I remember the first time I heard the word…..1991 a description from Mike Waldvogel on how he envisioned the Yale offense
You hear about probing in basketball, probing a zone, drawing them out etc
As coaches we have heard or used this term…”Guys, let’s probe the defense”
What does Probing even mean?
-Slowing down… you can’t probe at full speed,
-Look through your man… when you’re probing your probing the entire defense
-make the defense stare at you
-ID how they’re sliding, what their doing or saying, what’s open
-In and out draw the defense out, make the slides go away
-Probing is re-dodging
-Sometimes it’s Posting up: In a dangerous part of the field, where you can fake and feed… you might have to sit there for a minute
-Maybe you can draw the Andy Shay Sucker Double
-Probing is controlling players with non verbal communication
-Posture, physicality, fakes
-It’s when you’re operating on the Island
-It’s drawing and dumping
-Probing is hard to slide to, and hard to 2nd slide to
-Probing is much easier and more effective on your Natural Side
-Probing gaps on Zone offense and EMO
-Probing in 2man games
-Engaging two defenders, sitting in the pocket
-Dodging poles and shorts...
Can you probe too much? Yes! A feel for just moving the ball is just as important as probing
Definition of Probing: "Inquiring closely into something, searching..”
-Searching… that’s taking in information, not just blurting out….
-Think about a Probe, think about CSI, sometimes Interrogators ask questions or make statements to deceive… to see how you react
-Probing isn’t just blurting things out
-Probing to me is a form of fluency…. Which is why most players don’t Probe
Why don’t players probe? We can talk about probing and then nobody does it!
I could argue probing is one of the most important skills a player could learn… seriously…..
Is probing difficult?
I think most coaches love players that can “Probe” but then Everybody talks about “Running by someone”
-We practice 1v1’s ad nauseam
Box players probe…. Why?
Basketball players probe
Attackmen probe more than midfielders
How do you teach probing
You can’t!, you can present it, you can explain it, but Probing requires a comfort level with contact and seeing through your man, reading and controlling the defense
You can rep probing in structure,
-you can rep redodges, staircase dodging, 3 step dodging…. All of that is probing
The key is doing it in context, in the context of other defenders and teammates
In this podcast, Jamie talks about the concept of probing - slowing down, looking through your man, identifying how your opponent is sliding, controlling players with non verbal communication, operating on the island, drawing and dumping, and much more. He also discusses why players don't probe and how box players probe. He concludes talking about how you can teach this important concept. Enjoy!
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