Shooting and Goaltending
Please see the Goaltending post which covers the basics of goaltending. As coaches I would begin with teaching goaltending to all players, and then introducing shooting the second day. You can then incorporate goalies into your shooting drills.
Technique: Online Soccer Academy has a great video explaining how to shoot a ball with power. Please like or subscribe if you find his videos helpful.
Additional Points on Shooting:
- Players should shoot at the corners. The tendency will be for players to shoot directly into the goalie. This is because they are looking at the goalie. Young shooters should look at the spot where they want the ball to go.
- When close to the goal pass the ball into the goal. There is no need to shoot hard when the ball is so close to goal.
- Keep the shoulders forward and eyes on the ball when kicking. If a player leans backward the ball will most likely go over the goal. If they stop looking at the ball they may hit their foot on the ground.
Drills and Games:
At the beginning you may want to just allow players to take stationary shots close to the goal. Line them up in three lines and let them take shots trying to focus on the position of their non-shooting foot, the angle of their approach, and striking the ball with their laces. From that you can move to additional drills and games as you see fit. Pay attention to good technique. Shooting a ball is a complicated set of motions and requires a great deal of practice and repetition to fine-tune.
In the first drill players should pass the ball to the coach (in black) and run forward to receive the ball first on their right and then on their left foot. Players should look to take a touch (receive the ball and then shoot using proper technique. Our focus is on getting the form right and not on scoring goals. After they go through this twice to the right and twice to the left add cones 2 steps inside of each post. Ask players to aim for the corners. Give the team a challenge. Can they score 5 goals as a team? 8 goals? 10? Add an additional challenge by adding a goalie or by adding a defender who starts from the right or left post after the first pass.
In this second drill players line up in two lines. The coach has balls in the middle but somewhat behind the cones. This allows players to react to the ball better. The coach passes a ball straight forward and players must try to beat each other to the ball. The first person to the ball is the shooter and tries to get to the goal and score. The second person to arrive at the ball is the defender and must give chase. If the defender steals the ball they become the shooter and try to score.
Add variation by sending the passes to the front left or the front right. Players should try to beat their opponent and take a shot.
In this drill line up 4 cones just inside the 18 yard box. Players line up at the edge of the box. The coach sets a ball just to the right of the penalty spot. Players run through the cones and at the last cone run to the ball and take a shot.
Once players have done this 2 or 3 times, the coach can add variety by passing the ball into space for the player to shoot off of a pass.
You may also add a defender who runs in from the left or right post, or a goalie if you would like.
Switch sides and run the drill from the right side to work on the left foot.
In this drill players line up about 14 steps inside the halfway line, and another group of players line up 8 steps outside of the 18 yard box. Players in line A pass in front of the player in line B. The player in line B should take 1 or 2 touches and then shoot on the goal.
You may add a goalie and/or a defender to increase the challenge.
