The stepover is one of the if not the best looking move that you can pull of on a football pitch. Pretty much every player knows how to do it, but how efficiently, that's a whole another story. Just like most of things in football, it requires constant prastise, analyzing and learning, so in order to master this move you need to use your body and your brain.
Here's the most important thing to know about mastering the stepover. Just copy R9. Plain and simple. Ronaldo is the blueprint for a player that revolutionized the stepover. Like Marcel Desailly once described ''He did this stepover move one time at Milan, i couldn't see the ball''. And that's the main thing about it, to create an illusion, in other words to hide the ball. The small moment the defender doesn't see the ball is a moment you will capitalise, IF you did the move properly. Also make sure that your upper body is falsely telegraphing where you'll go, your job is to have a good balance in order to LIE and go to the other side. But, in order to know how to copy the brazilian legend properly, you need to understand these 5 rules:
1. Bent upper body
2. Circles
3. Switch, left to right, right to left
4. Knowing when and how to do it
5. Study R9
Bent upper body
One of the most important thing when you're dribbling is to make sure that your upper body is bent a little bit. That way you have more control and efficiency when you decide to excecute a particular move. Try dribbling while your upper body is positioned straight and you'll see how easy is for you to lose control of the situation and lose the ball. This rule applies for the stepover especially when you're doing it when you're in the central parts of the pitch.
Circles
There are 3 types of circles for the stepover:
Full circle (100 %)
70 % circle
Half circle (50 %)
Full circle
When you're doing the stepover you do one or multiple circles and in the end you decide which way you're going to go. In the situations where you're positioned centrally or in the center part of the pitch, it is recommended to do R9 type of full circle stepover, usually with one circle and then going left or right. Therefore you combine bent upper body + full circle and a switch.
70% circle
This is when you're as close as 20 to 25 meters to the goal, or in a goalscoring situation and you need to finish off the defender with a dribble and shoot to the goal. Perfect example for this is Cristiano Ronaldo's goal vs Schalke 04. The best way to do them in this situation is, do them fast ,do multiple stepovers, and do 70 % circle, and make sure that your upper body is not too bent, compared to when you're doing the full circle. Since you have to do them little bit faster, you cannot do a full circle.
Half circle (50 %)
The half circle is used when you're on the side as a winger and you need to quickly distract the defender. You don't switch sides, you just go forward. So you do it quick and simple.
Switch
3 examples:
A: One full circle + 15 % bent upper body + switch to left or right
B: Couple of 70 % circles + 5 % bent upper body + switch to left or right
C: Half circle + going forward (no switch to particular side)
When and how
Knowing when to do it is is a crucial part of every football skill. It's important to know that doing this move on your own half is not a smart idea most of the time.
Here's a graphic where it shows:
- Which type of stepover (circle) to use in particular space
Study R9
Ronaldo is the blueprint for the perfect striker, and the way he executed the stepovers on the football pitch is picture perfect fundamentally brilliant. He combined all of the things needed for a great stepover, skill, speed, smart decision making. For example there's other players who have different styles for this move.
CR7 likes do them fast and a lot, waiting if the opponent is going to budge.
Ronaldinho has an unorthodox timing, when it comes to switching and going forward, he does it almost completely different from the basics, but since he's a phenomenal player, it works for him, but is not recommended. He is kinda throwing you off by doing it in a way that he is doing the circle first and then going forward.
That's why watching videos, studying R9 is a key factor for mastering this move. Here are some video recommendations.
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