The block tackle is the standing tackle you use to win the ball when you are close to the attacker. You get low, plant a bent standing leg beside the ball, lock your ankle and meet the middle of the ball with the inside of your foot at the moment they touch it. We read your body position (low base, bent plant knee, weight forward, braced on contact); the ball contact itself isn't visible to the camera.
Set up
Close down under control. Stay between the ball and your goal, slow down with short steps as you get close and get within about an arm's length. Keep your eyes on the ball, not the attacker.
Arrive balanced, not running.
Wait for your moment: tackle as the attacker touches the ball, or when a heavy touch pushes it away from their feet. Don't lunge in early.
Patient, then decisive.
Crouch to lower your centre of gravity, knees bent, before you go in.
Low and loaded.
Tackle
Step in as close to the ball as you can. Plant your standing foot beside and slightly behind the ball, square to it, toes pointing forward. Bend that knee slightly and let your weight rest on it.
Weight on a bent standing leg.
Turn your tackling foot outward so the inside of the foot (the arch) faces the ball, with the tackling leg slightly bent. Take a short backswing, like a push pass but smaller.
Lock your ankle and tighten the leg just before contact. A firm foot is what holds the block and helps protect your ankle.
Foot like a solid wall.
As they touch the ball, put the inside of your foot against the middle of the ball and drive your weight through its centre. Keep the foot low and turned out so the sole and studs never face the opponent.
Through the ball, not just stopping it.
Lean your upper body slightly forward and move your leading shoulder forward as the foot strikes. Use your arms for balance only, never to hold.
Follow through: push the tackling foot slightly forward and roll the ball over the attacker's foot. Shoulder-to-shoulder contact can help you press forward while the ball is within playing distance. Stay on your feet and play the ball away or to a teammate.
Win it clean and stay up.
Play it safe and fair
Win the ball, not the player. Under Law 12 a tackle is a foul if it is careless (lack of attention or consideration: free kick), reckless (disregard for the danger to the opponent: yellow card) or uses excessive force (endangers the opponent: red card).
Go in with one foot and stay on your feet. Lunging at an opponent with one or both legs in a way that endangers them is serious foul play, and two-footed tackles carried the highest injury risk for both players in a video study of FIFA tournaments. Referees also weigh speed, distance travelled, foot position and whether the studs were showing.
Feel it
Low and solid. Your weight sits on a bent standing leg beside the ball, your ankle is locked, and the inside of your foot meets the middle of the ball as they touch it while your shoulder drives forward. If you feel yourself leaning back or reaching for the ball, you went in too late or from too far away.
Fix-its
- You lunge in early and get skipped past Slow down as you arrive and wait for their touch or a heavy touch. Tackle when the ball is at their foot or just away from it, not before.
- You lean away and get bounced off Crouch lower, lean your upper body slightly forward and drive the leading shoulder in as the foot strikes. Pulling away from the tackle means you lose it.
- Your foot gets knocked back on contact Lock the ankle and tighten the leg before contact, and push your weight through the centre of the ball instead of just stopping it.
- You reach for the ball and end up off balance Step in close first so your standing foot lands beside the ball with the knee bent. Only then put the tackling foot in.
- Your sole shows or the foot comes off the ground Keep the tackling foot turned out with the inside facing the ball and the foot low on the middle of the ball. A raised foot with the studs showing is a foul risk and can injure the attacker.
Drill
- Slow-motion partner block: a partner of similar size holds a still ball with the inside of their foot. Step in, plant beside the ball, lock the ankle and press through the middle of the ball together. Build up the force gradually.
- Leave It (US Youth Soccer): everyone dribbles a ball in a grid. On the coach's call "leave it", everyone leaves their ball and takes another. Then remove two balls so the players without one must win a ball by tackling.
- 1v1 battles (England Football): the defender passes to the attacker, who tries to beat them to the end line. Run it in a narrow area, a short wide area and a long wide area. Focus on arriving balanced and making good contact on the ball.
- Small-sided game: press when the opponent faces their own goal or takes a heavy touch, win the ball cleanly while staying on your feet, then counter-attack.
- Safety: pair players by size and ability, start at walking speed, and increase speed only once the ankle-locked, weight-through-the-ball shape holds up. Stop if you feel pain.
Sources
- US Youth Soccer — Skills School Manual (2017), tackling pp. 47–48, curriculum p. 5
- IFAB — Laws of the Game, Law 12: Fouls and Misconduct (latest edition)
- Hargreaves & Bate — Skills & Strategies for Coaching Soccer, 2nd ed. (Human Kinetics excerpt: Soccer has three basic tackles)
- ActiveSG Circle (Sport Singapore) — Lim Weiyang, How to tackle in football
- FIFA Training Centre — Irene Paredes: Timing the tackle (2024)
- England Football Learning — Session programme: press and cover to defend (2025)
- The FA — Regulatory Commission written reasons, claim of wrongful dismissal (28 January 2025)
- Fuller, Smith, Junge & Dvorak — The influence of tackle parameters on the propensity for injury in international football, Am J Sports Med (2004)
Last checked 2026-10-26.