Soccer Tip
4 Ways to Improve your Free Kicks
Free kicks are a crucial part of soccer and players that can successfully take free kicks are vital to their team. Scoring a free kick requires skill but most of all requires the ability to handle pressure. Use these tips to help improve your free kicks and help your team win this season!
1) Pick your spot and visualize. After you place the ball on the ground, look at the goal and pick the exact spot where you are going to shoot. Most often, the best spot is the top corner of the goal behind the wall. Look at that spot and visualize yourself shooting and seeing the ball go right into that spot. Take a deep breath and take the free kick exactly as you just visualized it.
2) Find the balance between placement and power. Accuracy is always the most important part of a free kick as you want to force the goalkeeper to make a save but understand that as you get further away from goal you will need to add more power. Get your head over the ball and concentrate on hitting the center of the ball to get a clean strike. Don't lean back too far when striking the ball. Make sure to hit the center of the ball and keep your knee over the ball.
3) Look for the quick free kick. If it's open, and the other team isn't ready, a quick free kick can catch the opposing team off guard. For instance, look for a pass down the line to a player who can square the ball back to an attacker. Sometimes a team will set up a wall and forget to mark a player out on the wing!
4) Practice, practice, practice. Free kicks are a very specific technique and you must train them often to keep improving. Try and practice with a wall that you can shoot over and a goalkeeper to make your training as game-like as possible. The wall could be your teammates or any tall object. Try and create a routine that you use for every time you take a free kick: place the ball, step back, visualize scoring, take a breath and shoot!
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