Here are 12 of the best soccer drills for shooting and finishing effectively.
While it is the strikers on a team that are usually tasked with scoring goals, most modern football teams are packed with players that have the capability to score. Shooting drills are an integral part of any team practice and many players will want to improve their shooting skills away from team practice, too, with some individual training drills.
12 Best Soccer Drills For Shooting & Finishing
1. 2 Small Goal Targets
Small practice goals are a great way to practice hitting a small target, which will make it easier for strikers to hit the corners and increase their likelihood of scoring a goal when they do strike. This 2 small goal target drill uses two goals and four cones and it trains attacking as a team including finishing. The drill is very simple. One team of two attacks while the other two defend, and then they swap.
2. 2-On-2 Goal Drill
You can do basically the same drill but using larger goals. Shooting at small goals does improve accuracy, but it isn’t a realistic reflection of a game, when players need to pick a spot in the goal. 2v2 training drills are basically very small games of football, but you can choose the size of goal you want.
3. 4v1 Soccer Rondo Finishing On Goal Exercise
The Rondo is one of the most commonly used soccer training drills. In a Rondo, a number of players are situated around one or more players in the middle. The outside players pass to one another while the inside players try to gain possession of the ball. The Rondo to Finish drill uses this same technique but after a given number of passes, the outside players need to shoot at one of the goals at either end of the pitch. The finisher is allowed an extra touch before shooting but all passes should be one-touch passes.
4. Crossing And Shooting From All Angles
In the crossing and shooting drill, players, typically creative midfield players, pass and cross the ball to strikers who have to collect the ball and then finish. You can set rules such as the number of touches the receiving player is allowed, as well as alternating the distance and angle of the incoming pass they have to face.
5. 4 Cone Shooting Drill
The 4 cone shooting drill is really a series of shooting drills that all involve 4 cones. It can be played using just four attacking players, and one goalkeeper, but it is better to have more outfield players so that you can rotate players in and out. The different drills encourage skills like one-two passes and one or two touch shooting, depending on the level of the players you are working with.
6. Liverpool Finishing Training
In this Liverpool training session, players provide a range of deliveries including ground passes to the front and back of the box while attacking players run and finish. You can develop your own drill from this and work on specific types of delivery or specific types of shot, alternating between them to provide a wide range of training exercise and improving a good variety of finishing skills.
7. Shooting Drill By FC Barcelona
In this shooting drill by FC Barcelona only involves a handful of attacking players but teaches a number of skills and drills that are important for those players. It teaches attackers to get into the right position, trains a range of passes, and it also has attackers reading the direction of player movements. It culminates in players shooting at goal with the aim of scoring.
8. Wrexham 1v1 Shooting Drill
1v1 situations are difficult for both goalkeepers and strikers. Any training drill that aids one of the positions naturally aids the other, so this 1v1 shooting drill from Wrexham will benefit the player between the posts as well as the one running at them. This drill also involves an additional player who will learn how to track an attacking player back and hopefully prevent them from scoring.
9. Overlap Finishing Drill
The overlap finishing drill is a rectangle drill that teaches the overlap and how to finish from an overlapping run. It encourages team play and teaches the importance of good passing, ball receiving, and shooting.
10. Advanced Finishing Drill
The actual finishing of a striker is only a small part of the goalscoring equation. Rarely will a striker find themselves receiving the ball in the perfect spot to unleash a shot. The advanced finishing drill is another that incorporates some passing and also adds cones and static defenders so that the striker can practice getting into position and scoring.
11. 4 Shot Finishing Drill
Players need to be alert, have good footwork, and they need to be able to finish after receiving the ball. The 4 shot finishing drill has strikers receiving a series of balls and then attempting to convert their chances. It’s a simple drill but by keep practicing this, it will improve reactions and movement, as well as offer some finishing training.
12. Shooting Drill For Wingers
It isn’t just strikers that need to be able to finish. While you might not want to spend too much time training your center backs to be able to score, in a lot of teams, wingers are essentially played as inside forwards. This training session is geared towards wingers with a lot of work on footwork, but it is also good practice because it teaches the winger to shoot sooner rather than trying to dribble too close to the goal, which increases the chances of being tackled.
Soccer Shooting Drills – Conclusion
Soccer drills for shooting are important for strikers and wingers, and you should also give your midfielders, especially attack-minded wingers, opportunity to hone their finishing skills during sessions. Try out these 12 finishing drills that should help improve your team’s chances to goals ratio.
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