Popularized by soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2010s, the knuckleball is a great free-kick technique used by many other soccer players. It involves the soccer ball getting kicked with no spin, which causes the ball to travel in an unpredictable path.
What Is a Knuckleball?
The knuckleball is when the soccer ball travels in the air without any spin, causing it to fly in an unpredictable path. This occurs because the knuckleball has minimal or no spin, so it curves in different directions, compared to other techniques which have curve/spin so they have a definite path.
How To Do a Knuckleball
The knuckleball is a complicated technique, it takes practice to perfect it. The first step is to take 5-6 steps backward and 1 step to the side. The next step is to run up to the ball on your tiptoes. Then after the runup, you need to hit the ball in the center of the ball so it has no spin. If you do it right, it should fly in the air and curl randomly. Don’t worry if you did not get it the first time, it takes practice to get good.
History
Throughout time, the knuckleball was inspired by Edward Cicotte in baseball. From there in soccer, it got more popular being used in the early 2000s by Brazilian soccer players. It got globally famous by players Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale in the 2010s. In the 2006 World Cup, the soccer ball design changed to be more spherical allowing the players to knuckleball more, and was more stable in flight. The knuckleball technique is still popular and used today.
Even though the knuckleball is a complicated technique, it is still used by many. It has been popularized since the 2000s and 2010s. Overall, the knuckleball soccer technique is successful and unpredictable.
Related Stories:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9182928/
https://www.wikihow.com/Knuckle-a-Soccer-Ball
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/809699
https://authoritysoccer.com/how-to-knuckle-a-soccer-ball/
Take Action:
Go to your nearest soccer field and try the technique out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQYBM0p-j6I <—- That video shows you how.
