalence of the skill, knowing exactly what said skill is or how to produce it is an entirely different matter.
It is very much a skill that is worth learning, however, on account of the fact that it can put you in a position whereby the opposition defensive player is left behind as you run off with the ball and either have a shot or put a cross into the box.
Dropping The Shoulder
It is a simple skill that can be brought out during a match, almost irrespective of the speed at which you’re moving. It is mostly commonly one that a winger will use in order to escape the defensive full-back and be able to produce a cross into the box for a teammate to get on to. That being said, it can be used by any player up to and including the goalkeeper, presuming that they are in a situation where they are one-on-one with a member of the opposition and are looking to get away from them. It is all about using your upper body to tell a story to an opponent that isn’t true.
It is all about deception, with the key thing being that you know what you’re going to do but the player that you’re up against thinks you’re going to do something else. You start by dribbling with the ball towards the opposition player, then when you get close enough you make a move slightly to one side, dropping your shoulder down as if that is where your body is going to go. You essentially pretend that you’re speeding up towards the right, whilst at the same time the opposite foot gets ready to come across and push the ball with the outside of the boot into the space.
The combination of quick feet and the shoulder drop will usually be enough for the opposition player to move to cover the space that they think you’re going to run into. This, in turn, leaves actual space open for you to be able to occupy, leaving them behind you as you run into said space and look for your options of what to do next. It is one of the more simplistic skills out there, but it is no less useful for a player to have in their locker thanks to the way in which it deceives the opposition and puts you at an advantage as you try to either make a pass, have a shot or put a cross in.