Chip (association football)

A chip, also known as a lob, is a shot in which the ball is kicked from underneath with accuracy but with less than maximum force, to launch it high into the air in order either to pass it over the heads of opponents or to score a goal over the goalkeeper. Chip shots usually have backspin, otherwise they are usually considered a lob.^[1]

In general, the lob requires that the player strike the ball with the front of their foot, using the toe to lift the ball up in the air.^[2] Mostly used to score, it focuses on getting the ball to a certain amount of vertical height, where the goalkeeper can't reach it and then have it come back down again into the goal. It takes a certain amount of technique and precision to do and players such as Carlos Vela, Raúl González, Cristiano Ronaldo, Radamel Falcao, Ronaldinho, Roberto Baggio, Romário, Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero and Lionel Messi have made it trademark moves.^[3][4][5][6]

When a chip shot is used by a player when taking a penalty kick, it is called a panenka, after Czech footballer Antonín Panenka, who famously scored the winning penalty in the shootout of the 1976 UEFA European Championship final in this manner, when he beat West German goalkeeper Sepp Maier to claim the title for the Czechoslovakian national team.^[7] The rabona can also be considered a chip if it has the same arc and backspin that the chip does.

See also

• Volley
• Shooting
• Panenka (penalty kick)

References

1. "Chip shot". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
2. "How to Chip a Soccer Ball". WikiHow. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
3. "The Soccer Shooting Guide". Soccer-training-guide.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
4. Joel del Río (22 February 2017). "The art of the chip: Falcao matches Totti, Messi and Raul". Marca. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
5. Dave Taylor (5 May 2014). "Baggio's month of May". Football Italia. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
6. Gilbert, Dan (22 July 2009). "Calcio Italia 150 issue, Calcio Icons, Del Piero". Channel4.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
7. "The footballers who have moves named after them". The Guardian. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2010.