Park the bus
An informal term for a highly defensive approach where a team commits nearly all its players to protecting its own goal.
Definition
To park the bus is to defend with almost the entire team packed in and around the penalty area, leaving little or no attacking threat. The phrase paints a picture of blocking the goal so completely that it is as if a bus were parked in front of it.
Used mostly in football, it describes an extreme, deep defensive posture, often chosen to protect a lead or frustrate a stronger opponent. It overlaps with the low block but carries a more negative, all-out-defence connotation and usually means sacrificing possession and attacking play almost entirely.
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Tactics
- High pressA football tactic where a team hunts the ball high up the pitch to win it back close to the opponent’s goal.
- Offside trapA defensive football tactic where the back line steps up together to leave an attacker offside.
- Man-to-man markingA defensive tactic where each defender is assigned a specific opponent to track and contain.
- Serve and volleyAn attacking tennis tactic where the server follows their serve to the net to finish the point with a volley.
- Counter-attackWinning the ball and moving forward at speed to attack before the opponent can reorganise their defence.
Rules
- Penalty kick awardA one-on-one kick against the goalkeeper awarded when a defending player commits a direct-free-kick foul inside their own penalty area.
- Backcourt violationA basketball rule breach for returning the ball into a team's own defensive half after it has crossed into the attacking half.
- Volleyball rotationThe rule that players rotate one position clockwise each time their team wins back the serve.
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- Term
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- Tier A — evergreen educational
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- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
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