Football/Soccer: Hand/arm position in "the wall"

The Game Room
1

So, any time there’s a direct free kick awarded at a distance that could, theoretically, trouble the keeper, anywhere from one to several defenders will line up at the keeper’s direction in a “wall” between the ball and the goal. Back over the World Cup, a friend observed that they lined up with their hands covering their junk, and he’s got a point–shoulder-to-shoulder with hands crossed over the groin is definitely a popular approach. Pretty sure I see hands clasped behind the back often as well.

I surmised that the idea behind both was to avoid giving away a handball–after all, the point of “the wall” is to put a physical obstacle between the kicker and the goal, and while the kicker is probably going to try to clear the wall, making headers most likely, a misplaced kick could easily come at chest level, with no time to get your arms out of the way.

Just lately (and I mean just lately, i.e., in the last few games I’ve seen) I’ve noticed another variant–one arm down to the side, one arm across the chest, hand gripping the opposite shoulder. (I may’ve seen both arms across the chest as well, but I’m not sure; one arm I know I saw just earlier today, in the Leicester-Swansea match.) This seems… reckless, honestly; I don’t really see any advantage it could possibly confer, and it creates a non-negligible risk of a pointless handball.

So: 1) Why do the defenders generally line up with their hands crossed on their groin or behind their backs? I think my theory’s pretty good, but I’m still new to the sport.

  1. Is there any advantage to gripping the opposite shoulder, such that it would outweigh the handball risk? Not only am I not an expert on football, I’m not an expert on how the human body works; for all I know, there might be some weird muscular linkage that means you can jump higher if you’ve got your hand on your shoulder.
2

If your hand and arm are in a “natural” position for how you are standing or moving, and you don’t actively reach for the ball, there’s not normally deemed to be an offence. You’re within your rights to stand in the way of a kick with your hands or arms in a position to protect yourself (groin or similar) and if the ball is blasted straight at you then you’re allowed to stand your ground as long as there’s no movement of hand to ball.

3

This is for the obvious reason.

4

Indeed. Commentators (or announcers for our American friends) tend to refer to this by the distinction between “hand to ball” (hand moves towards the ball) and “ball to hand” (ball played directly to a hand in a natural position).

5

Also, the arm held diagonally across the chest can be raised easily to protect the head when the kick is taken.

A lesson Murdo MacLeod learned the hard way in 1990 (back in the days when Scotland managed to qualify for major tournaments) when he faced a Branco free kick.