EA SPORTS FIFA 14 | The Art Of Free Kicks | The Boot Room 17/02/2014

Matt Cuttle and Darren Cross talk through tips and tactics relating to every aspect of FIFA 14. This week, Matt and Darren are looking at the art of free kicks.

Free Kicks in FIFA have always been tricky to master and require a lot of practice to perfect. Of all the ways to take free kicks, there are three in particular that, when done correctly, have a high success rate. First is the smashed free kick, a shot that works best from 20-25 yards out (around the D on the penalty area) and requires you to hold LB, aim your shot and then push LS forward whilst you power up the shot. You are aiming for roughly three bars of power so that, if done correctly, the shot will be too strong for the keeper to prevent even if he gets a hand to it. The keeper will leave a big gap behind his wall, so aim for the centre of this space to allow for issues with accuracy. Take a look at the wall before you shoot and assess the size of the players. If there are a lot of tall defenders, then adjust your shot to go over the head of the shortest.

If you find yourself closer to the goal, then another technique is to ignore LB and lower the power to roughly two bars. Even with less power, you should have enough to take it past the keeper due to the short reaction time he will have to get across goal.

If the more direct, attacking techniques fail then you could always go for one with a bit more finesse. Curling free kicks tends to be a lot more accurate and are especially effective from the wider angles. If trying to curl the ball round the right of the wall, for example, pick a right-footed player and aim roughly the width of two players outside of the post. This allows you to keep the ball as far away from the keeper as possible, with one and a half bars of power being more than enough. The more power that is used, the less the ball will curl. Hold LS all the way to the left when powering up the shot for maximum curl. For curling round the left of the wall, the same techniques apply but simply change the directions and foot.

Take plenty of time to practice these techniques in the arena, away from competitive matches where you will only have one opportunity. Join Matt and Darren next time where they will be taking a look at custom tactics on The Boot Room.