Indoor soccer is a relatively new game. It’s very much like outdoor soccer, but with a few differences. If you’re entirely new to the sport, this guide will help you learn more about how to play indoor soccer and enjoy the game.
One of the critical differences between outdoor soccer and indoor soccer obviously, is where they’re both played. Indoor football is unique in that it’s played in walled courts, unlike outdoor football. In North America, where the game is top-rated, soccer rules incorporate different regulations from ice hockey, and people play in arenas that have walls around them.
Here are a few tips and tricks that’ll help you to outshine your opponents and give you a general overview on how to play indoor soccer for beginners.
Also read: How Long is a Soccer Game?
Rules for How to Play Indoor Soccer
Here are some basic rules you should learn as a beginner who is learning how to play football indoors.
- The field is usually oblong or rectangular with walls that’re at least 6 feet high.
- Professional games last 60 minutes, divided into four quarters of 15 minutes each. There’s a 3-minute break between each quarter and a 15-minute break after the second quarter.
- Games have six players on each team; 5 field players and one goalie.
- Playing along the walls and off them is allowed. But, when the ball touches the ceiling or net, the referee gives the ball to the opposing team
- No sliding is allowed, and a player should make contact with the ball during a play.
- Unlike regular football, there aren’t any offside rules in the indoor version.
- There are three cards. Yellow, blue, and red. They’re all used to keep the players and game under control.
- The ball used to play is a regular size five ball
- When a player kicks the ball, it shouldn’t cross three lines unless it touches the field.
Related: Best Womens Indoor Soccer Shoes
Learning to play indoor soccer:
Use the walls
The walls should be your best offensive weapon when learning how to play indoor soccer. They’ll help you to divert the ball if you’ve been surrounded by opponents and can’t seem to get around them. You can hit the ball against the wall while playing indoor football because, unlike the regular version of the game, it’s not against soccer rules to do so.
When learning how to play indoor soccer, be careful not to overuse this trick, though, because you’ll give away too much of your playing style, and your opponents can use this against you. To use this trick as a method of defense, you can coerce your opponents to play along the wall, and it’ll be harder for them to score against your goalie in indoor soccer.
Think on Your Feet
The arena used to play football indoors is quite small compared to outdoor pitches. It’s, therefore, essential to consider this if you’d like to figure out how to play indoor soccer 7×7. There’s no time to dribble unnecessarily or waste precious seconds thinking.
You’ve got to take action pretty fast if you’re going to be successful scoring against the goalie in indoor soccer. Before you even have a chance to have the ball on your feet, you’ve got to think about possible actions you can take.
Further Reading: Top 10 Indoor Soccer Shoes
Practice One-Touch
One of the tricks you should practice when learning how to play indoor soccer for beginners as a team is one-touch. This means that once you’ve got the ball, you only handle or touch it once. That keeps the game moving. It also assists you to continually engage your opponents on both the defensive and the offensive.
Your opponents will never have a chance at controlling the ball as your team will always be moving it away from them. Other than this, it’ll also increase the speed of the game and make it more interesting to play or watch for your spectators.
Shoot as Often As You Can
How hard can learning how to play indoor soccer 7×7 be? If you’re fast, one of the ways to ensure you score as many goals as you can is to shoot often. Even if shooting doesn’t land you a goal, chances are, one of your teammates is going to catch the ball on the rebound and try to score again.
Rebound balls increase the chances of your team winning against your opponents.
Lay off The Dribbling
When playing, you should try to avoid excessive dribbling. Dribbling can get in the way of mastering how to play indoor soccer just like the professionals do. If you dribble too much, your opponents can quickly get the ball from you and score. Less dribbling, more shooting, is the way to go.
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