20 · FREE-KICK TECHNIQUE

Best football tricks

FREE-KICK TECHNIQUE

Free-kick technique

The free-kick technique shown is an established football standard. A player who masters it can make a free kick from near the penalty area almost as dangerous as a penalty. Strike the ball with the inside of the foot below its centre of gravity. It then follows a curved trajectory. Make contact as though you wanted to slice a piece off the ball.

This changes the natural flight: the ball spins through the air and drops earlier. To understand its curve better, observe a tennis player striking with topspin. Before shooting, remember to visualise the shot, following the example of Jack Nicklaus, described here as the greatest golfer of all time. In Motivation and Motivation + you can read: I have never hit a shot, even in practice, without first clearly imagining it.