Manset

[Hoop Blah]

It still baffles me why someone whose job is to kick a ball around wouldn't work tirelessly to ensure they are as able with either foot.

If it was that easy to perfect it wouldn't we all be footballers instead of fans?

[LoyalRoyal22]

Doyle and McAnuff both take set pieces with their right feet. Kitson took penalties with either foot, so he's about as two footed as you can get. Kébé takes set pieces with neither foot

Poor Comment Pal. Kitson has literally never taken a peno for Reading right footed.

[Big Foot]

Doyle and McAnuff both take set pieces with their right feet. Kitson took penalties with either foot, so he's about as two footed as you can get. Kébé takes set pieces with neither foot

Poor Comment Pal. Kitson has literally never taken a peno for Reading right footed.

Putting myself up here to be shot at but I'm sure he scored a hat-trick vs Gillingham one year with 2 penalties in there - 1 of them (if not both) was right footed

[Ark Royal]

JImmy Quinn is the best two-footed player I have seen in the hoops.

[prostak]

It still baffles me why someone whose job is to kick a ball around wouldn't work tirelessly to ensure they are as able with either foot.

If it was that easy to perfect it wouldn't we all be footballers instead of fans?

If all it took were to be 'as able with either foot', then yes. I think you've got to be quite good at it though.

[Tails]

I accept the sentiment of the post but consider other sports, should it also be an expectation to be as good with the left hand as much as the right?

[Z175]

I accept the sentiment of the post but consider other sports, should it also be an expectation to be as good with the left hand as much as the right?

I think in "sports" where you take turns its obviously not necessary to lose the weaker limb eg. golf, darts, chess, snooker
Certain active sports where you are suddenly on your weaker limb you can cover for a lack of "ambidexterity" by using the reverse of your stronger foot - eg. outside of your right foot in football or rugby, backhand in tennis,

But if you look at rugby it would be absurd if players were only able to pass in one direction. Sometimes you see absurd chances missed in football because instinct has made a player turn a left footed tap in into a right footed half chance, or vice versa.

If you are good enough with one foot - e.g. Davor Suker who used the outside of his left boot constantly in favour of his right, or jonny wilkinson who can curl them in with his left from the left hand side of the pitch, then that is fine. But if you're not of that calibre, "two good feet" is surely key to performing above your level. Ian Harte would be a good example of this - great left foot, not bad with his right. I suspect it requires years of training though.

In conclusion, yes you would expect players to be better than they are with their weaker foot, but i suspect in the hint of the moment its all about instinct and which side of the brain is quicker. Thus while players may well be able to use both feet in training or for penalties, when it comes to them on the pitch they may well mess it up.

[Tails]

In short, people should stop moaning about 'modern' players regarding their lack of ambidexterity!

[SpaceCruiser]

HA!

I note that he's played for the Ivory Coast, therefore he isn't 100% French.

[Ian Royal]

HA!

I note that he's played for the Ivory Coast, therefore he isn't 100% French.

your obsession with the french is actually quite disturbing.

[papereyes]

HA!

I note that he's played for the Ivory Coast, therefore he isn't 100% French.

LOL!

by that, I mean the exact opposite of LOL.

[roadrunner]

HA!

I note that he's played for the Ivory Coast, therefore he isn't 100% French.

Just as you're 100% English, of course..

[Wycombe Royal]

HA!

I note that he's played for the Ivory Coast, therefore he isn't 100% French.

I could play for Ireland or Italy but I am 100% English (obviously I'm not good enough to do that and this is purely hypothetical)

[PistolPete]

I accept the sentiment of the post but consider other sports, should it also be an expectation to be as good with the left hand as much as the right?

I think in "sports" where you take turns its obviously not necessary to lose the weaker limb eg. golf, darts, chess, snooker
Certain active sports where you are suddenly on your weaker limb you can cover for a lack of "ambidexterity" by using the reverse of your stronger foot - eg. outside of your right foot in football or rugby, backhand in tennis,

But if you look at rugby it would be absurd if players were only able to pass in one direction. Sometimes you see absurd chances missed in football because instinct has made a player turn a left footed tap in into a right footed half chance, or vice versa.

If you are good enough with one foot - e.g. Davor Suker who used the outside of his left boot constantly in favour of his right, or jonny wilkinson who can curl them in with his left from the left hand side of the pitch, then that is fine. But if you're not of that calibre, "two good feet" is surely key to performing above your level. Ian Harte would be a good example of this - great left foot, not bad with his right. I suspect it requires years of training though.

In conclusion, yes you would expect players to be better than they are with their weaker foot, but i suspect in the hint of the moment its all about instinct and which side of the brain is quicker. Thus while players may well be able to use both feet in training or for penalties, when it comes to them on the pitch they may well mess it up.

It's crucial that in a players development that time is split between each feet. The problem is that, like tennis, if you spend time practicing your forehand you are not developing your backhand and vice versa.

What I am saying here is that if Giggs, for example, spent time practicing using his right foot, his left foot would probably not be as good. As anyone who has read Matthwe Syed's excellent 'Bounce' will know, at least 10,000 hours purposeful practice is needed to become expert in something and most British players (who don't practice as much as say South Americans) need to become 'expert' with one foot rather than none...

[Hoop Blah]

Personally I think that last post puts far too much weight on the ability to nuture and develop a talent/skill that isn't necessarily there. It takes a big chunk of nature and inherant talent to play the game at a reasonable standard.

I'm not saying practise doesn't improve a players ability, or that they shouldn't work hard on their weaker foot, but in many cases the ability to use that weaker foot just isn't there.

The most one-footed professional I've ever seen is Seb Veron, but nobody would ever say that it's because as a South American, and a very technical player at that, he didn't work on his weaker foot for enough hours would they?

[PistolPete]

I would.

I would with total conviction.

Just because he's south american it doesn't mean that he will learn to play with both feet. Have a read of 'The Talent Code' by Daniel Coyle, 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell or 'Bounce' by Matthew Syed and I'm pretty certain you'll be convinced. I'm a tennis coach who based most of my thinking on the importance of talent - how wrong I was!!

Check this webpage for an overview - http://thetalentcode.com/book/

Anyway - we've got off topic, yes, it seems Manset is left footed

[Hoop Blah]

I meant more you wouldn't through him in as a generalisation of South American attitudes. He might not've practised hard enough of course but I just think two-footedness is more a nature than nurture.

There are other elements to the game you can certainly improve or learn through training and the rigth coaching, but the ability to use one foot or two is a bit more natural.

As a tennis coach do you really believe that you can get players to be ambidextrous to their highest capable level through coaching? Improve it yes, make a player two-footed or two-handed, I'm far from convinced.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Yep - everyone has a dominant foot, and someone determined enough will put in the hours hour and hours of practice to improve their weaker leg.

I forget who it was, but someone in the 60s/70s famously put so much practice in that they turned their weaker foot into the dominant one.

[PistolPete]

I meant more you wouldn't through him in as a generalisation of South American attitudes. He might not've practised hard enough of course but I just think two-footedness is more a nature than nurture.

There are other elements to the game you can certainly improve or learn through training and the rigth coaching, but the ability to use one foot or two is a bit more natural.

As a tennis coach do you really believe that you can get players to be ambidextrous to their highest capable level through coaching? Improve it yes, make a player two-footed or two-handed, I'm far from convinced.

I think we agree that skills are predominantly learnt rather than talent/nature dependent, but we disagree that being right footed/handed is inherent. Basically, Veron could have practiced his left weaker foot so that he was strong with both, the thing is, he wouldn't be the player he is/was as his dominant foot would have been less effective than it currently is! On the other hand, his brain is one of his major strengths and you could argue that its the brain that needs to be good in football and the foot/leg just 'good enough'

Could I make a tennis player ambidextrous? Yes - and I have done many times. However, could I take a player to the very top using, for example, left handed and right handed serves and volleys? No - the reason being that the sport is so competitive that it takes every possible hour of PURPOSEFUL practice to make their strong arm good enough; any time spent on their weaker hand is time taken away from being their best with their strong hand.

To bring this back to Manset - if he, aged 5 onwards, had spent equal time kicking the ball with his right foot as his left foot, I have NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER that he would be equally strong on both feet. Would he be good enough to play for Reading? No, I doubt it, I think he would be less good with his left foot and consequently not good enough to play at this level. It's a simple trade off in my opinion.

Footballers in the UK Should spend more time using both feet imo, but should not become obsessed with it. To use a tennis summary, Federer is the player he is because he has a devastating forehand - had he spent more time on his backhand I don't suppose he would be quite as good as he is. By now, age 29, he has probably surpassed 20,000 hours of practice which means that his backhand could be as good as his forehand, bearing in mind 10,000hrs is the time necessary to become 'expert' in a discipline.

[Bacon Double Cheese]

I forget who it was, but someone in the 60s/70s famously put so much practice in that they turned their weaker foot into the dominant one.

Was it "lefty" Wright?