The beauty of football as a sport is that we can all play it at some level. Whether it be having a kickabout with mates on the street or playing it competitively at a decent level, it is a sport that is open to virtually everyone. When it comes to playing at the top of the game, however, it is worth bearing in mind that the players that make it are significantly better than basically anyone you’ve ever played with. Even so, the skills and tricks of the sport are open to everyone for them to try and perform, which is why it is always best to at least attempt to pull one of them off during your life.
What is It?
When it comes to the bicycle kick, the skill is arguably one of the ones that virtually everyone will have seen performed at one point or another. It is a special skill, requiring not only some incredible timing but also remarkable flexibility and dexterity from the person looking to make it work. It is the most acrobatic skill that you can try to perform on a football pitch, which also makes it one of the hardest to pull off. It is a strike that sees the player connect with the ball in midair, which is something that is normally limited to headers but is instead performed with one of the feet.
In order to complete the skill, you need to throw your body backwards and up into the air, propelling your legs so as to carry your body over. The legs will then come up and one of them will, hopefully, connect with the ball and send it in another direction. Whilst it is obviously a skill that looks brilliant, the main advantage of it is that it allows the body to be repositioned so as to make the most of what might otherwise be a bad cross. As you can imagine, the skill was named after the fact that the legs appear to be making the same motion that they would do when riding a bike.
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The skill was actually originally developed by Peruvian and Chilean workers in the 19th century, playing football in the seaports of the Pacific, meaning that it has a long and illustrious history within the sport. It is fair to say that the skill not only requires excellent timing and immense skill, it also needs you to practice it again and again to get it right whilst avoiding suffering an injury. Of course, if you do indeed manage to pull it off, then you will look incredibly cool whilst also helping your team out, either thanks to an audacious pass into space or else an excellent goal.