Corner kicks are extremely important in the game of soccer.
In European club leagues, there are about 5-5.5 corners taken per team per game, and in your 0wn games there may be significantly more.
Since corner kicks happen so frequently, you must take advantage of every opportunity you get.
Getting Open for a Corner or Set Piece (and Generate a Chance)
One great way to improve offensively on corner kicks is learning how to get separation, which is crucial in getting your head (or foot, or chest) on the ball and sending it into the goal.
You do not need much separation at all to score a goal. You just need enough space to get your head in front of your opponent’s.
The key to getting separation is being able to get your defender off balance.
The best way to put your defender on his or her heels and off balance is the V-Cut.
This move is very simple: take a step at a 45 degree angle one way and then make an explosive step the other way.
For example, if you want to make your move to the near post, then you must take your first step at a 45 degree angle to the back post.
Once your defender starts to take a step into the direction you first moved, you have succeeded in getting him or her off balance.
Now you make an explosive step with the same foot towards the near post leaving your defender in the dust.
Your V-Cut should create enough separation to free you up to send the corner kick home with a header or volley.
We hope this tip is helpful for getting open on corners and the method works well for other set pieces as well that involve you getting into the box with your runs.
Yes! it is true that the key to getting separation is being able to get your defender off balance.