THE CONTACT FOOT
You often hear the phrase "take the ball on the rise" in coaching. It's used to encourage the player to step in and take the ball with some weight transfer, and "taking it on the rise' seems to help the player time the ball better. But what happens when the player can't achieve "stepping in"? I coach advanced players and relative beginners. If I told an advanced player to "step in" and take every ball "on the rise", they would see me as crazy. At an advanced level, stepping in and taking the ball on the rise every time is impossible. The speed and depth of the ball mean that often, the ball dictates what you do, not you, so stepping in and taking the ball on the rise is simply impossible. Likewise, telling a beginner to take every ball on the rise will only lead to frustration. They can only do it on some balls. The problem with trying to teach the "ideal" technique is that there is no such thing as the "ideal...