Soccer coaching tips to enhance shooting accuracy

Use this soccer shooting drill to enhance shooting accuracy and encourage more players to shoot in soccer.

The game’s all about scoring goals, so if you encourage your players to take more shots and aim the ball at the areas goalkeepers find most difficult to reach, your chances of success will improve. Some experts believe the best and quickest way of getting your team to take more shots – and therefore score more often – is to adjust their ATTITUDE to shot taking…

Attitude problem

Many young players won’t shoot when in a goal-scoring position.

Why? There are two reasons:

They are frightened of missing

To overcome the fear factor…

• Praise players for taking on a shot – this will boost their confidence and make them more likely to try a shot next time they get a chance.
• Prevent team mates from moaning when someone misses – this will help confidence and improve team spirit.
• Tell players it’s better to shoot and miss, than not to shoot at all.

Key soccer coaching tip: Remind your players that if you don’t shoot, you won’t score!

They lack confidence in their technique

The only ways to improve shooting accuracy and technique are to get your players working through a lot of soccer drills and practising. Fortunately, the techniques used in shooting are the same as those used in passing, so as a player’s ability to move the ball progresses – through use of the sidefoot, instep (laces) and even outside of the foot to swerve the ball – so will their shooting.

Tips to brush up on shooting technique:

Look for the following soccer skills:

• Observing the keeper’s position – have they left a gap the attacker can exploit?
• Selecting the best technique – sidefoot for greater accuracy, or instep (laces) and good “follow through” for power?
• Non-kicking foot alongside the ball.
• Head down, eyes on the ball when striking.
• Body over the ball.
• Contact with the middle to top half of the ball.
• Composure.

The keeper won’t like it

“Hitting the target” is obviously the most important aspect of shooting, but your team’s chances of scoring more goals will improve if players…

• Shoot wide rather than high – there’s more chance of getting a deflection that will wrong-foot the goalkeeper.
• Shoot low – it’s harder for a keeper to reach shots along the ground because it’s further for them to travel to get down.
• Shoot across the keeper – it’s tougher for them to hold these shots, and means they could divert the ball back into the path of another attacker.

Shooting drill tips

• Keep it realistic – use appropriate portable goals (or corner flags the correct width apart) and introduce defenders.

• Vary the service – players should strike balls coming towards, away and across them, plus volleys (bouncing balls), first time etc.

• Make sure you have plenty of balls and everyone takes a turn at being the ball boy!

Try another shooting drill.