When most soccer players prepare for a throw-in, they start with one foot in front of another and get off to a running start to throw the ball with momentum. They drag their feet after the throw to keep them from lifting off the ground.
ASU junior forward/defender Alyssa Freeman has a slightly different approach.
Freeman still runs towards the out-of-bounds mark with the ball in hand, but that is where the similarities with her and other soccer players end. While running, Freeman performs a front handspring, and at the halfway point she ball presses against the ground. Then her feet plant and she flings the ball.
This technique actually has an advantage to it other than looking flashy on YouTube or impressing the fans. When done correctly, the ball can travel farther with the flip-throw-in than the orthodox technique.
This “flip throw-in” is a rarity at the collegiate level. ASU head coach Kevin Boyd said there might be a player that can do the move per eight to 10 teams. Freeman said the estimation Boyd provided was fairly accurate.
Freeman’s position versatility has allowed her to throw the ball in on either side of the field, but Freeman hasn’t just been versatile; she has been switching positions on the field more times than anybody but herself can keep track of.
“I was a forward coming in as a freshman and then I went back to outside back (defense) and then I went back to forward, and then center back, now I’m back at forward,” Freeman said with a chuckle.
She picked up the move by simply watching other soccer players do it.
“I’ve seen other people do it before, but I just tried it one day at practice when I was 13 or something,” Freeman said.
Freeman also said her gymnastics background allowed her to pull off the move on the very first try. She wasn’t in gymnastics for that long of a time, but the skills learned while a gymnast stuck with her. Freeman didn’t even practice it on a mat or another soft surface; she went right for the field.
“I actually did it like the first time. It’s really not that hard, people just get scared like at first to try it.”
Freeman is not one of the 11 ASU starters, so getting a chance to see the wild-throw in is a rare site.
But against Pacific on Sunday, ASU was tied 0-0 with four minutes to go in the game. Then, Boyd made a substitution change, putting Freeman into the ball game to throw the ball in.
“I wasn’t going to throw it in at first, but then we subbed,” Freeman said. “I went out there and I actually kind of had a feeling like ‘I really hope we can score on this.’”
The increased distance on the flip throw allowed Freeman to deliver the ball all the way into the far side of the penalty box.
ASU Freshman forward/midfielder Sarah Van Horn headed Freeman’s throw-in, and freshman forward Alexandra Doller recovered the ball. Doller then drove the ball into the far side of the net to give ASU a 1-0 lead.
“I did (the throw-in) and we got the goal,” Freeman said.
The Sun Devils held on to the lead and won the game. In the process, they also snapped a 293-minute scoring drought.
It all started with a throw.
Reach the reporter at Justin.Janssen@asu.edu
