The evolution of freekick techniques: From power free-kicks to the Mukaiten

Ronaldo’s knuckle ball and Honda’s Mukaiten

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Adidas debuted their Jabulani ball, which was supposed to be the roundest football in production, whatever that means. The ball came in for a lot criticism from goalkeepers and coaches, who believed that the unpredictable and untrue nature of the ball’s flight made it a nightmare to stop it.

But then there are always two arguments to a story. A lot of players did like playing with the Jabulani; Frank Lampard said it was “a very strong ball, true to hit”; Kaka said, “For me, contact with the ball is all-important, and that’s just great with this ball”.

Clint Dempsey had a more positive outlook: “if you just hit it solid, you can get a good knuckle on the ball… you’ve just got to pay a little bit more, you know, attention when you pass the ball sometimes.”

And that gave rise to the knuckle ball technique, something that Cristiano Ronaldo has become very, very good at. The trick is to hit the ball straight on, imparting little or no spin on the ball. The knuckle shot causes the ball to change trajectory mid-air, almost giving it a floating effect, and making it difficult for keepers to judge or predict the ball’s path. Physicists studied Ronaldo’s technique to try to understand it.

The latest innovation in freekicks comes from Japan. Mizuno, a Japanese sports equipment company, recently released their Wave Ignitus range of football boots, which promise to help deliver a perfect Mukaiten kick.

What is Mukaiten?

Mukaiten, a Japanese word, translates to “no spin”, a kick which imparts zero spin on the ball, just like the Knuckle ball kick is supposed to. Using the Wave Ignitus shoes, which have a special strip of leather - the Mukaiten panel – on the sweet spot on the upper instep of the foot, a player can hit the ball to make it behave erratically.

The Mukaiten panel is supposed to reduce spin on the ball and add as much as 10 percent to the speed of the ball.

Mizuno developed the ball in collaboration with Keisuke Honda, the Japanese international. Honda is one of the best exponents of the Mukaiten; Roque Santa Cruz is another.

“Honda was very involved in the development of the new boots and we used him to discover just how the ‘nonspinning ball’ technique that he has perfected works,” Tadashi Matsuda, a spokesman for Mizuno, said.

In the video below, Honda explains why the Mukaiten is his preferred way of hitting a freekick.