Slide Tackle

Try to win it standing first: stay goal-side, jockey, and use a block or poke tackle when you can. Slide only when the attacker is getting away from you and you can't stop them on your feet.

Feet first, slide last.

Get in range by running alongside the attacker, or chasing at an angle from slightly behind and to the side, until you are level with the ball.

Level with the ball, not behind the player.

Keep your eyes on the ball and wait for the moment the attacker has just pushed it forward, away from their feet. Don't go while the ball is at their feet.

Before you go, ask: can I reach the ball before their next touch? Decide now whether you will clear it out of play or hook it back to keep it. If you can't reach it, or they're pulling away, don't slide.

Not sure? Stay up.

Lower your centre of gravity by bending both knees. Take your last step with the leg nearest the attacker.

Tackle with the leg furthest from the attacker. Extend it so the foot reaches in front of the ball, across the attacker's path.

Let the near leg fold underneath you, heel toward your backside, and slide on the outer thigh and hip of that leg.

Land on your side, not your back.

Keep the tackling foot low, ankle down and toes forward, studs down. The sole of your boot never faces the attacker.

Studs down, always.

Contact the ball at its centre or just above. Use your laces with firm contact to clear it, or block it with the inside of your foot and pull it back toward you to keep it.

Use your arms for balance: the arm away from the attacker goes out and down toward the ground. Keep your eyes on the ball through contact.

Push up off the bent leg and the hand that touched the ground, and stand straight away whether you won it or not. If you have the ball, dribble away; if you missed, sprint back goal-side.

Up fast, back in the play.

Play the ball, not the player. Under Law 12 a careless tackle is a free kick, a reckless one is a yellow card, and one with excessive force is a red. A tackle that endangers an opponent, or lunging at them with one or both legs from the front, side or behind, is serious foul play.

Slide with one tackling leg only, and never through the back of a player. Two-footed tackles carried the highest injury risk for both players in a study of international matches.

If you slide with the near leg instead, finish almost sitting so your head stays away from the attacker's knees.

Check your league's rules before you slide in a game. Some youth rec leagues ban slide tackling at every age level, and US Youth Soccer's curriculum doesn't introduce it until U12. Wear shin guards whenever you practise it.