The trivela is a shot struck with the outside of your instep so the ball bends the opposite way to an inside-foot curler: for a right-footer, away to the right. The word is Portuguese, and the shot is closely associated with Portugal's Ricardo Quaresma, who scored one against Iran at the 2018 World Cup. Because you don't have to open your body, it's quick to play and hard to read, but it carries less pace than a laces shot, so it's a finishing option, not a replacement for your instep drive.
Set up
Use a short run-up, as for your laces shot, and keep your eyes on the ball with your head steady.
Calm head, short run.
Plant your standing foot beside the ball, about 8 in (20 cm) to the side, a little wider than the 6 in for a laces shot, with its toes pointing at your target and its knee slightly bent.
Plant a bit wider than usual.
Lean forward a little at the waist. Hold the arm opposite your kicking leg out from your body and keep the kicking-side arm nearer your side.
Opposite arm out.
Strike
Swing back with the heel of your kicking foot rising toward your backside.
Heel up behind you.
On the downswing, turn your hip and knee in so your toes point down and your little toe angles toward the ground. Lock your ankle.
Little toe down, ankle locked.
Strike with the outside of your instep, just outside the laces toward the toes, not the side of the boot. Hit the half of the ball nearer your standing foot, not the middle. That off-centre contact is what puts the spin on it.
Outer laces, inner half of the ball.
Choose the height with your contact: through the middle of the ball for a low or medium shot. Contact below the middle makes it rise.
Middle height keeps it down.
Follow through with your toes still pointing down, bringing your kicking leg across your midline and slightly upward. Your opposite arm comes across your chest.
Toes down, leg across.
Keep your head down and steady through contact and the follow-through, then look up to see the bend.
Head still, then look.
Feel it
Your hip and knee turn in and the foot rolls so your little toe points at the grass. The ball comes off the outer laces with a firm contact, not a flick, and spins as it leaves. Expect it to feel a little less powerful than a laces shot. That's normal for this surface, so aim for placement and bend, not maximum pace.
Fix-its
- No bend: the ball flies straight You struck through the centre. Hitting the middle gives pace with little spin. Move your contact to the half of the ball nearer your standing foot, keeping the outer laces on it.
- Weak, floppy contact Turn the foot in from the hip and knee, little toe down, and lock the ankle before contact. Keep the toes down through the follow-through. It's a firm strike, not an ankle flick.
- Foot jams into the ground or you lose balance Check your plant. Too close and the kicking foot catches the ground; too far and the swing gets awkward and you tip over. Start about 8 in (20 cm) beside the ball, toes at the target, knee soft.
- Ball balloons over the bar Lean forward a little at the waist and strike through the middle height of the ball. Contact below the middle makes it rise.
- Chasing power and losing the contact This surface gives less pace than your laces, so blasting it costs you the contact. Get the bend and accuracy first, then add pace gradually. Bending shots on goal do need some power to beat the keeper.
Drill
- Warm up first. Stationary ball, partner about 15 yards away: pass with the outside of your instep, ankle locked, little toe down. Check the contact point on your boot after each one. Use both feet.
- Same distance, now bend it: place a cone halfway, just off the straight line, and curve the pass around it to your partner. Start with a gentle arc before trying a sharper bend.
- Shoot from a stationary ball at the edge of the box, aiming to bend it inside the post. Accuracy first, then pace.
- Shoot from a ball rolled across you or from a dribble, so you have to set your plant on the move.
- Use it in small-sided games against defenders, where the quick, closed-body strike is useful. Stop if your foot or ankle hurts.
Sources
- US Youth Soccer Coaching Education Dept (Sam Snow) — Skills School Manual: Bending (swerve) pass with the outside of the foot; Bending (swerving) shots; Ball action (2017)
- Katis & Kellis — Three-dimensional kinematics and ground reaction forces during the instep and outstep soccer kicks in pubertal players, J Sports Sci (2010)
- Goff — Power and spin in the beautiful game, Physics Today (2010)
- England Football Learning — How to coach players on passing in football (2022)
- John C. Harves, Coaching American Soccer — Intermediate passing: the outside of the foot pass
- Brian Homewood, Reuters via Euronews — Nobody masters the art of the trivela like Quaresma (2018)
Last checked 2026-10-30.