Some players raise their hand just before they take a corner kick. Why?
Is it
to signal to their players when they're going to strike the ball...Is it really necessary though to alert your own players when you're going to take the kick? Seems a bit silly to me.
Can't your teammates see that you're moving towards the ball and you're about to kick it? And your own players should know what type of run up you take before striking the ball. Does it help your players make their runs or jockey for positions if you raise your hand? I don't really think so.
Actually, the advantage lies more with the defenders, since they can see the player taking the corner raise their hand and know when the players are going to make their runs. The offensive players lose the advantage, since they know the player taking the kick and know how he or she steps up to strike the ball and when they're going to strike it. Raising the hand as a signal is just unnecessary.
David Beckham, perhaps the best corner kick taker in the game, doesn't raise his hand before he kicks the ball. He just starts the kicking motion and the players make their runs to the ball. Nice and simple.
If anything, the raising of the hand disrupts the play, makes it less fluid. The player can't focus as much on just whipping in a good corner kick but instead has to think about raising the hand so the players can start their runs.
Here Beckham actually scores with a corner kick for the LA Galaxy. I didn't see his hand go up:
Watch Beckham take this corner for England - no hand up:
Watch Beckham take this corner when he played for Real Madrid, again, didn't see him raise his arm/hand:
To me, the raising of the hand is a waste of time. What do you think?
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