floated cross

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The float cross is most commonly used to pick out your teammate towards the back post area. Essentially you’re guiding the ball into an area for your teammate to meet. You can also use this crossing technique when the front, middle and back areas are congested and you’ve spotted your teammate on the edge of the box and you want to set them up. Let’s take you through the steps of how to do it:

Before you use the floated cross you should analyze the box to see if this technique is suitable. You should look to see where teammates are placed, look to see if the defender is close to your teammate or not, is your teammate too close to the keeper, if not the box, is a player free on the edge of the box, is there a mismatch of height?

Step 1

You can start either with the ball still or rolling.

  • If you don’t have someone to cross to, setup a zone/target
  • We recommend you set the cross up by pushing the ball out of your feet diagonally in front of you, this will help as if the ball is too close whilst dribbling, you won’t be able to properly perform the cross. You don’t want your legs to be squashed together when connecting as this can effect the cross.
  • When approaching the ball, be sure to keep your eyes on the ball.

Step 2

Plant your standing leg next to the ball, close to it if the ball is rolling which will allow you to meet the ball with your kicking foot as it’s rolling.

  • Leave a little gap if the ball is still to allow room for your kicking leg.
  • Make sure your hips are also pointing in the direction you want the ball to go.

Step 3

Make sure your arms are extended, the arm on your non kicking leg side should be extended higher for balancing.

  • Swing through to meet the ball with the laces part of your foot at an angle and keep your body tensed for power.
  • Leaning back a little helps add height as well as area of the ball you connect with.
  • You want to connect with the lower middle area of the ball to create height & backspin required.
  • Your kicking leg can come across your standing leg, although it can also stay fairly central after the connection which will give you more backspin.
  • It’s important to note we’re not looking for too much power on this cross, we are aiming for a firm connection but not too hard as the area on the ball you’re connecting with will already send the ball high. You should of course keep practicing the technique to better understand the power levels required.
  • However, this does depend on how developed you are as a player, if you know you can’t kick the ball too far to begin with, then you will need to put more power into the cross, whilst still concentrating on the area of the ball you need to connect with.
  • Lean back a little for height
  • Be careful not to cross the ball too close to the keeper as the ball can be intercepted.
  • Look out for a player on the edge of the box and set them up for a volley.

 

If you want to create space between you and the defender, we recommend you try some simple moves like a fake cross, stepover or shoulder drop.