Learning to curve the ball is a great way to improve your soccer in both shooting and passing, so you can bend the ball around the opponent and either to your teammate or right into the goal
Technique:
To properly curve a soccer ball, you need to put plenty of spin on the ball. You can do this one of two ways; with an inside curve or an outside curve, both of which we will explain how to accomplish.
Inside Curve:
To understand this correctly, imagine you wanted to kick the ball with your right foot, and curve it to the left. For this, you want to use an inside curve. So start by coming at the ball from an angle (from the left side of the ball while facing the ball). Then, lock your ankle and hit the lower-right part of the ball. But be sure to hit the ball along this low-right region with a low-to-high motion (on the ball) so you can get it to spin forward and to the left. I understand this may be confusing. So for your convenience, we have provided videos in the recourses section below. Or, if you prefer to get person to person help, then we’d be more than happy to assist if you’d email us or ask a question in the comments.
Outside Curve:
To correctly execute an outside curveball, approach the ball either from the right (relative to the ball when facing the ball), or straight on. Then, when you kick the ball (imagining you’re kicking with your right), hit it at the lower left region, swiping your foot across this part of the ball, so that the ball will acquire a forward-right spin. Also, when doing this, rotate and lock your ankle so you will hit the ball slightly more with the top of your foot (when angled in this way, the top of your foot should be essentially where the outside of your foot would be when you are not rotating your ankle) This should result in a better curve.
Keep working at it:
You most likely won’t immediately master the technique. So I recommend that if you’re able to, then take time to regularly to go out to your local soccer field (or anywhere that they have full-sized soccer goals) and practice. If you stick with it, you should certainly see improvement over time.
Resources:
Videos:
Inside Curve:
(1) How to CURVE a BALL | Take AMAZING Free kicks! – YouTube
Outside Curve:
(1) Learn Roberto Carlos Free kick – Outside Foot Curl Curve – Day 46 of 90 – YouTube
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