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. If you try, you’ll find countless ways that can be used to create such opportunities for them. For example there are small sided games, shooting drills, and full-field scrimmages.
During small sided games and full field scrimmages, it’s your responsibility to keep altering the various ways to encourage extra goal scoring. Slot in those games that can be played without a goalkeeper or you can confine their movement inside the defined boundary. There is another way of increasing the possibility of goal scoring by broadening the goalpost being used or else by adding up more goals.
Once players develop good judgment and great shooting skills during the soccer training, it gets easy to score goals. 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 drills develop and improve the shooting skills that players require to successfully score goals. So it is imperative for you as a coach to develop your player’s shooting skills more and more.
In your soccer exercises, coach the players how to strike the ball appropriately while shooting it. Players are allowed to take shots from a close range repeatedly with the inside of the foot. In using the inside of the feet, you bring more precision into the shots. When the situation is such that more strength is needed to hit the ball, ask the players to strike the ball using the instep of the foot, with toes pointed downwards and ankle locked.
It depends on how the non-kicking foot is positioned that determines the height of the shot. So instruct the players to position the non kicking foot ahead of the ball to keep the shot 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 the shooting techniques progress, increase the challenge by putting the shooter in action before he/she hits the ball. Such a shift will distract from the accuracy of the striking efforts at first, because the player’s visualization must serve a double purpose.
One, it should help the shooter negotiate space in the direction of the ball and second, it should help him/her put their foot at the exact spot on the ball.
As time passes by, increase the challenge by putting both the ball and player in the shooting position. Once their shooting ability improves, serve balls at different levels and speeds.
Here it is! Develop more opportunities for the players to score goals in soccer practice games and make the most of practice sessions. For even more tips and tricks on youth soccer, subscribe to 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.
