Free Kicks - Shooting Over the Wall
Here are 4 tips for shooting free kicks over a wall
Angled run up
Approach the ball from the side, somewhere between 45-90 degrees.
Plant foot pointed away from the target
For a right-footed player, plant with your left foot facing to the right of your target.
For example, if you’re aiming for the left corner, plant with your left toes pointing at or to the right of the right goal post.
Lean away from the ball and slightly back
For the right-footed player, you will want to lean quite a bit to the left when you strike the ball.
Strike the ball with the instep and follow through across body
Follow through should be in the direction you want the ball to go.
If you are right-footed, follow through to the left and slightly up to get top and side spin.
Follow through with the toes in the same direction.
You can land on your plant foot or on the kicking foot.
I would recommend practicing taking and approaching free kicks from different angles. Play around with how hard you want to strike the ball and the direction of your follow through. More speed = more spin, but it can be harder to get the ball up and down in time for shorter free kicks.
References
Ishii H, Sakurai Y, Maruyama T. Effect of soccer shoe upper on ball behaviour in curve kicks. Sci Rep. 2014 Aug 14;4:6067.
Lees A, Asai T, Andersen TB, Nunome H, Sterzing T. The biomechanics of kicking in soccer: a review. J Sports Sci. 2010 Jun;28(8):805-17.
Brophy RH, Backus SI, Pansy BS, Lyman S, Williams RJ. Lower extremity muscle activation and alignment during the soccer instep and side-foot kicks. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2007 May;37(5):260-8.
Alcock AM, Gilleard W, Hunter AB, Baker J, Brown N. Curve and instep kick kinematics in elite female footballers. J Sports Sci. 2012;30(4):387-94.