Shooting practice

This is a straightforward three-station shooting drill, constructed in blocks of four sequences that have multiple actions per player in order to encourage positive reactions and concentration. The players enjoy this session because it’s a high tempo finishing activity and because every phase ends in a shot.

As coaches, what we like about this session is that every player has a second or third action to react to once they have completed their initial shot or pass.

We ran this recently at a training session with Atromitos – we ran it with 12 players who were on match day -2, whilst the players who had performed in the most recent game were on match day +2 and were rested.
 

“The players enjoy the session because it’s a high tempo finishing activity and because every phase ends in a shot”

THREE-STATION SHOOTING DRILL

We set up on the final third of a pitch with a full size goal and a goalkeeper at one end. Three mannequins are positioned outside the penalty area as shown. We’re using nine outfield players who line up behind each mannequin in three groups of three. The mannequins are labelled A, B and C.

Player A and player B have a ball each at their feet and they are ready to start. Player C does not start with a ball, as the balls for the player behind mannequin C start with the coach in the penalty area, as shown [1a].
 

[1a]

 

On the coach’s call, player A drives towards mannequin A with the ball, drops a shoulder and gets a shot off from the edge of the penalty box with the aim of scoring past the goalkeeper. Player A then immediately turns to retrieve another ball from their start position, as shown [1b].
 

[1b]

Next player B drives towards mannequin B, drops a shoulder and gets a shot off from the edge of the box with the aim of scoring past the goalkeeper. Player B then immediately turns to make an overlapping run behind mannequin C and past the coach, as shown [1c].
 

[1c]

While player B makes the overlapping run, player C makes a run towards the corner of the six-yard box. As this is happening, player A drives a firm, angled pass along the floor to match player C’s run. This pass is important and it needs to be a driven pass or a side foot pass. Player C receives the pass on the run and aims to finish past the goalkeeper from an angle, as shown [1d].
 

[1d]

After making the driven pass, player A makes a run towards the near post to attack a possible cross. At the same time, having taken the shot from the edge of the six-yard box, player C makes a supporting run towards the back post. Having finished the overlapping run, player B is fed a short pass by the coach and runs onto it to deliver a cross for player A or player C to finish from inside the six-yard box, as shown [1e].
 

[1e]

The drill is then repeated by the next three waiting players and the first three players recover to the back of each line, switching starting positions in the process, ready for their next go.


 

COACHING POINTS

What are the key things to look out for?

It’s important for the quality of the play to be high in phases 3 and 4 so that the sequence doesn’t break down.

The purpose of the session is for the players to practise scoring goals, so the quality of their finishing technique is important and should be both realistic to a game and performed at match tempo.

The tempo and timing of the movement is important to ensuring this session works well.
The timing of player A to return to the ball and the timing of player B to get around the mannequin and the coach to deliver the cross is important so that A and C are not static and waiting for the cross.

Players need to be ready to start the next phase of the block once the goalkeeper has reset.

 

What are the typical mistakes players might make and how do I avoid them?

As coaches we need to ensure the players are concentrating and making quick reactions to the next phase of play that they are involved in. It doesn’t matter what level they’re at, players always have a tendency to admire their shot and switch off rather than reacting to their next responsibility.