long ball

long ball (plural long balls)

1. (soccer) A kick in which the ball is kicked over the heads of other players into an empty space, into which an attacker is moving.
   • 2011 September 2, “Wales 2-1 Montenegro”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     Welsh nerves continued to jangle as Blake let a long ball bounce over his head and only Wayne Hennessey's swift advance from his line prevented Mirko Vucinic sneaking in.

2. (soccer, usually attributive) A strategy focused on sending the ball upfield directly to the striker, especially one with few other tactical innovations.
   • 2013 October 24, Alex Ferguson, ALEX FERGUSON: My Autobiography: The Sensational Million Copy Number One Bestseller, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     In the first group game, they played long ball against Sweden, who knew the English game, and so were hardly likely to be caught off-guard by direct play.

   • 2018 July 15, Cathleen Small, Soccer, Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP, →ISBN:

     Sometimes, a team will use a long-ball strategy to move the ball. In this strategy, a defender will kick the ball in a long pass, far up the field, to the striker or other forward.

   • 2022 October 27, Paul Hayward, England Football: The Biography: 1872 - 2022, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     Graham Taylor, usually cast as a regressive long-ball manager, understood the error.

3. (baseball) A home run
   • 2007, Gary Gillette, Pete Palmer, The 2007 Espn Baseball Encyclopedia, 4th edition, Sterling Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 1038:

     In the 1970s Seaver knew that batters could connect for a long ball at almost any time, so he had to be able to reach back and strike a hitter out if necessary.

4. (basketball) A three-point shot.
   • 2011, Chris Herren, Bill Reynolds, Basketball Junkie: A Memoir‎^[2], Macmillan, →ISBN:

     He could run a team, tough as nails, shoot the long ball; he had great instincts and feel for the game.

• (direct soccer strategy): route one football, (attributive) route-one