You’ve probably heard it a hundred times that in coaching soccer drills, all tactics, skills, and teamwork taught to the players ultimately lead to a shot on the goal. It is both a matter of skill and intuition to cultivate the art of shooting. But there is something more that is equally important and that is a persuasive attitude.
Every player should take care of this but it is more upon forward players to shoot the ball. When teaching soccer, shooting should be at the top of your list.
So many things may come out of a shoot. Shots can be positioned towards a goal. The goalkeeper might drop the ball exactly at the feet of your forward player. Unruly shots can turn into brilliant passes. Ground shots may bounce back. You might even score a goal directly from the shot.
When in soccer practice, attacking players are always looking for a chance to shoot the ball right into the goal. They are trained in a way that they think of nothing else but scoring goals. These attacking players are known as sniffers in England. This is due to the fact that they are always on the lookout for scoring chances.
They take every chance for a shot as if it is the last chance that they’ll ever get. You will see that they are always available when the situation is favorable. They have the skills to even convert negative situations into positive ones. So in coaching soccer drills encourage your players to shoot the ball whenever possible.
As a general rule, any kick that causes the ball to go towards the goal is considered as a shot. But the most successful technique to drive the ball is striking it through the middle by using the laces of the foot. To carry this out, the player should have his head over the ball, his toe should be extended, and his upper body should keep steady.
In coaching drills, your players should learn to shoot the ball low and wide of the goalie. In such a scenario, high shots are less preferred that low ground shots. The reason is that low shots are especially difficult for the goalies to stop as they have to move their hands a greater distance than for high shots.
When kids practice inside the regulation sized goals, they are likely to score more by striking the ball above the goalie’s head. You must discourage your players to do this as it instills the habit of shooting high goals. This practice can be put to stop in coaching soccer drills by not allowing players to adult sized goals.
So get going and train your team members to see and confirm the goalkeeper’s position before they shoot the ball into the goalpost.
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Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Youth Soccer Drills.
Tags: coaching drills, coaching soccer drills, Soccer practice, teaching soccer