Raise hand corner kicks: What does it mean when soccer players raise their hand or arms when they’re taking a corner kick? Some soccer / football players raise their hand just before they take a corner kick. Why? It’s not like it’s in the rules of soccer that you have to raise your hand when taking a corner…in the photo at the top, Neymar raises both his arms before he takes a corner kick for Paris Saint-Germain.
Credit for image above of raise hand corner kick goes to OhMyGoal.
Why do football players raise their hands when they take corners? And why do they raise their hands for free kicks? You asked us this in the comments so discover the answer in this brand new video! Raise hand corner kicks, what do you think?
Is it to signal to their teammates that they’re going to strike the soccer ball and to start their runs to the near or far post or to break away from their defender…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? Can’t they time their runs off of that rather than needing you to raise your hand on a corner kick?
And your own teammates and players should know what type of run up you take before striking the ball on a corner kick. Does it help soccer players making their runs or jockeying for positions if you raise your hand? I don’t really think so. But, on a corner, with everyone jumbled together in the box, it might be hard to actually see the corner kick taker, so raising the arm might be helpful for teammates to time their runs…
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 corner 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…
Why do footballers players raise their hands before a corner?
Although, again, when there’s so much going on in the goal box, making it hard to see, sometimes a hand signal is useful. Still though, doesn’t it help the goalkeeper too, who now knows when the ball is about to come into the box…
David Beckham, perhaps the best corner kick taker in the game, doesn’t raise his hand before he kicks the ball. Beckham just starts the kicking motion and the players make their runs to the ball. Nice and simple. No need to raise arm on corner kicks for Beckham it seems although he might do it in certain situations.
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 for this corner kick where he’s trying to score directly.
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Watch Beckham take this corner for England – no hand up on this corner either. However, he could have said something to teammates before he walked over or the play was most certainly setup prior to the game – saying this is what we are doing on corners in general. In the modern game of soccer, that seems like the protocol – set the play before the game and practice it over and over.
Watch Beckham take this corner when he played for Real Madrid, again, didn’t see him raise his arm/hand before he strikes the ball:
To me, the raising of the hand is a waste of time. What do you think? When you’re taking a corner kick do you raise your arm up? Again, I’d say raising the hand alerts the other team more than it helps your team see you’re going to strike the ball. Yet raise hand corner kicks is the standard set it seems for most coaches, players and teams overall.
Lately, what’s funny or interesting is seeing Leeds players Brenden Aaronson and Jack Harrison taking corners and talking for an inordinate amount of time about where or what they’re going to do on said corner kick. I’ve never seen two players stand by the corner and talk for so long before taking the corner. What are they discussing for so long?