Please connect with me here: https://thesoccersidelines.com/connect/. You're the reason I do this!Please support the show here: https://thesoccersidelines.com/go/. Every dollar counts!Shortly after picking up my first futsal license, I thought to myself: I've been coaching futsal like I've been coaching outdoor soccer for three years! How many others have the same questions I did? Maybe you have been asking yourself what is futsal? In this episode, we get to know the game and pass one your knowledge and new found insights to those in your life who have some to love the game or use it to enhance skills for the outdoor game! Know exactly what is futsal in the next 29 minutes. The game of futsal looks like a simple game of soccer on an indoor court, but there is more to it than this. In this episode, I break down the game of futsal and will compare it in some ways to the game of soccer. When you’re done listening to this episode, you’ll have a good idea what futsal is from each of the main perspectives. History of Futsal [Time="00:03:11"]:Learn about the history of futsal – a game that has been around since 1930. The name Futsal is actually a combination of words from the Spanish and Portuguese FUT comes from the word Football as in European Soccer, and Futsal.com says the abbreviation SAL comes from the French or Spanish words Sala or Salon. No matter what we call it, the idea of kicking a ball around indoors = fun. Many moms would agree, however, some changes to the ball go a long way in preventing broken windows.The game of futsal has many similarities to soccer. Both games are played with the feet. No hands. And both games are played in a rectangular playing area with the objective for each team to put the ball in the opponent’s net. However, there are a lot of differences between the two games. Let’s break them down a little bit:Surface [Time=”00:05:42″]:The playing surface that futsal players play on makes a big difference in the speed of the game and in the way players receive and pass the ball. In outdoor soccer, the surfaces come in some form of turf or grass. These natural and even artificial surfaces have a profound effect on the ball movement. When a player is on natural grass fields, for example, normal bumps in the ground can make a ball’s behavior unpredictable. A little bump can bounce a ball in any direction at the last second or two before a player takes a touch. Playing on natural fields demands that players open larger surfaces to the ball in order to be confident that they will make contact and influence the ball’s direction.Grass itself slows a ball down. It creates friction. The peaks and valleys of natural grass fields and the grass slowing effects are minimized on artificial turf fields, but even turf fields offer more resistance than a wooden basketball court. The surface of a wooden basketball court is very consistent, and this changes the way a player takes their touch on the ball. Please: support the show and join our community as a Patron through my Patreon pageUsing the Sole of the Foot [Time=”00:07:17″]:In outdoor soccer, we teach to use the inside of the foot, for example. In futsal, we teach players to use the sole of the foot. Older or more sophisticated players in soccer will sometimes use the sole fo their foot to control the ball from a pass, but this is more of an exception than a rule. In Futsal, using the sole of the foot is more the rule. The sole of the foot, in this environment, provides more control and less bounce.Playing Area [Time=”00:08:02″]:The size of the playing area is much smaller in futsal. A Soccer field is anywhere from 70-80 yards wide and 110-120 yards long. A futsal court in the US, by contrast, is between 16 and 27 Yards Wide by 27 and 45 yards long. Smaller areas mean more pressure on the ball, less running into large open spaces with the ball, more passing, and a lot more short touches / close-in controlled movements with the ball.
