Soccer Practice Games: A Guide to Shooting Techniques

In soccer practice games, scoring goals is one thing that adds to the excitement of the young players while playing. Yes, you must make it a point to include large number of opportunities for them to practice scoring. There are numerous options that can be exercised to create opportunities from them. For example: small-sided games, full-field scrimmages, and shooting drills.

During small sided games and full field scrimmages, keep varying the processes to promote more goal scoring. You can include such games that can be played without a goalie, or restrict their moves inside 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. Similar to passing skills, it works well to initiate shooting methods pretty early in the development of kids but lay more emphasis at the later stages.

Carrying out soccer drills is one of the means to equip the players with requisite shooting skills. Shooting skills of the players are developed and they get better in scoring goals as a result of these drills. So it becomes your duty as a coach to help your players grow as experts in shooting techniques.

Throughout the soccer exercises, train your players to perfectly strike the ball while shooting it. Players are free to shoot at close range from the inside of the foot. In using the inside of the feet, you bring more precision into the shots. When circumstances demand more power, instruct the 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. Therefore, ask the players to position the non-kicking foot ahead of the ball to keep the shot low. Make sure you eliminate all distractions for example moving balls, moving shooters, or defenders to focus your player's mind 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 change 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. When they improve their shooting, throw the balls towards them at irregular speeds.

Here you go! By introducing many opportunities for scoring goals in soccer practice games, you can make the players benefit a lot out of their sessions. For more of such tips and other soccer coaching resources, join our youth soccer coaching community.

Andre Botelho is the author of "The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide" and he's a recognized expert in the subject of Soccer coaching drills. Learn how to explode your players' skills and make training fun in less than 29 days! Download your free Soccer Drills guide at: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com - Youth Soccer Practice Drills.