how do i execute a bicycle kick?

Discussion in 'Soccer Boots' started by sudhan, Jan 30, 2003.

  1. sudhan

    sudhan New Member

    Aug 22, 2002
    how do i execute a bicycle kick?
     
  2. Elninho

    Elninho Member+

    Sacramento Republic FC
    United States
    Oct 30, 2000
    Sacramento, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not sure how to say this very diplomatically, so I'll just be blunt.

    All I've seen you ever ask around here is how to do tricks "like the pros". Thing is, if we knew, then a lot of us would be pros ourselves. My guess, based on the content of your posts, is that you don't quite have even the fundamentals. (That's not an insult; 99% of us here haven't mastered all of our fundamental skills. But then, if we had then we'd be playing professional soccer.)

    I would advise you to hold off on attempting what you're asking us and work on your touch, accuracy, conditioning, etc.
     
  3. sudhan

    sudhan New Member

    Aug 22, 2002
    i know my fundamentals!!! okie?? this forum is to ask for help.. if you don't wish to help there are other people who know.. i want to be a pro..
     
  4. soccerfan11

    soccerfan11 Member

    Jan 23, 2001
    Around Boston
    HAHAHA. OK sure...
     
  5. Dr. Wankler

    Dr. Wankler Member+

    May 2, 2001
    The Electric City
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    When you can put 90% of your volleys - both full and half - on goal, with both feet, from different places inside and outside the penalty area, then you can worry about this.

    Of course, the real answer to your question is: if you have to ask, you'll never know.
     
  6. spejic

    spejic Cautionary example

    Mar 1, 1999
    San Rafael, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    We are not trying to be disrespectful, sudhan. It is just that knowing how to flop on your back is not going to help you be a pro. There are plenty of pros that have never done a bicycle kick.

    Dr. Wankler is right. You have to be totally proficient at all kinds of volleys. When you are, and the ball is in the right place, it will pretty much come naturally to contort your body in such a way as to volley the ball while upside down and in the air. Watch tapes of players to bicycle kicks - they aren't sitting there saying "I hope I get a ball so I can do a bicycle kick" but naturally moving with the ball.

    Such kicks look cool, but they are very inaccurate (you can't see the goal or the goalie, and the natural inclination is to sky it) and not safe. I have seen pros try it and wiff. A coach will be much more impressed if you take the same ball, chest it down, and dump it to an open onrushing player who has full vision of the goal.
     
  7. Ben16

    Ben16 New Member

    Jun 10, 2002
    Georgia
    Now let's see how to do the bicicleta. It is a spectacular shot which needs a lot of practice and caution. It's best to learn how to do it on soft ground, preferably in long grass, on springy turf or on sand etc. at the beginning. The movement must be exceptionally well coordinated and it requires great agility. Firstly fling your legs forwards and upwards which propels your body backwards in the air. Keep one leg higher, thereby giving the other time to be swung up to kick the ball. Then comes the fall which should be broken by your hands, with the fingers well spread out, the forearms and then your back. That sounds easy enough, doesn't it? But seriously, you do need a lot of patience to learn how to do a good bicicleta. Don't give up if you can't do it at first. Keep trying. And don't get depressed if you find you really cannot do it the way you want to. There are many professional footballers who also cannot do it. It certainly took me a long time to learn how to do it. I treated the difficulty as a challenge, without getting discouraged and then, one day, it just came to me.
    ~Pele

    http://www.360soccer.com/pele/pelepl04.html

    Like everyone has already said, it isn't very practical. Why practice this when you could be working on more important skills that you can use all of the time?
     
  8. neilgrossman

    neilgrossman New Member

    May 12, 2000
    Hoboken, NJ
    Although, I don't agree with the personal shots, there is some validity to getting your skills down before you try one. They are hard to do and a very low percentage go right even if you are a pro. Most important, you could injure yourself.

    One day I went to the local High School and they still had the pole-vaulting mat out in the middle of the field, so I was able to practice without risking injury. Unless you get a great set-up like this, be careful.

    The key is getting the first foot up and then bringing the other foot up quickly (like peddling a bike) so that the second foot can kick the ball.
     
  9. nopheer

    nopheer New Member

    May 4, 2002
    Swindon, UK
    An overhead kick is a spare of the moment thing, and isn't as hard as everyone on here is making out! An overhead kick isn't just like the one that Eider Gudjohnson scored a tuesday, it's also like one steve watson did on the same day for everton. Despite that, even Gudjohnsons isn't impossible, all you need to do is to have good instincts and be quite a good athlete (nothing special though) - If you can shoot accurately from a moving ball, then an overhead kick would come naturally.
     
  10. champmanager

    champmanager Member

    Dec 13, 2001
    Alexandria, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Kazakhstan
    I agree with all the others who said it should not be a high priority. I had never tried it before but saw a bunch of kids trying it stupidly, and I (all gung-ho) said "get out of the way" and proceeded to smack one that hit the neighbor's wooden fence with a satisfying thud...but I landed with a similar thud on my kidney, and it hurt like hell.
    I only tried one other time...in a game. I was having a terrible first half playing at forward (for the first time). I ran at the near post...the pass came...I was going to have an easy goal...but at the last a defender came off the line, lunged, and just barely got a toe to it, sending it fluttering over my head. I said what the hell, I'm not doing anything else out here, may as well go for it, and went to a do a bicycle kick, but suddenly my shooting foot hit something other than the ball, and I landed hard on my kidneys. I was down for a good two minutes, and limping and groaning for another three. I was the lucky one though. My foot had gone hard into another defender's balls, and he was down a good five minutes, and was done for the day.

    That said, the way to practice is to lie on your back and toss yourself the ball. That's the basic movement. When the time comes to do it in a game, you'll know what to do. . It really isn't worth practicing at game speed. It hurts like hell.
     
  11. Ictar

    Ictar Member

    Jun 18, 2002
    The Oklahoma Panhandle
    If you really want to practice it, just learn to fall. I learned in Ju-Jitsu a long time ago how to break a fall to where it doesn't hurt and doesn't knock the wind out of you.

    As you land, and make sure you land with your back flat and your head up, facing your knees. Have your arms out at about a 45 degree angle from your body, and slam them on the ground palm down as you hit the ground, and yell, "USH" (oosh)! If you do it right, you won't feel a thing and it won't knock the breath out of you.

    But yeah, concentrate on your touch, passing, and all of that stuff way before you even try this stuff. You'll only have a chance to do a few bicyles in your life, so why practice that unless every other part of your game is superb?
     
  12. sudhan

    sudhan New Member

    Aug 22, 2002
    how to practice doing bicycle kicks in my house?
     
  13. Elninho

    Elninho Member+

    Sacramento Republic FC
    United States
    Oct 30, 2000
    Sacramento, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    See what champmanager said. Or practice outdoors. Practicing bicycle kicks in one's house isn't exactly the safest thing to do...
     
  14. ROM2

    ROM2 New Member

    Apr 27, 2000
    The bicycle kick is a cross between atheletics and gymnastics which means it's 90% courage,10% skill.

    I've seen kids in parks and playgrounds attempting it with success -watch someone do it then be brave... with practice you'll develope the timing, just make sure you're relaxed and your hands touch the ground first before the rest of your body.
     
  15. mackem_ftm

    mackem_ftm New Member

    Jun 8, 2002
    York
    This is very important. I once tried one and landed flat on my back and damn, did it hurt.
     
  16. vakeeper22

    vakeeper22 New Member

    Oct 16, 2002
    VA
    i was fourteen when first attempted to even half way do a bicycle kick. ball came flying at me through the air and i leaned back and smacked it, keeping it flying the same direction. work on falling and kicking before you actually jump and kick.
     

Share This Page