I hear all this a lot about not getting freestyles to change direction and I have to say I can't understand it from my experience.

I can make my hair go in any direction.
Even with a flat-back I can brush it forward when its wet, leave it to dry and have a floppy fringe.

The only thing I can think is that I always wet the hair (with water or leave-in conditioner) brush it in the direction I want and let it dry naturally.
I brush it so its flat with my head. A comb won't do this as well as a brush does. You need to brush the roots in the right direction, not just the hair.
At this stage I look a bit like Hitler with it plastered to my head!

When its dry, I can then style it with a bit of product and 'loosen' it up and mess about with it, but it all lays in the direction I want.

Using a hair dryer can 'fix' a direction if the heat is hot (but not too hot) and pointed at the roots.
I used to do this combined with a heat defence spray, but its easier to do it naturally & better for the hair.