improve soccer shooting skills

a soccer practice plan from eysa.org

age group: U9

Equipment

Cones, pinnies, one ball per player

Warm up

Instep Warm Up - Start with players sitting down and kicking the ball out of their hands. Look for good technique - ankle locked, toe pointed, strike ball with laces, plant foot facing target, leaning forward, no spin on ball, head position.

Progression

Sitting
Two insteps in a row
Kick ball, stand up and catch it.
While standing (moving), kick ball and catch it.
Have the ball bounce in between touches, keep ball going.
Two touches without ball hitting ground.

Body

Instep Passing - In pairs, players make instep passes back and forth.

Progression

Start with ball being kicked after a bounce, dropped from hands..
Ball kicked from the ground.
Increase distance.
Restrict player to 2 touches.

Instep Squares - Two squares are set up with two players in each square who are teammates. The more skilful the players, the smaller the squares are and the further apart they. are. The game starts when one team kicks the ball into the others' square. The receiving team must control the ball without it going outside of their square. Each player is allowed to play the ball with one touch. The team has 3 touches to get the ball into their opponents square. The ball may not stop at any time. Play stops when a shot misses the other teams grid or is not controlled. Decide beforehand how high a ball may be played to be considered fair.

Coaching Points

"Drive" the ball into the other teams grid to make it difficult to control. Good shooting technique, Encourage an aggressive shooting mentality" To receive the ball, get in the line of flight, taking the first touch to "kill the ball" for your partner. Prepare the surface that will receive the ball early Keep the body balanced, weight on toes.

Application

Steal The Bacon - Two teams, each player is designated a number. The coach calls out the numbers of the players. These players then run out from the endline to play the game. The coach serves balls from the sideline if the ball goes out of bounds or into a goal. Each group should play for a minute and a half of continuous action.

Players waiting to come on should return loose balls to the coach, or act as "support" players, returning passes back to the team who made them. The number of players playing at one time depends on the coach's objectives. This game is best played 2 v. 2 or 3 v. 3.