James Ward-Prowse has caught the eye for both club and country this season with his dead ball deliveries and free-kick shooting.
The Southampton midfielder has quickly become the set-piece specialist for England Under-21s, showing his shooting ability with a goal against Lithuania last month before providing the cross for Michael Keane’s opening goal against Finland last week.
And with similar success for Southampton this season, the 19-year-old was happy to show us exactly how he approaches his art.
On the training pitches of St. George’s Park, Ward-Prowse gave a few handy hints for any budding Beckhams out there on how to get the best from set-pieces.
He told TheFA.com: "It's important that the more you practice, you find the right technique for you.
Some of the England Under-21s practice their free-kicks after training.
"If you look at the best free-kick takers and people like Jonny Wilkinson, they've all got a sustained technique and a way of striking the ball.”
Ward-Prowse is currently preparing for Tuesday’s game with San Marino at Shrewsbury, but is keen to keep up his practice in the meantime which he did alongside some of his squad-mates on Sunday.
And that’s one of his key pieces of advice for anyone aspiring to reach a high level with their free-kicks – practice makes perfect.
"I practice two times a week, after training,” he added.
"During my practice I wanted to find the right technique for me and I found it with the way that when I strike the ball I skip and jump and that helps get it over.”
Watch the full free-kick feature with James in the video player below or through the icon to the right of your screen.
