Short FootballLanguage Podcast: Half Volley & Daisy Cutter

Half Volley

OK, let’s start with a half volley. This is used mostly as a noun, a half volley, so you won’t often hear ‘the player half volleyed it‘. A volley is when a player hits the ball in the air before it bounces, but a  half-volley is  seen as a more difficult, skill as the player hits the ball just after the ball hits the ground, meaning it is more difficult to have control over what you do with it. If a player gets a half-volley wrong he or she can sky the ball, that is hit the ball too high. If, however, the player gets the half-volley right, then it is not only difficult to stop the shot, as it is hit with power, but it is also seen as something technically pleasing on the eye. Example: ‘Eriksen smashed home a half-volley to give Denmark an early lead’ (BeSoccer, June 21st 2018).

Daisy Cutter

The other phrase which describes a shot is  daisy cutter, and it is not heard as often in the modern game as it used to be, but is a great way to describe a low hard shot that skims the surface of the pitch. Now, a daisy is a flower that often grows on patches of grass. Its flower rises just above the top of cut grass. So, if you say a shot was a daisy cutter, you are describing a shot that skims the ground on its way to the goal. If there were daisiesin the grass, it would cut their heads off. It doesn’t dip; it doesn’t loop or swerve; it goes straight and hard just touching the ground all the way. Example: Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla scores pinpoint daisy cutter for Spain v Haiti (Headline)

What’s your favorite kind of shot? A daisy cutter or a half volley?

Thanks for listening. Ta-ra