How To Do The Scissors Move In Soccer
The Scissors move in soccer is an exciting dribbling move that players can use to trick a defender and beat them at speed. There have been many professional soccer players who have been famed for using the scissors move in many different era’s dating back to the 1900’s. However in the modern era it gained global popularity as a signature move of Christiano Ronaldo during his time at Manchester United and then Real Madrid. In this post, we will explain what the scissors move is, how to do the scissors soccer move, and coaching points you can give to your players to help them perfect it.
What Is The Scissors Move?
In soccer, the scissors move is a dribbling move that involves a feint as you try to trick your opponent into thinking you’re going one way with the ball before moving in the opposite direction. The scissors can be utilized from a standing position or when running with the ball and is therefore a very effective and useful move to have in your dribbling toolkit!
How To Do The Scissors
To perform the scissors move, first stand behind the ball with your feet roughly shoulders length apart. Bring one foot forward as if you are going to push the ball with the outside of your foot. Instead of pushing the ball with the outside of your foot, step over the top of the ball (without touching it) and plant your foot next to the ball. Next bring your other foot to the same side of the ball before using the outside of your little toe on that foot to push the ball off in the opposite direction and dribble away.
Note you are essentially pretending (feinting) to do an outside cut in one direction with one foot before doing an outside cut in the other direction with the opposite foot! Complex stuff but with dribbling it’s always fun to pretend!
When Coaching The Scissors
Coaching Points
When teaching young players who are new to the move it is best to start by showing them how to do the move from a standing position before seeing if they can execute it whilst on the move. While teaching players the scissors move, keep in mind these key coaching points:
- As players step over the ball they should drop their shoulders and exaggerate the feint that they are going to move in that direction.
- Encourage players to practice feinting both ways to keep the defenders guessing as to which they are going to go (Can you do a double scissors or a triple scissors?).
- Accelerate away immediately after your feint or double feint as the defender will be off balance.
Drills To Practice The Scissors
After teaching the Scissors move unopposed it’s great to encourage players to try and use the move in games and activities in which players have a lot of opportunities to dribble. You can even award extra points in the games for executing the moves successfully and beating defenders. Here are some of our favorite drills in which you might do that:
Wrapping Up
Like ‘The Matthews‘ and other more complex moves, the Scissors move can be difficult to execute at first. But once mastered, the Scissors is highly effective and a lot of fun to do. As with all dribbling moves the most important thing is that players are comfortable with the ball at their feet and are able to make decisions on the ball based on what they see, the positions of their teammates, and the position of their opponents. Knowing when and why they should use the scissors is just as important (if not more so) than being able to do it! Always encourage your players to watch as much soccer as possible at home and give them plenty of opportunities to play in small-sided games in practice so they can improve their decision making skills as well as their dribbling!
