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Sneijder shares his free-kick secrets

April 16th, 2008 | By: Jan | 9 Comments »

Last Tuesday, Wesley Sneijder was at Nike Nederland’s HQ to demonstrate his free-kicks. He also freely shared his secrets:

The Distance
I prefer free-kicks from 20 meters. The ideal distance. With that distance I can purely rely on my technique. If the goal is 25 meters away or more, you need to add force to the mix and you risk losing a bit of control. In pro football, the trick is to force free-kicks around the box. We do that specifically at Real Madrid. We’ll have to, really, since most opponents place 9 players in defense against us. I am the designated free-kick go-to man at Real. That was decided by Schuster when I arrived in Madrid. He saw me kick during training and Schuster told the group: if Wesley decides he wants, he gets it. If not, Guti is the second. I always take them from the left side. If the ball is on the right side and Guti tells me he feels good about it, I will allow him.

The Technique
There is no specific Sneijder-technique. But I do have three principles. The first is, I always use the inside of the foot when the ball is 20 meters away from goal. I kick with a curve and go for the first post. Secondly, when the ball is 25 meters away or more, I use my upper fore-foot and intend for a banana shot. And three, I always use my right foot. I can do it with my left too, but I feel I have a tad more feeling in the right. The banana ball is heavenly to kick. The goalie gets confused. I don’t use the air tube myself. I know Roberto Carlos did that, to give the ball even more swing. I prefer my own way. Cristiano Ronaldo is also a specialist and he uses even another technique than Carlos or myself.

The Mentor
Ronald Koeman perfected my kick. In my first season Ronald said: Wes, aim between the second and third man in the wall. The result was amazing! Nine out of ten went in. And Koeman also told me to cut back on my run to the ball. You only need one step to give the ball speed. The goalie has trouble seeing the ball coming, timing wise. But I didn’t use that ultra-short run too long. I thought it looked a bit arrogant. I now use three or four steps.

The Mental “Thing”
I don’t think there is a psychological game with the goalie. The distance is too big and I am not really into all that. If I’ve put the ball down, I solely concentrate on my kick. You sort of close yourself off from all the hectic around you. I am never stressed or something. It’s not a penalty, in that when you miss no one will criticize you or something.
I found it remarkable how keepers in Spain always protect the far corner of the goal. They leave the first corner to the wall. And why? I think it’s so they can blame others when the ball goes in, you know. A goal in the first corner is always someone else’s fault.

Schuster said it recently to me: it’s virtually impossible to score from a setpiece in the first corner of the goal, but I still try it.

The Future
I think we’ll see more and more goals being scored from set pieces. We train more and more specifically on those and the modern shoes help a lot too. We play with the same ball for the whole season and the Nike’s I wear have an enlarged upper foot pad so I have more control. I can’t see the keepers inventing something to stop it. No more wall? It wouldn’t matter. The pace of the ball and the precision determine whether it will be goal or not.

Tags: Background stories, Bernd Schuster, Group C, Oranje, Ronald Koeman, The Netherlands, Wesley Sneijder

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Comments

By Rob | April 17th, 2008 at 1:10 am

Quality read Jan - thank you. Koeman’s advice was really interesting, especially the run up thing - remind anyone else of a certain Mr Hasselbaink?

Great to hear Schuster is giving Wes the free kicks at Madrid too - there are a lot of pre-madonnas at that club, so it worried me when lads like Sneijder, Robben and especialy Drenthe went there. Schuster’s given them all firm prescedence though, perhaps ocasionally it’s undeserved (I’m thinking of poor Robinho getting dumped on the bench).

I do worry what might happen if Schuster leaves though - I could see another coach not really appreciating Sneijder’s game so much, and I’ve heard some moronic criticisms from Madrid fans of both him and Robben. Anyway - Wes is definitely one of the best set-piece takers I’ve seen (not necessarily AMAZING at scoring from free kicks, but his crossing as well is just superb). Will definitely try those tips out!

Posted from Japan

By Bruce | April 17th, 2008 at 3:19 am

van der Vaart has recently made his intentions to leave Hamburg and has hinted that he would like to go to Chelsea. Noooooooo Rafael…

Posted from Republic Of Korea

By Jan | April 17th, 2008 at 3:28 am

It’s interesting that Wes didn’t mention the position of the left (non-kicking foot) at the moment of impact. Some players place the left foot just in front of the ball, others place it right beside the ball… And the swing through of the leg is also not mentioned… Wes still leaves some secrets…well…secret.

Posted from Australia

By Caleb | April 17th, 2008 at 12:31 pm

“Schuster said it recently to me: it’s virtually impossible to score from a setpiece in the first corner of the goal, but I still try it.”

I’m confused by this. I’m assuming by “first corner” it means the corner closest to where the free kick is being taken from - i.e. the near post corner, but what does Schuster mean that it’s virtually impossible to score from there?? I’ve seen lots of free kicks go in the near corner.. especially when the goalie is covering near the far post..

What’s the “air tube” free kick? And I’m assuming the banana ball is when it’s got a big curve on it?

Posted from Canada

By Igor | April 17th, 2008 at 2:15 pm

yeah i was wondering about the air tube technique as well, never heard of it and the first corner comment doesnt make sense either since sneijder is explaining how keepers in spain protect the far corner, which should therefore leave the first corner more vulnerable.

Posted from Canada

By Igor | April 17th, 2008 at 2:20 pm

Bruce, that would be a nightmare come true…i really like vdv but despise chelsea…plus chelsea is a terrible team for a young player to go to. at hamburg vdv was the main guy, the captain and leader of the team, at chelsea he would be one more star whose potential is buried in the depths of the squad (see ballack, shevchenko, wright-phillips even kalou and to a certain extent essien-i mean why is one the world’s best central midfielders playing right back?). plus raf is too fragile for the premiership, i think.

Posted from Canada

By Rob | April 17th, 2008 at 9:14 pm

Is Van der Vaart considered young these days?! If both Ballack and Lampard are staying at Chelsea this summer (Lampard may well not be), it would be a terrible move on Rafa’s part. The only place he could play is one of the wing positions, probably replacing Malouda, but I don’t think he’s suited to that at all. I Lampard leaves then *maybe* it would be ok for Rafa to go there. I’d like to see him move to one of the big Italian clubs though, I think his technical play would work best there. Still haven’t forgiven Chelsea for ruining Boulahrouz too.

The problem is that there aren’t any top teams that have an attacking midfield space I guess, so wherever he goes Rafa’ll face possibly being benched. A player of his ability needs to be playing at a top European side though, if he stays the big fish in the small pond he won’t acheive all his potential.

Posted from Japan

By Jan | April 17th, 2008 at 11:43 pm

Well said. I fear maybe at Barca they’ll need a replacement for Deco and/or Ronnie…

Posted from Australia

By wall of secrets | Hottags | April 19th, 2008 at 4:57 pm

[...] Sneijder shares his free-kick secretsIn my first season Ronald said: Wes, aim between the second and third man in the wall. The result was amazing! Nine out of ten went in. And Koeman also told me to cut back on my run to the ball. You only need one step to give the ball …Netherlands World Cup Team Blog - http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org [...]

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