- Finesse shot: placementInside of the foot. The most common finish in the box.
- Power shot: paceLaces. Faster, but harder to aim.
- Curl: off-centreYou trade speed for spin.
When should you use a finesse shot?
England Football puts it simply: accuracy over power. It’s the finish you see most inside the box.1
When should you use a power shot?
- In a lab study, the laces shot left the foot about 20% faster than the inside-foot shot.2
- In 8,466 kicks, the inside was more accurate than the laces.3
- A laces shot can feel great even when it wasn’t accurate.1 Check the video.
Curl
A finesse shot often curls. Hit the ball off-centre and it spins and curves, but it goes slower.4 England Football teaches curl with the part of the foot between the laces and the inside, striking under and to the side of the ball.1
The knuckleball
- Almost no spinThe ball can wobble one way or the other, depending on its panels.5
- It needs distanceThe wobble takes 10–20 metres to show.6 From the penalty spot there’s barely room.
It’s rare by design, even for pros. None of the shots from our test sessions is a knuckleball. The full technique, the usual mistakes and a drill: How to shoot a knuckleball.
Which shot when
| Situation | Try |
|---|---|
| Close, keeper set | Finesse shot, into a corner |
| Edge of the box, a gap | Power shot, low and hard |
| Keeper or defender in the way | Curl around them |
Drill · our proposal
Same corner, two shots- Call a low cornerFrom the penalty spot.
- 5 finesse shots, 5 power shotsCount each series on its own.
- Step back 5 metresAnd do it again.
What we can and can’t see
- We seeWhere the ball went and how your body moved around the strike.
- We don’t measure yetSpin or speed. A bend in one camera isn’t measured curl.
Try the shooting drills for solo practice, or see how to film your shots.
See your own strike
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- England Football: finishing techniques.
- Nunome et al. 2002: 28.0 against 23.4 m/s.
- Hunter et al. 2018.
- Kellis & Katis 2007.
- Hong & Asai 2014.
- Darbois Texier et al. 2016.