Bale's Free-kicks

[sloth]

I've seen a few articles on this this week, but this is the best yet... amazingly it comes from the Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...h-Bales-secret-free-kick-method-revealed.html

(apologies if something similar has already been posted!)

As Gareth Bale curled home another couple of magnificent free-kicks on Thursday evening to give Tottenham a crucial advantage in their Europa League tie with Lyon, there were thousands watching on asking how on earth he did it.

Just how does Bale generate the whip and dip, curve and swerve, power and precision to beat a goalkeeper from so far out?

How can he generate a shot that swerves in both directions, completely bamboozling goalkeepers of even the highest quality?



The answer, it appears, lies not in football - despite the obvious comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo - but baseball.

The technique has been adapted for football over the past century from the unique pitching style of Eddie Cicotte, who played for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox between 1908 and 1920.

Cicotte is credited with inventing the 'Knuckleball' technique in that the ball is held between the knuckles with the intention of avoiding the rotational spin created by throwing a ball normally.

He discovered that if the ball is not rotating, its trajectory is more likely to be affected by the airflow over the undulations of the ball's stitching, making it move in the air.



Applied to football, if Bale can hit his 'sweetspot' of just above the equator of the ball with the area of his big toe, he can produce a shot which reaches its maximum height as it passes over the wall, before dipping sharply.

A David Beckham-esque free-kick, by contrast, uses the instep to produce side spin and therefore dips much later.

That is why Bale's free-kicks find the middle or even the bottom corner of the net, while Beckham's are more likely to be placed in the top corner.

As with Ronaldo, its important to have an upright stance - hence the standing with the puffed-out chest before the run-up - and to plant the standing foot firmly for balance.


So where does the 'knuckling' effect come in?

Well, as we've said, if the ball is struck without spin, it is more susceptible to movement as it flies through the air.
If there are imperfections on the ball, such as specks of mud or grass, then random movement is more likely. Bale would be well served to rub the ball around in the grass as he places it.

Even the seams of the ball's panels can generate a degree of unpredictable movement.

Bale is not the first exponent of 'knuckleball' in the game, of course. Ronaldo has a subtle variation that has wowed fans the world over, while the former Lyon player Juninho Pernambucano did much to perfect the style in the noughties.
Bale's two free-kicks against Lyon and Newcastle last weekend prove that for all the science, practice makes perfect, a fact acknowledged by Bale yesterday.

'I've been practising for ages now,' he said. 'I think if you keep practising, it does come off in a match.
'Everybody knows what Cristiano Ronaldo has done with his free-kicks - the way he hits the ball, the style he does it in - and it's working for him.

'A lot of players are now trying it out and, thankfully, it's started to pay off for me, as I've scored three goals like it this season.

'At the start, the main thing is to get the technique right, so at first it's best to have nothing in front of you.
'As you get better, you start adding the mannequins, and then eventually you bring a keeper in.
'It's more of a progression and it does take a while to master.'

But what about the poor goalkeeper who is tasked with trying to read the flight and stop it.

Brad Friedel has probably faced more Bale free-kicks than anyone else, so is best placed to offer some advice.
He said: 'If you set up your wall up correctly you see it come off the foot. and then you have to react to the first direction that it goes - and the problem is that there's no spin on the ball.

'If there's no spin on the ball and then in mid-flight it goes the opposite way, there's no way to train your eye to deal with that. You just have to try to react the best you can.'

 

[kcmei]

did bale score all of his last 3 freekicks?

 

[Nocando]

So is Brad effectively saying he's helpless?

 

[mark87]

He's scored 3 freekicks like this? Isn't it 4 if you include the Liverpool goal?

 

[cjsimba]

I remember not long ago there was a thread asking 'can you remember the last direct free kick we scored'. I think we had to go back to Bentley's against Wigan (although even that was possibly an own goal). How times have changed. Hopefully the same turn around will happen to our 'Why are our corners so shit!' talk, haha. (ps. Arsenal.....LOL)

 

[Spurger King]

I remember not long ago there was a thread asking 'can you remember the last direct free kick we scored'. I think we had to go back to Bentley's against Wigan (although even that was possibly an own goal). How times have changed. Hopefully the same turn around will happen to our 'Why are our corners so shit!' talk, haha. (ps. Arsenal.....LOL)

I think the last Spurs player to score a direct free-kick before Bale was Pav, in a European game last season.

Can't remember the last time a Spurs player scored more than two free kicks in a season, let alone one game.

 

[kr1978]

Would it not be better if brad kept quiet about how best to try and deal with bales free kicks???

 

[SlickMongoose]

Would it not be better if brad kept quiet about how best to try and deal with bales free kicks???

It's not like he was particularly helpful.

 

[joey.leone]

I think the last Spurs player to score a direct free-kick before Bale was Pav, in a European game last season.

Can't remember the last time a Spurs player scored more than two free kicks in a season, let alone one game.

Kyle Walker last season against Blackburn, I think that was after Pav.

As for Bale, I seem to remember him being a bit of a FK specialist when he burst onto the scene at Southampton, although they were more Beckham style.

 

[EJWTartanSpur]

VDV got one in a pre season friendly start of last season. I was very disappointed with VDV's output. He has been a regular scorer of free kicks all throughout his career, yet when he came here, he seemed to fall under the curse that we apparently had. Even Bale himself came with a bit of rep, but that seemed to die as he struggled to get in the team for a while, and when he did, he had others such as VDV hogging the ball. Great to see that he has been working hard on the training pitch, perfecting new techniques, whilst he bided his time behind Rafa

 

[YiddoBirdy]

He's still no Juninho...

 

[thinktank]

Our players talk to much. This shit should be top secret.

 

[lillywhites61]

He's still no Juninho...

The amount of keepers who don't move or dive is ridiculous, they just aren't gonna get near them!

 

[Yid-ol]

The free kicks can go anywhere, teams are going to be too scared to give away free kicks around the box..... Bale, Lennon, Walker, time to run at there back line and watch them shit themselves!

last 3 free kicks, 2 to the left, 1 to the right, keepers wont know which way it will go.

 

[Limee]

With our record on penalties, better to let them get in the box and then hack them down.

 

[TheGreenLily]

I think the last Spurs player to score a direct free-kick before Bale was Pav, in a European game last season.

Can't remember the last time a Spurs player scored more than two free kicks in a season, let alone one game.

Old Ziggy was a good free kick taker, I remember him scoring plenty of free kicks, but he is the only one I can remember.

 

[TheGreenLily]

He's still no Juninho...

WTF!

That is insane

 

[faze_coys]

Juninho was such a beast. Technique supreme

 

[TottenhamLegend]

He's still no Juninho...

17 seconds in. What the f*ck free kick is that!??!

 

[dn013]

17 seconds in. What the f*ck free kick is that!??!

One of those where the goalkeeper says to his team - "don't worry lads, I got this."