Throw-In

Take it from where the ball went out, and face the field when you let go. Opponents have to stand at least 2 m (2 yd) away.

At release, part of each foot must be on the touchline or on the ground outside it. A raised heel is fine: coaches teach a staggered stance with the back heel up. It's a foul throw if a foot comes fully off the ground or lands fully on the field before the ball has gone.

toes of both feet touching the ground, behind or on the line.

Grip the ball with your hands behind it, palms facing where you want it to go, thumbs and fingers in a W like a goalkeeper's catch. Smaller hands can use a diamond grip.

Throw with both hands, bringing the ball from behind your head and over it. Don't let it go until it is over or just past your head.

Set your feet. Either square and about shoulder-width apart, or staggered with the front foot flat and the back heel raised. Bend your knees, pick your target, and turn your hips toward it.

Load: take the ball behind your head with your elbows bent, lean your upper body back from the waist, and push your knees forward to balance it.

a stretch across your chest and stomach, like drawing a bow.

Throw from the ground up: straighten your legs, snap your upper body forward, then bring both hands through together. Keep your head steady. From a staggered stance, shift your weight from the back foot to the front foot as you throw.

legs, then trunk, then arms. The arms finish the whip, they don't start it.

Follow through toward the target, fingertips finishing pointed at it. Keep your feet touching the ground and don't step forward until the ball has left your hands.

For distance, add a short run-up. Start one or two yards back, take quick short steps and arch your back fully. At the line, either plant both feet with a small forward hop, or put one foot in front and drag the toe of the back foot so part of it stays on the ground. In one study of 13 top-level players, run-up throws went about 13.5% farther than standing throws.

Chase release speed, not a perfect angle. For a long throw the best launch angle in one measured player was about 30° (not 45°), and anything within about 7° of it lost less than 3% of the distance. Lab studies of men report release speeds of 12–19 m/s. Warm up your shoulders and trunk first, and build up to full-effort long throws gradually.

Know the rules after release. You can't score directly from a throw-in. You can't touch the ball again until another player has (that gives an indirect free kick to the other team). A teammate receiving it straight from your throw can't be offside.

Treat it as a pass. Aim for a teammate's feet or chest, or into space they're moving into. In 16,154 Premier League throw-ins, backward and sideways throws kept the ball and led to shots more often than long forward throws, which were the least efficient.