Is it correct to say that 90% of freekicks awarded in a game of football/soccer, have the takers kick the ball high rather than low?

1. Why the 90% claim is implausible given what the data actually measure

The most robust numbers in the sources relate to conversion rates and the share of goals that come from direct free-kicks, not to whether attempts are struck “high” or “low”; for example, Premier League analysis finds direct free-kick conversion rates around 6% and that only 0.9% of all goals in a given season came from direct free-kicks — figures that focus on outcomes rather than shot trajectory ^{[1] [2]}. Independent analyses of specialist takers show widely varying shot volumes and conversion rates — averages cited range from about 16% conversion in selected samples to lower percentages across leagues — again offering no basis to infer the split between high and low trajectories ^{[4] [3]}.

2. Tactical trends undermine a blanket “high” preference

Contemporary tactical reporting suggests managers and analysts often advise against attempting a direct shot when the expected return is low; teams increasingly opt for quick restarts, crosses into the box, or set-piece routines rather than outright attempts on goal from distance ^{[2] [3]}. This shift toward variety in set-piece choice implies there is no monolithic preference for any single trajectory — coaches are choosing based on distance, angle and analytics, not a default to “high” strikes ^{[3] [2]}.

3. What the studies do tell us about where free-kick shots tend to be taken from

When studies examine successful direct free-kick goals, they often note spatial regularities: the goals that do occur are frequently from central positions inside about 25 metres of goal, rather than from far wide positions, and refereeing/VAR decisions can change game outcomes tied to set plays ^[5]. But “central and <25m” speaks to location and opportunity, not whether the ball was hit high or low over a wall; trajectory data are absent from the cited analyses ^[5].

4. Memory, spectacle and selection bias produce misleading impressions

Fans and media vividly recall curlers and high-flying “top-corner” free-kicks, which amplify the impression that most free-kicks aim high; this is consistent with the observation that iconic free-kicks stand out precisely because they are rare ^[3]. Conversely, many routine free-kicks are played short, crossed low, or taken quickly — actions that attract less attention — so any eyeball estimate will be heavily biased toward spectacular high shots ^{[3] [1]}.

5. Limits of the available reporting and what would be needed to confirm or refute the 90% figure

None of the supplied sources provide a trajectory-coded dataset or even an attempt/shot breakdown by launch angle or height, so it is impossible from these materials to substantiate a 90% figure ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}. To validate or falsify the claim would require event-level tracking data (Opta/StatsBomb-type) with a field of view that codes ball flight (height over the wall, initial launch angle), or a large annotated video sample across leagues and competitions — data the current snippets do not contain ^{[3] [4]}.

6. Bottom line verdict

It is not correct, based on the provided reporting, to say that 90% of free-kicks are kicked “high” rather than “low”: the sources supply conversion rates, spatial tendencies, and tactical trends but no trajectory percentages, and the available tactical evidence points toward diverse set-piece choices rather than a uniform high-shot preference ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Any confident claim of a 90% split in trajectory is therefore unsupported by the documentation at hand and likely reflects visual or selection bias rather than measured fact ^{[3] [1]}.