If you play in our Indoor Soccer leagues, you know there’s a whole new element of strategy and tactics to the game with regard to the walls of the facility. Most players don’t know how to use the walls effectively, so by learning how to do so, you can get a huge advantage over them and become a vastly better player.
The first important thing to note is what angle the wall is at. On the sides of the field, the wall is probably straight. However, in the corners, the walls are often curved instead of being at right angles. I’ll help you out with each of these three cases.
When the walls are straight, they are most often used for beating a defender one-on-one. You certainly can pass off the straight walls, but since you likely can’t get a great angle for the ball to come off the wall, you should focus on using it to get past your opponent. We find that the most effective fake when you’re using the wall is to fake as if you’re cutting into the middle of the field, but when quickly tap the ball off the wall and run around the defending player. They’ll be off-balance and usually won’t be able to turn around quickly enough to steal the ball.
Walls that end in a sharp corner are essentially like straight walls. You can drive to pass off them at an angle to send the ball in front of the goal, but most of the time, you should use them to manoeuvre around a defender instead.
Curved walls at corners are very interesting. They’re great for passing into the middle of the field, especially to the front of the goal. You need to hit the wall where it’s about halfway through its curve in order to send the ball into the middle of the field. This works beautifully and often catches the defense off guard so your teammate can quickly convert the pass into a goal.
Who knew a wall could be so fun? They are just so stiff and boring, yet can be a massive help in getting an edge on your opponent.
