The shooting range – practice
in Shooting
This three-part session will have your team peppering the opponents’ goal. By TRISTRAM BISGROVE MORE
Finishing touches
Sharpen up your players’ finishing abilities in and around the penalty area with this hot-shot session.
What this session is about
- Shooting with accuracy to score goals.
- Taking plenty of shots.
What to think about
- Should an attacker take a controlling touch or strike first time?
- Check the goalkeeper’s position – have they left any gaps?
- Which technique should shooters use? Laces, side-foot, etc.
- Accuracy – strikers should ideally aim low for the far corner, across the goalkeeper.
Set-up
Use a 20-yard square area for the session and development.
Play a five-a-side game in an area 30 yards wide by 20 yards long for the game situation.
| Warm up | Session | Developments | Game Situation | Warm Down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes | 10-15 minutes | 15 minutes | 10-15 minutes | 10 minutes |
What you get your players to do
Play six attackers against three defenders and a goalkeeper in the area, with a full-size goal at one end and two five-yard target goals at the other.
Mark out a six-yard line across the width of the pitch near the full-size goal.
Attackers try to score in the big goal, defenders in either of the target goals.
Attackers play two-touch, must complete three passes before shooting and can only score outside the six-yard area.
You serve a new ball every time the ball goes out of play. Encourage players to shoot with both feet. Make sure all the players have a go at being a defender.
Six attackers play against three defenders and a goalkeeper. Attackers aim for the big goal while defenders aim for the two smaller goals.
Development
Move one of the players on the larger team to the other so a 5v4 game is created.
This change in team sizes will allow you to see which of the games is more competitive. You could change players within teams to even the match more.
Move one of the attackers on to the smaller team to create a 5v4. Use the same rules as in the session.
Game situation
Place the goals on the longer touchlines so the pitch is wide rather than long to encourage lots of shots from a variety of angles.
Play for five minutes then swap teams around. The team with most goals wins.
In a five-a-side game, the pitch is wide rather than long so players can take more shots and hone their technique.
