Striking the Ball! (Getting Distance + Lift?)

[floating]

Hey guys,

I've been playing football for about 8 months, and although it's been too cold and snowy outside to practice shooting on goal, I've been practicing some juggling and close-range skills in my room. I've watched countless hours of some incredible football, always paying close attention to the technique of the best. One of my most frustrating problems is the instep drive, which is unfortunately a staple of gameplay.

Whenever I attempt to strike the ball hard with my instep and lift it into the top of the net, it results in either: 1) I strike the ball the knuckles of my toes (which puts a lot of painful strain on my instep), and get very little power or lift 2) I make decent contact with the ball, but it doesn't raise higher than a foot or so off the ground

I've done my reading about how my set-up is supposed to look: chest over the ball, supporting leg close to the ball, pointed at the target, etc. but I just can't seem to get any sort of power or height when I try to strike the ball this way. On vollies, however, I can feel myself making good contact with the ball, and producing a solid shot. But it's with balls from the ground that I have an impossible time with.

I don't feel like I can be a competent footballer until I really develop this important skill. While I'm constantly improving my first touch and ball-handling skills, I can't really see my shot improving, and feel pretty discouraged because I seem to be doing everything right (even though I know I must not be).

When I see professionals strike the ball and send it 30, or even 60 yards, with seemingly no effort, I know I must be doing something wrong. I know it's unreasonable to ask how to be as good as professional footballers, but I just wish to improve this fundamental skill that I know would augment my game tremendously.

Any advice? Helpful videos? Please help me!

Thanks very much,
Trevor B
:)

[servotron]

Hey Trevor, One thing to keep in mind is that the pros are using VERY nice soccer balls that are inflated to much higher pressure than you're probably used to kicking. Not that they are inflated to unreasonable pressures, but the ball DOES make a difference, as does the quality and "spring" of the ball. You can definitely tell the difference between your average "training" ball and a nice, high-end match quality or pro-quality ball when you are kicking it. I can't stress enough that the ball does make a big difference.

Keep in mind that very few shots or long kicks are actually full "instep" kicks. Typically many dead-ball free kicks on goal are taken with the instep (the bending kind) because it's the only reliable way to get bend. You are going the right direction to keep your body over the ball... to learn a good fundamental technique with an instep kick you want to make sure that you "open" your body over the ball... you can't count on your leg/foot to get it all right... you have to have your whole body into it. Most of the power on an instep drive comes from the trunk of your body. There's no way to physically get a ton of power, the kind of power you get on a volley, into an instep drive... your foot just isn't going to make that kind of speed and backtravel. It's all technique.

I also maybe get the idea that you're talking a little bit about just general downfield clearances.... goal kicks, etc.... you should search this particular subforum for some of the several great threads on how to get power into your kick (without it being a volley).

In a nutshell it depends on where the power-area of your foot (the "fist" of your foot.... the "hump") meets the appropriate area of the ball, and the angle and velocity of your kicking foot's approach to the ball. In order to get the "Sweet spot" of your foot to hit the ball (the same one that's yellowish in the pic below) you are going to need to bend your supporting leg's knee in order to swing at an angle that allows you to hit the ball in the appropriate spot with the sweet spot of your foot. I hope I'm not rambling.

Here's a pic I photoshopped of some guy's foot plaster artwork for no other reason than to show you where you should be making contact with the ball for whatever kick you're trying to accomplish.

http://www.flipty.com/images/kickchart.jpg

Here is a picture of a player taking a hard kick. Granted, she is REALLY getting into this, but you can see that in order to get the "sweet spot" of the foot into the sweet spot of the ball she has to come in at an angle in order to maximize foot velocity AND avoid kicking her foot straight into the ground, which is what would probably happen if she tried to do the same thing while standing straight up. This is also why when a player is tired, they tend to kick much higher... because it's less strain on the muscles to lean back into the kick, which causes your leg to get even further under the ball.

http://www.flipty.com/images/kickangle.jpg

Once you've mastered getting the sweet spot of your foot to meet the area of the ball you want to kick (lower on the ball to kick it higher, outside to create bend, etc) you will learn to compact your movement, and along with enormous leg strength like the pros and many experienced players have, coupled with a properly inflated ball, you will be able to make a long kick or hard shot appear effortless.

[coppa]

Great post!

[rca2]

Whenever I attempt to strike the ball hard with my instep and lift it into the top of the net, it results in either: 1) I strike the ball the knuckles of my toes (which puts a lot of painful strain on my instep), and get very little power or lift 2) I make decent contact with the ball, but it doesn't raise higher than a foot or so off the ground

Keeping it down that low is a good thing! To raise it, experiment with the placement of your planted foot. As it varies in distance (closer and farther behind the ball), the angle of your shot will change. To keep the ball low, you get your body over the ball when you strike it. If your body is behind the ball instead of over it, the ball climbs. A few inches makes a difference. While you are practicing, you should also practice bending the ball. After a while it starts to become second nature. You think where you want the ball to go and the body does the rest. I also like to practice using the inside, center and outside of the instep, instead of just the center everytime. And of course practice with both feet.

[KCbus]

Usually when I want to get lift, I just pretend, in my own mind, that I'm shooting on goal. Then it usually goes about 20 feet upward. :)

[floating]

Thanks so very much for your helpful replies! I've already started progressing (from the limited practice space I have in my room)!

Although my set-up has improved, I still find the part of my foot that usually makes contact with the ball is about where my toes meet my foot! And when I strike the ball, I'm accidentally kind of slicing underneath it (from a straight-on angle) to create a lot of backspin, with not much power or height. How can I remedy this?

I still have a couple of questions (please forgive me if you feel you've already answered them):

-If I want the ball to get about 6-10 feet of lift, how far should I be leaning back when I strike the ball (about what angle should my torso be, in relation to the ground? It seems a little uncomfortable and counter-intuitive to be leaning back as I wind up for a kick.

-Judging from the videos I've watched, the striking foot is not perpendicular to the ground (90 degrees vertical), but rather, at a slight angle (maybe 70 or 60 degrees). At about what angle should my foot strike the ball, in order to hit the sweet spot around my laces?

-It seems, when watching the EPL, that at a moments notice (without a distinct wind-up or run-up), a footballer can pretty effortlessly cross the ball 15, 20 yards , and about 10 feet high, over the back line. How far does my run-up need to be do send the ball a decent distance (a good cross, per se)?

-Besides "following through," and landing on my kicking foot, how do I use my upper body to create more force on the ball?

Thanks so much again!

You're helping a whole lot.
Trevor

[servotron]

I can't emphasize enough that the right area of your foot needs to be striking the ball in the right place. If you're still making contact too near to your toes, you are losing most of the power potential of your kick because your foot will flex backward, absorbing the kinetic energy....it's natural and there's nothing you can do about that.. the tendons and muscles probably aren't going to be strong enough to stabilize your foot and withstand that kind of resistance and translate the energy of your foot's movement into the ball.. you have to make proper contact. This might mean that you need to bend the knee of your supporting leg a little more to get lower.

When you are kicking the ball with the proper part of your foot to get loft and power, the ball will make a different noise... you'll be able to hear the difference in the ball, and also you'll feel the difference in your foot. When you make proper contact, your foot should not hurt at all or feel weird in any way.

I read in someone's post in another forum or thread about how your foot is like a ultra-golf club... it's a driver, iron, wedge, and driver, all in one.. and it all depends on which part of the foot makes contact with the ball. That is an excellent analogy.

It's ALL in practice... you are basically learning to kick properly right now and that's something that is going to take time to un-learn how you're doing it now.. something that a lot of long-time soccer players who are good on the ball or understand the game in other aspects still do not know how to do, because when it comes down to it no one ever told them, or they never needed to figure it out for themselves because of other skills that can cover the lack of being able to kick properly. As you practice more and more with proper technique, you will "learn" the position of your foot, your muscles and your brain will memorize the exact locations/positions that your various parts need to be in order to make the proper kick for the occasion. A fraction of an inch on ball strike location and foot impact area makes a big difference in what kind of a kick you're going to accomplish.

As for follow-through, you actually don't need to follow through on power kicks, in fact I would argue that too much followthrough can actually be a negative influence on any kick, unless you're trying to do some serious bending or something along those lines which right now I don't think you'd need to concentrate on.

Watch this video to see what I mean about follow through, as well as the sweet spot of the foot hitting the proper area of the ball.... it's perfect execution

W5XpXU8TBoo

[Bobbyswe]

How old are you? if you don't mind me asking. A very young player is small and also weak and cannot hope to get that kinda lift and distance as the professionals (who are from 18-40 years old and fullgrown) even with the right technique.

But, look up a concrete wall and start practising against it, striking the ball as hard as you can over and over again and it will come to you, sooner or later.

One thing to keep in mind is that the pros are using VERY nice soccer balls that are inflated to much higher pressure than you're probably used to kicking. Not that they are inflated to unreasonable pressures, but the ball DOES make a difference, as does the quality and "spring" of the ball.

Are you saying that they exceed the maximum recommended presure of 10-14 psi ?

[floating]

Bobbyswe, I'm 19 years old.

[Bobbyswe]

Bobbyswe, I'm 19 years old.

Then that is certainly not the problem, but if younger players read this, don't get discouraged if you can't do it like the pros.

I see what you mean though because it's alot of technique behind it and i can get maybe 1/3 of the power with my weak leg as i can with my strong one. I can't get the same swing and power even though i know exactly how to do it.

You have the benefit of using the leg you have most control over and that should make it alot easier! after awhile it will become natural for you.

If you want distance and lift strike the ball slightly to the right side with the outside of your bigtoe (if you are rightfooted) it's a typical crossball. Good luck!

[loochy]

To get lift like you see when keepers take goal kicks and the ball flies and flies, then drops softly down so it can be trapped/headed, you need to strike the ball slightly lower to get backspin on it to lift it. These things are very hard to teach on the internet. Get on a team and ask a coach or experienced player.

BTW you say that you are not getting much power on your kicks - remember that power is not about your leg strength, its about using your whole body to follow through. Use the momentum of your natural body weight. And always, always, ALWAYS keep your foot completely stiff and locked when kicking. Floppy feet = weak, innacurate kicks.