The Impact of Scanning

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Read time: 4 minutes.

A quote I love, and I feel illustrates the importance of scanning when playing soccer is from Andrea Pirlo, and he says, “Football is played with the head and your legs are just your tools”. This is a brilliant way to express how important it is to consistently use a skill such as scanning when playing soccer. The more information you have, the better the decision you can make. This fact is consistent in all forms of life and is just as prominent in soccer when having the ball or defending without it. Through scanning, you can intake important information on where your teammates are on the pitch, where your opponents are, and where pressure on you could be coming from, or where space is on the field. So much can be collected from just a simple and quick action.

As you progress up to the levels in soccer, it becomes less about the technical ability of each player on the field and becomes more about how you use your brain to give you a greater understanding or your eyes to see what someone else doesn’t. It is skills such as scanning that allow us to play at a higher level than an opponent and to gain an edge over them. It is such a simple skill for players to do. Just like any other skill, the more you practice doing it, the more comfortable you feel and the better you become when doing it.

There is nothing worse than watching a player receive a soccer ball in a game and get robbed because they never saw the defender coming or they turn right into the defender because they never scanned before receiving the ball to know they were going to be pressured and from where they were going to be pressured when they received the ball. These situations are where scanning really illustrates its importance, although their teammates could inform them of a player approaching them, it is just as much their responsibility to know where the defenders are around them when they receive the ball to make sure they don’t give it away. Similarly, when a player receives the ball and gets tackled for taking too long, the common phrase any player of coach loves to say is “play it quicker”. But to be able to play it quicker they must know what they are going to do with the ball when it arrives at their feet or even before it arrives. How is this possible... through scanning. All three of the circumstances I have listed could be eliminated through the act of scanning before you receive the ball or when the ball is in motion to you. Giving you that edge over the opposition may seem small but can add up to making a difference that can have a result-altering effect.

We asked Bryan Perez, former US National Team futsal player and now Friends University Head Coach, his thoughts on scanning, and what players can take away from implementing it. “Scanning is a tool to gather information. Scanning is so important because it allows the player to make the best decision with or without the ball. As you are checking your shoulders you are looking for two things. 1. Where are the defenders? 2. Where is the space? From this information, you can make the right decision to where you should be moving off the ball and/or what to do with the ball.”

For players aiming to improve their scanning ability, consistent practice is key. Like any skill, the more you practice, the more natural it becomes. Bryan Perez suggests a simple drill: “passing the ball against a wall while checking your shoulders. If you have a partner, they can hold up two different colored items behind you as you pass or receive the ball. You then call out the color you see, enhancing your scanning skills in a game-like scenario”.

Having played at one of the highest levels possible in men’s soccer, he knows the importance of knowing your surroundings when playing soccer, no matter whether it is indoors or outdoors, the requirements and the benefits are still the same. To be able to have high quality when on the ball or defending, the ability to scan and check your shoulders is essential and something that should be coached into every young player during their period in youth soccer, to give them the best chance of being successful in the beautiful game.