Score More Goals! Tips For Trainers

Everyone knows that soccer games are won by scoring goals. Therefore it is one of the basics of soccer coaching to improve your team's chances of hitting the back of the net, get them to have more shots and be more accurate in shooting.

The first step is to get your player to start taking shots and aim the ball at the areas the goalkeepers find most difficult to reach - this will pay dividends in time as your chances of success will improve. However, when coaching youngsters, it is common to find that players are scared of taking difficult shots, which is attributed to their fear of failure, consequently affecting their attitude.

To overcome the fear factor…

• Boost their confidence by praising them when they take a shot - even if they miss

• Prevent other team mates from moaning if they miss- it will benefit team morale in general if they learn to support each other from an early age.

• Tell players it’s better to shoot and miss than not to shoot at all. Another reason why young players are afraid to shoot is lack of confidence in their technique. The only way to improve this is to practice! Fortunately, the techniques for shooting are identical to those in passing soccer drills, so as a player’s ability to pass the ball – through use of the sidefoot, instep (laces) and even outside of the foot to swerve the ball – so will their shooting skills.

Here are some basic features of good shooting that you should explain to your players and get them used to:

• Observing the goalkeeper’s position – have they left a gap the attacker can exploit? • Selecting the best technique – side-foot 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

And here are some ideas for improving the rate of scoring:

• Shoot wide rather than high – there’s always the chance of getting a deflection that might 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 to the ground.

• 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.

Here are some basic tips for conducting shooting sessions:

• 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 keep changing ball-boys!