Offensive exercises: attacking play

25 min

Beating three bodies across nine metres

Three defenders lying full length can cover a large part of a 9 m goal, and they hear the ball coming. An attack scores when the defenders are too late, in the wrong place or unsure where the ball is: when the throw is fast, when it comes from an unexpected angle, or when it arrives through a gap between two defenders. This lesson builds on the throwing technique of Lesson 1 and turns it into attacking play: where to throw from, where to aim, how to move the ball quietly between team-mates, and how to use the ten seconds the rules allow.

Definition

Seam: the gap between two defenders' blocking positions, where a throw is hardest to stop.

Straight throw: a throw along the length of the court, towards the defender opposite.

Angled (cross-court) throw: a throw across the court from one side to the other, so that it reaches the defence at an angle and towards a seam.

Ball movement: passing the ball between team-mates before throwing, so that the defenders lose track of who will throw and from where.

Quick attack: throwing soon after gaining the ball, before the other team has recovered its positions.

Principles of attack

Principle	How
Speed	A low, fast throw gives the defenders the least time (Lesson 1).
Angle	Throw from one wing to the far side so that the ball arrives across the defenders' line, aiming at a seam or a corner.
Uncertainty	Change the thrower and the throwing position; pass the ball quietly between team-mates; vary the rhythm, sometimes throwing quickly, sometimes using more of the ten seconds.
Variety	Mix straight, angled, bounce and, for advanced players, spin throws.
Recovery	After every throw, the thrower returns to position: the next attack is the other team's.

Within the rules. The team has 10 seconds from its first defensive contact to get the ball back over the centre line (Rule 31). Quiet handling is good technique; deliberate unnecessary noise by the thrower, such as stamping, slapping the floor or shouting, from the start of the throw until the ball reaches the defence is a penalty (Rule 30), and so is noise by the throwing team (Rule 35). The ball may not be carried over the centre line (Rule 22).

Worked example

Worked example 1: finding the seam. Measure $x$ along the court from the thrower's goal line and $y$ across from one side line. The defenders' centre is at $x = 15$ covering $y = 3.6$ to $5.4$ ; the near wing is at $x = 16.5$ covering $y = 0.6$ to $2.4$ . A thrower at $(4.5,\ 7.5)$ aims at the goal line at $(18,\ 2.0)$ .

The throw falls $7.5 - 2.0 = 5.5\,\mathrm{m}$ across in $18 - 4.5 = 13.5\,\mathrm{m}$ along, so $y = 7.5 - 5.5 \times \frac{x - 4.5}{13.5}$ .
At the centre defender, $x = 15$ : $y = 7.5 - 5.5 \times \frac{10.5}{13.5} = 3.22$ , below 3.6, so it passes beside the centre.
At the wing, $x = 16.5$ : $y = 7.5 - 5.5 \times \frac{12}{13.5} = 2.61$ , above 2.4, so it passes just beyond the wing's reach.
Path length $\sqrt{13.5^{2} + 5.5^{2}} = 14.6\,\mathrm{m}$ ; at $12\,\mathrm{m\,s^{-1}}$ it takes 1.2 s.

The seam is only about 0.2 m wide at the wing, so a wing who hears the ball early and slides 0.3 m closes it. The attack must also be fast and hard to read. (Blocking lengths and speed are illustrative.)

Worked example

Worked example 2: using the ten seconds. A team blocks a throw at $t = 0$ . It takes 2.0 s to control the ball, 1.5 s for a quiet pass from the centre to the right wing, and 2.5 s for the wing to set up and throw (illustrative times).

Total: $2.0 + 1.5 + 2.5 = 6.0\,\mathrm{s}$ , inside the 10 s limit with 4 s to spare.
Throwing at once from the centre would take about $2.0 + 2.0 = 4.0\,\mathrm{s}$ .

The quick throw catches defenders who are still returning to their positions; the pass moves the sound of the ball and changes the angle. A good team uses both, so the defence cannot predict either. Every extra pass uses time and risks a ten-seconds penalty.

Video: "Goalball Training Video: Basic Passing Techniques", U.S. Association of Blind Athletes. As you watch, notice how the ball is passed along the floor between team-mates and how quietly it is received.

Tip

"Fast, low, angled, quiet." The four things that beat a goalball defence: a fast throw, kept low, from an angle into a seam, after quiet ball movement.

Warning

Common mistakes. Always throwing straight from the same place. Loud, slow set-ups. Passing so many times that the ten seconds run out. Forgetting to recover after the throw. Aiming so wide that the ball goes out over the side line.

Safety and fair play. Throw low along the floor, never at a defender's head. Stay silent while the other team is throwing. Help a team-mate back to position by calling, not by pulling.

✦

Practice

List four principles of attack in goalball.
Explain what a seam is and why it is the best target.
A thrower at (4.5, 1.5) aims at (18, 7.0). Find y where the throw crosses x = 16.5.
In question 3, the far wing covers y = 6.6 to 8.4 at x = 16.5. Is the throw blocked?
Calculate the length of the throw in question 3 and its time at 11 m s⁻¹.
A team takes 3 s to control the ball, 2 s for each of two passes, and 2.5 s to throw. Does it beat the ten-seconds rule?
Why should the thrower avoid stamping during the throw?
A team scores most goals with quick attacks and decides never to pass before throwing. Evaluate this decision.

Show answersHide answers

Speed; angle; uncertainty (change of thrower, position and rhythm, quiet ball movement); variety of throws; recovery after the throw.
The gap between two defenders' blocking positions. A throw there has the furthest to be reached by either defender, so it is the hardest to block.
y = 1.5 + 5.5 × (16.5 − 4.5) ÷ 13.5 = 1.5 + 4.89 = 6.39.
No: 6.39 is just below 6.6, so the throw passes just outside the wing's reach (unless she slides towards it).
Length = √(13.5² + 5.5²) = 14.6 m; time = 14.6 ÷ 11 = 1.33 s.
3 + 2 + 2 + 2.5 = 9.5 s: yes, just, with 0.5 s to spare; too risky in a match.
Unnecessary noise by the thrower from the start of the throw until the ball reaches the defence is a personal penalty (Rule 30); it also masks nothing useful.
Risky. Quick attacks work, but if the team never passes, defenders learn to expect the throw from wherever the ball was blocked. Mixing quick throws with occasional quiet passes keeps them guessing.

Quick check

Where is a goalball throw hardest for the defence to block?

Remember

Attack with speed, angle, uncertainty and variety, and recover after every throw.
Aim at the seams: work out where the throw crosses each defender's line.
Move the ball quietly; the team has 10 seconds from its first defensive contact; deliberate noise is a penalty.

Sources and credits

International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA), Goalball Rules and Regulations 2025: Rules 22, 30, 31 and 35 summarised, not copied.
Goalball, Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0: attacking play. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Photo: Goalball-2015 IBSA World CAN-ALG F throw, Q8682, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Video: "Goalball Training Video: Basic Passing Techniques", U.S. Association of Blind Athletes, embedded from YouTube.
Attacking diagram (drawn to scale), tables, worked examples, practice and quick check: written by Ganzaa. Blocking lengths, speeds and times are illustrative.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1Beating three bodies across nine metres

2Principles of attack

Beating three bodies across nine metres

Principles of attack