Soccer Shooting Drills

Shooting is an important skill a soccer player needs to have in his arsenal and more so if you're playing in a forward position. After all, it's one of those shots on goal which is going to reach the back of the net, past the goalkeeper and win the points for your team.

Shooting Drills for Kids and Teens

Some people are generally better at shooting at the goal than others. There are some who have the natural gift of awareness where the goal is and can take that breathtaking shot without even giving a first look (let alone a second look) at where the goal or indeed the rest of the world is. But for others, we're relegated to hours of shooting so that we may, like them, be able to one day dazzle the crowds too!

Shot on Goal
This is the simplest, most laughably basic drills for kids who've just started playing the game. Make the kid stand behind a dead ball (non-moving ball) on various parts of the pitch and make him try to shoot the ball into the goal. If you can't whack a dead ball into the net, there's no point going ahead. So this is the first drill. For a slightly advanced version of this drill, station a goalkeeper on the goal and make the kid take a shot. This improves the vision and understanding of the young player and teaches him where to shoot, how to shoot and how to exploit the weaker side of the goalkeeper.

Second Touch Shot
The second soccer shooting finishing drill is to stop a moving ball and take a shot. In a game, a player will come across this situation a lot, where he has to stop the ball and then take a shot. Station a goalkeeper on the goal again. Pass the ball to the striker from behind him, make him stop the ball, and shoot it on goal. The first touch is an important part of this soccer shooting drill. The player has to stop the ball and get the ball in his control before taking the shot.

First Touch Shot
Many actual soccer situations will not give you the time and space to actually stop the ball and shoot. Stopping the ball can be time-consuming and a more alert defender/goalkeeper can take the ball away from you So one of the very important individual drills is one which will teach the player to take the shot on the goal, without actually stopping the ball. This one can be really tricky as the player needs to judge the motion and angle of the ball, measure up his shot and then shoot. All in a fraction of a second! The coach can complicate this soccer attacking drill by passing the ball into unusual angle instead of straight on goal.

1 vs 2 Shooting Drills
This soccer shooting drill is a slightly tougher one for your young attacker, but is again plucked straight out of a match-day situation. Here the coach lines up a goalkeeper as well as a defender on the goal and passes the ball to the young attacker. The attacker has to go past the defender, by dribbling the ball, wrong footing (pretending to shoot with one leg while actually shooting with the other), 'nutmegging' (putting the ball through the legs of the defender and then going around him) or, if the attacker deems fit, taking a direct shot on goal if the ball is likely to clear the defender and the goalkeeper without much worry. This is the one which also helps improve decision-making and unpredictability factor of a player.

The Weaker Foot
Quite simply speaking, a player today cannot afford to be just right or left footed. A player needs to be able to shoot with both his feet. So design a soccer drill where the player can also improve shooting with his weaker foot. Being able to shoot with the weaker foot adds an extra dimension to a player's game and helps him become even more unpredictable.

A very important part of a soccer shooting drill is that the player learns how to shoot and not be afraid and panic at the sight of an oncoming goalkeeper. Just keep your head down and shoot around the goalkeeper.