- 1). Give yourself a running start as you approach the soccer ball. Your running start should not be a sprint, but a trot that puts you in rhythm as you approach the ball. Determine the number of steps you take in your approach by practicing different approaches and going with the approach that is most comfortable for you. You do not want too many steps in your approach--just enough so that it is easy to repeat that motion over and over again.
- 2). Place your nonkicking foot alongside the ball in the final step of your approach, leaving a few inches between that foot and the ball. Point your nonkicking foot, as well as the knee of your nonkicking foot, in the direction you wish to aim the soccer ball.
- 3). Pull your kicking leg backward, rotating from the hip and bending at the knee as far back as they will go without putting extraordinary tension on either joint. The instant your leg has flexed as far back as it will go without strain, kick your leg forward, keeping your knee bent.
- 4). Keep your kicking-leg knee and hips from going past the ball; this will help you maintain balance as you kick. Once your kicking knee is just above the soccer ball, stop all forward motion and extend your leg from the knee, accelerating your foot through the ball, hitting the ball with top of your foot. For aiming purposes, the top part of your foot should be pointing in the direction you want the soccer ball to travel.
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