If you’ve ever experienced the thrill of scoring an impressive goal, you know how important shooting skills are. Everybody wants to be the kind of soccer player who can score tricky goals and win points for their team. However, you don’t just learn shooting skills overnight. The best way to develop your shooting skills is to incorporate shooting drills into your program. Here at Playform, we know that finding the right soccer shooting drills for your needs can be overwhelming because there are so many out there. To help make things easier, we’ve gathered the best shooting drills for you to incorporate into your soccer training. By participating in soccer shooting drills, you can work up your confidence around the goal and score more goals. Keep reading to find out the perfect shooting drills to help you score past any goalkeeper.
1, 2 Shoot
In this soccer drill, a line of players, each with a soccer ball, must pass to the designated passer at the penalty area. That player then lays the ball off to the player to run onto and attempt to shoot. Although this drill sounds fairly simple, it is great for helping players to increase their finishing skills. Without the bells and whistles, it allows players to develop their accuracy in shooting repetitions. To increase the difficulty of the drill, put a goalkeeper in the goal to attempt to save the goals. Another way to increase the difficulty of this drill is to allow players only one touch to complete the drill. Still looking for Shooting drills to brush up on your skills? The Playform app has plenty to choose from.
1-on-1 Shootout
One-on-one drills help work on specific skills and build cooperation between teammates. This drill involves two people competing against each other to defend their goal and attempting to score on their opponent’s goal. For each pair, use cones to set up two gates, approximately 8-12 yards away from each other. Both gates should be facing each other. You can adjust the distance between the two gates depending on the age and skill level of the players. The winner is the player with the most goals at the end of the round. Depending on players’ age and skill level, the coach can vary the distance between the gates.
Cross Control
This soccer drill involves players inside two boxes on the edges of the penalty box receiving and finishing crosses from players on the wings. They must make a touch and then attempt to score in the goal. The main goal of this drill is to develop a player’s ability to set themselves up to score. Setup involves two boxes 3-4 yards wide around the penalty area. Two players will be the crossers and will begin outside the penalty area along the end line. Each crosser should have the same number of soccer balls. Meanwhile, the remainder of the players should form two even lines above the marked boxes. Players from each line will take turns stepping into the box to receive the cross.
Diagonal Shooting
This drill is perfect for practicing diagonal passes and scoring. Set up two goals on each end of the playing area. There should be one line of players on each side of the goal. Players then pass the ball at a diagonal angle across the playing field. The opposite player must receive the ball and attempt to score on the same goal that the ball was passed from. Once players are more confident, they can attempt to receive the ball and score in just one touch.
Shooting Box
If you want to brush up on how to shoot the ball quickly off of a pass, this is the ideal drill for you. Use four cones to set up a box where one player will start. Three other players will begin 10-15 yards away. Player 2 passes the ball to Player 1 who then has to receive the ball, turn and shoot whilst remaining in the box. They should try to do this with just two touches. Player 1 receives a pass from the three players outside the box and then switches with another player. While inside the box, players should focus on shooting with both feet.
Get in the zone
For this drill, the team is divided into two lines, one attacking and one defending. A restraining line will be added 5 yards from each goal, with each endline having two goals. The ball will start at the attacking line, with an attacker dribbling in and a defender from the opposite side coming to defend. After dribbling past the restraining line, a player can attempt to shoot on either of the goals. Once a goal is scored, the next two players play. After playing for 2 minutes, switch sides.
Shooting Agility Drill
Agility is a key component of dribbling which is why this drill is so helpful. Start by creating a channel near the penalty area with 10-12 cones. Use 4-5 cones at the top of the channel to make a line angled towards the corner flag. Shooting players will begin with a ball 4-5 yards at the top of the channel. Even the coach gets involved in this drill, beginning at the end of the channel and nearest to the goal. The drill begins with the shooter passing through the channel to the coach (target player). The shooter then makes a check-run towards the coach and down the channel. The coach returns the pass to the attacker who returns it and backpedals to the end of the channel where they began. Finally, the coach makes a pass and the attacker must react to whichever direction the pass is in and attempt to take a shot.
Conclusion
We’re sure that with a bit of practice and incorporating these shooting drills into your training program, you’ll be able to refine your shooting skills in no time. Don’t forget to visit the Playform app for even more shooting and other soccer drills to help build your confidence and accuracy when shooting. Challenge yourself or your friends to see who can reach the top spot on the leaderboard. Playform is here to help you on your way to becoming a better shooter.
