There are dozens of soccer drills designed to improve just about every skill, regardless of the level of that skill. But everyone knows where the rubber hits the road when it comes to drills players are the most interested in-shooting drills.
Outscoring the opponent is the essence of the game, after all, so let’s take a look at a couple of the best shooting drills that coaches can implement.
There are a lot of ways to tackle the problem of scoring and mixing and matching the right drills can give you and your team a serious advantage in crunch time.
The One-on-One Shootout Drill
One of the best ways to increase scoring acumen is to pit players against each other in a one-on-one competition. This gives coaches the potential to mix and match when it comes to possible pairings, and it’s often possible to do this in a way that addresses the weaknesses of one or both players.
Once the players are paired off, each pair gets a soccer ball, and two cones are spaced 8-10 yards apart for each pair.
This creates a rectangular setup, and players are allowed alternate shots at the opposite goal while the player without the ball attempts to block the shot.
The only shots that are allowed are the ones that remain below the waist, and getting a shot past an opponent and inside the cones constitutes a goal, or in this case a single point.
The winner is the player with the most points, with a partner shift occurs when each round is finished.
The coaching comes in with working on the shooting techniques of different players, and in some instances it may be necessary to halt the competition to coach a player up and get a particular point across.
The Cross-and-Finish Drill
This is a team soccer drill that’s designed to increase the skill level when it comes to one of the most common scoring tactics.
It involves setting up a single goal at one end of the field, and while only one goalkeeper is necessary, others should be ready due to the intensity of the drill.
With four different groups of players stationed around the penalty box, each crosser gets a touch before sending a crossing pass into the box. At the same time two other players get into scoring position, one at the front post, the other stationed by the back post. The idea is to score the first time off a teammate’s crossing pass, and each successful attempt to do this is worth a point.
It’s a team scoring drill that’s intense in a way that helps conditioning as well, and you can find others by accessing the Cupello website, https://www.cupello.com/, along with plenty of other great shooting and scoring drills.