Skills of the Game: The Free Kick with Daniel Goulding

The free kick is one of the most basic and yet one of the most important skills in Gaelic football.

Striking a free kick properly requires a combination of technique, natural ball-striking ability, repeated practice and a routine that can be relied on even in the most pressurised situations.

Cork’s Daniel Goulding is probably the finest exponent of the skill in the game at the moment, demonstrating his dead-eye accuracy from placed balls in last year’s All-Ireland final win over Down, a game in which he scored four frees and three ‘45s, as well as in the Rebels’ recent Allianz League win over Kerry when he pointed a 45-metre free to win the game in added time.

Here, Daniel outlines some of the elements involved in executing the skill.

Follow a routine

“The most important thing is to have a routine. I see lads, especially young lads, and they seem to take every free differently. When you are more comfortable with one routine you stick to it and the kick should follow.

“I always walked into the ball rather than ran into it. It gives me a bit more control over it. At the same time, keep your head over the ball. If you look through the last couple of seasons I have probably tweaked small things to improve and to find things that work for me.”

Coping with pressure situations

“It’s the same routine in an All-Ireland final as when I am on the training pitch. Just concentrate on the kick all the time rather than the situation. That’s what you try and replicate. It’s not exact. If you read Jonny Wilkinson’s book, or any of those fellas, this is what they are trying to achieve – put the importance on the kick rather than on the situation.”

Learning from the best

“Larry Tompkins and Colin Corkery were the two fellas I would have looked up to. Larry had a very methodical kick and it seemed to work perfectly. Colin just seemed to stroke the ball and was effortless off both feet, which is amazing really to be able to kick frees off the ground with both feet perfectly.”

Kicking from the hands

“I would kick from the hands sometimes depending on the pitch. I just find that you get a truer kick off the ground and conditions don’t affect it as much when a ball is going at a low trajectory, rising rather than a high one where the wind can catch it.”

Nature or nurture?

“I’d have started kicking frees with my Club and I would have been fine at it, probably one of the better lads in the club. Then when you practice it and replicate it you get better and better. You have to keep practicing. It’s the same with any skill.”

Daniel Goulding outlines the five steps he takes when striking a free

1) Focus on a point behind the goal

2) Take seven steps back

3) Pause and concentrate on the kick

4) Slow down on approaching the ball and strike the ball from a walking rather than running pace

5) Keep your head over the ball