Soccer Practice Games:3 Big Reasons To Shoot Properly
Kids enjoy being a part of soccer practice games the most when they get to score as many goals as possible. This is why it’s imperative that you include scores of opportunities for your players to practice scoring goals. If you try, you’ll find countless ways that can be used to create such opportunities for them. A few examples are shooting drills, full-field scrimmages, and small sided games.
During small sided games and full field scrimmages, keep varying the processes to promote more goal scoring. Incorporate games that don’t need goalkeepers, or limit the movement of goalkeepers within the warning lines. Widening the goalpost being used or adding more goals is one more possibility for increasing goal scoring.
Once the players develop their shooting skills and tactical understanding in soccer training, generating more goals gets easier. What you can do is bring in shooting techniques quite early in the kids developing stage but stress them more during the later stages, just as in passing skills.
One of the ways to develop shooting skills is through soccer drills work. Shooting skills of the players are developed and they get better in scoring goals as a result of these drills. So it is imperative for you as a coach to develop your player’s shooting skills more and more.
During soccer exercises, the players should be taught the way to strike the ball appropriately when shooting. Players can take repeated shots at close range from the inside of the foot. In using the inside of the feet, you bring more precision into the shots. In situations when more power is needed, teach players to strike the ball using the instep of the foot, with toes pointed downwards and ankle locked.
Positioning of the non kicking foot has an effect on the height of the shot. Hence, tell the players to keep their non kicking foot further to the ball so that the shot is low. Remove all distractions for example moving balls, moving shooters, or defenders to help the players focus only on striking the ball.
You can start the drill progression in soccer practice games with a stationery ball and a stationery shooter. As you move on with the shooting techniques, increase the challenge by putting the shooter in action before he/she hits the ball. This modification will deviate from the accuracy of the striking efforts at first, because the player’s visualization must serve a double purpose.
One, it helps the shooting player to get some space in the direction of the ball and two, it helps them manage their foot right where the ball is.
As players grow in confidence, increase the difficulty by putting both the shooter and the ball in a moving state. Once they show improvement in shooting the ball, introduce varying speeds for the ball.
Here it is! Develop more opportunities for the players to score goals in soccer practice games and make the most of practice sessions. To know more about youth soccer and enhance your coaching skills, enroll for our youth soccer coaching community.
Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: Fun Soccer Drills.
