If  you’re one of the few who already understand the offside rule, the next thing to learn is how to stay onside when attacking and how to play somebody offside when you’re defending.

Because the offside rule is wide open to interpretation, it’s important that you stay in an onside position as often as possible. Many players are caught in offside positions because they’re just plain lazy. You can go from being an inactive player to an active player in a split second, but if you’re offside you can cost your team a scoring chance. You must remember that as soon as you’re in an offside position, you’re basically taking yourself out of the play as you can no longer touch the ball until going back to an onside position. This means you won’t be able to pounce on a rebound and place it into a wide open net if you’re too lazy to stay onside.

To stay onside when attacking, make sure there’s always at least one defender (usually the goalie) between you and the opposing goal line, and another defender even with you or in front of you. To do this, you’ll have to make sure to time your runs to the exact second to stay in an onside position when the ball is passed to you.





Many defenders like to use an offside trap when trying to thwart opposing attacks. This means all the defenders run forward at the same time in an even line just before the ball is passed from one of the opponents to the lead attacker, especially in dead ball situations. This will leave the attacker in an offside position. The offside trap can sometimes be a dangerous tactic because if one defender doesn’t move forward quick enough, the attacker will be onside and you will be moving in the wrong direction.

However, a more effective offside trap is to move the defenders forward when the ball is actually moving away from your own goal. The defenders execute the trap by moving towards the ball. This forces the attackers to back up and stay onside. Any attacker who doesn’t back up will be trapped offside and therefore ruled inactive. However, they won’t be able to receive a pass or interfere with the play as they will be ruled offside. These players are effectively out of the play now and you will have better numbers to launch a counter attack. You should ignore any trapped players who are offside and keep going.

Another variation of a trap is often used when an opponent is dribbling the ball towards your goal. If the defenders all stay in an even line with the dribbler, that means he/she won’t be able to pass the ball forward to a team mate.

If you want to beat an offside trap you should be aware of your surroundings at all times and shouldn’t be caught standing still waiting for a pass. It’s a good idea for attackers to keep moving in any direction necessary to stay onside and pounce on a pass while onside and in motion.