Left-footed or Right-footed....

[Bricktop]

Left-handed/footed sportsmen are disproportionately represented in sports when compared to the "normal" world. And their brilliance goes even further.

Respect

[OJ]

Great question. I had a discussion with a parent the other day who was concerned about his daughter only playing with her left foot. I asked him if she had one and one with the goalie which foot would he want her to use and he said the left and i said ok good. But just teach her to open up on both sides right and left, its not so much which foot but how and where you open the space you want to play in. obviously both feet is better than one but for some reason player with one left always stand out. Maridona, and Haggi comes to mind. But although they were one footed they opened up on their first touch in the right space not just left but where they wanted to go... I think its an interesting debate. I have never honestly heard that lefty had an advantage in football as I can still close you down with my right foot or in any direction. In basketball their is a known advantage as you have to block going across your body so left handed shooters has an advantage. See the forum can teach you....

[Mosiah]

There are, of course, exceptions. Indeed, it is a well-known fact that left-sided people have more than their fair share of dunces.

So di ting set.

[Assasin]

I am not talking about in sport in general because I don't know about that. Do you believe half of best players are leftfooted as Skeng want us to believe?

[Assasin]

thank you sah. I close down enough left winger in my time, I don't think they have no advantage because they are lefty. Many right foot players are just as crafty.

[HL]

When you say modern, what is your time frame?

Fair question.

For the sake of this debate, lets say for the past 20 years.

[Assasin]

HL if you good you good, it nuh matter if you have two left foot. Messi couldn't make nuff Jamaican coach under 17 team, them woulda say him too small

[HL]

That's not really the point Assasin!!

There are few players that are good (or equal) with both foot.

Take Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla, he is said to be right footed. Do you remember the game between Arsenal and Wast Ham? Aresnal won that game 3-1. Cazorla scored from ~25 yards with one of the "wickedest" left foot shot I have ever seen.

Wesley Sneijder, Xabi Alonso, Michael Carrick are among the few players that uses both feet equally well.

Don't believe me? Ask 80 or 90% of footballers to shoot first time with their weaker foot--and you will see an assortment of well meaning mishits.

How about you Assasin, you said you played the game did you have a weaker foot? How good were you kicking with it?

[HL]

Great answer OJ. Your observations are on point.

I hope Assasin read and re-read your observations. I could not have explained it the way you did.

[Gamma]

Maradona, robben, van persie

[Gamma]

Skeng has point

[Assasin]

I played most of my early days with my right foot, but it got injured for about six months and I didn't want to sit so I learned to use the left foot. It was not as good as the right foot but it enable me to play with both feet and I could manage to play on any side of the field.

The thing is HL some people are naturally gifted with one foot and you may even change their game. It is a complex thing if you ask me.

[Paul Marin]

obviously both feet is better than one...

This is the point and as a coach, I drill 5 and 6 year olds to use both feet. It is a coaching problem in my mind and while there are great players who we can point to as examples of one-foot ballers, the vast majority of players are not Maradonna or Hagi. In fact, look at Dirk Kuyt. He is a one foot baller to the extreme. He CANNOT use his left foot at all making his attacks predictable. I submit he would have doubled his goal scoring tally had he been able to use his left as effectively as his right.

Not coaching development of the weaker foot to me is an approach that is misguided and full of laziness on the part of coaches. Kids from a very young age have to learn to use both sides of their body including both feet. Believe it or not, learning to use your left foot means more than just kicking the ball with your left. To develop the left (or weaker side) one has to use the weaker side for other things, picking up an object, brushing your teeth, threading a needle. It is about developing the other side of the brain.

I came head to head with this problem two years ago. Back then, my daughter used only her right foot. She REFUSED to use the left. I remember distinctly a situation where she was playing center back and had to cover for her left back who was trapped up the field in the other team's counter attack. The attack came down the middle but went awry with too heavy a pass to their right winger. My daughter came across from the middle to intercept the ball full speed...by the time she got there though, the ball had crossed her body over to her left foot. All the pressure from opponents was coming from the middle of the field, meaning that she had space to her left. But because she could not use or dribble with her left (and her momentum was carrying her to the left), she brought the ball back to her right foot exposing it to the opponents pressure...ultimately, she lost the ball but thankfully, did not give up a goal. Had she had confidence in her left, she would have been able to take that ball and plough down the left wing as the ball would have been away from pressure and she would more easily have been able to exploit that space. Anyway, today, thanks to me, she is now at the point where her left foot is developing nicely...but I stress it was ME-not her coaches, that made this contribution to her development.

Another argument for why you MUST develop both feet is the options you get as a coach - and by extension - the options the player creates for himself. For example, when you put a left winger (one-foot-baller lefty) on the right wing, you naturally tighten the space as the ball will be played by that player on his inside. In some cases this is desirable, but in cases where it is not, your options become limited with a team of one-foot-ballers. And don't get me started on opportunities in front of the goal. Yeesh.

Anyway, enough of my rant. OJ - coach di pickney dem to use both feet and stop try to paper over the cracks. Not all of them will become Maradona, so it is the right thing to do. I hope you ah go pay mi fi dis advice.

[Paul Marin]

Great answer OJ. Your observations are on point.

I hope Assasin read and re-read your observations. I could not have explained it the way you did.

I agree with OJ that developing both feet is better. However, I disagree (if this is what he is saying) that you can paper over the cracks by knowing where to play the ball to space and how to open your body. That only goes so far. There are millions of situations where the "other foot" is the better choice, so to me, coaches who don't coach players to use the weaker side take those options away from them. In fact, in my opinion, any youth coach who has players coming out of his or her program that can't use both feet should be shot for dereliction of duty. OJ, give me the name of that parent, I want talk to him about his daughter's development and the standard of coaching he should be exposing her to. The one him using now may not be up to snuff!!!

[OJ]

Every heard of Diego Maradona... The notion that you cannot be a good player with one foot is a myth. second i have never heard of anyone saying a palyer only have one right ,,