The Hospital Ball
Or how to send a teammate to the hospital.
hospital ball noun [ C ]
US /ˈhɑː.spɪ.t̬əl ˌbɑːl/ UK /ˈhɒs.pɪ.təl ˌbɔːl/
(also hospital pass)
Definition: In soccer, a pass that is weak, not accurate, or to a teammate covered by a defender and has an equal chance of being received by a player from either team, increasing the possibility of the players getting injured.
The Hospital Ball is one that no teammate wants to receive because it puts them on the wrong end of a 40-60 ball. It's the equivalent of leaving a grenade at her feet.
It typically begins when the player on the ball finds herself with a little extra time and space. She sees a teammate, Option A, and considers passing it to her.
Option A is 20 yards away from her nearest opponent, so if that pass is played quickly, everything is fine because Option A will have time on the ball and the chance to do something productive. But of course, that's too darn easy.
Although Option A is a very logical choice, the ball-carrier is swayed by the abundance of time she thinks she has (and assumes her teammates will have also) and decides to peruse her other options.
She evaluates Option B but decides against it. She then considers Option C and realizes that's no good either. Having concluded that Options B and C aren't wise choices and now faced with pressure herself, she decides to finally play the pass to Option A.
The problem is that in the matter of seconds it took the ball-carrier to evaluate her choices and pass the ball, the opponent who was initially 20 yards away from Option A is now only five yards away and bearing down on her like a freight train. When the ball finally arrives at Option A's feet; it is met by a thunderous tackle. Option A get’s blown up -- thus the Hospital Ball.
To recap, had the ball-carrier made the sound choice to immediately pass to her open teammate, her team would still have the ball and her teammate wouldn't be laid out on the ground picking grass out of her teeth. Instead, the ball carrier’s slow play allowed the opponent to close ground and put her teammate in a very compromising position.
This is a prefect example of a player not scanning and knowing where her pass should go before she gets the ball. If you ever see a player receive a pass from a teammate under pressure and then play the ball right back to her covered teammate you have seen a hospital ball.