Everybody loves Finishing Drills, it’s what all the other drills lead up to.. putting the ball in the back of the net.
These 5 Insane Finishing Drills will make sure your players are bang on form in front of goal.
They all work on different techniques and ways of scoring, hopefully giving you well round finishers of the top level.
Finishing Drills: #1
Shooting & Blocking – Trying to sell the Defender a Dummy
Shooting & Blocking are two key components of football and this drill is a fantastic fast paced one which allows players to learn both.
Split your group into two teams.
Team 1 – Defenders First
Team 2 – Attackers First
Set up a row of Cones, Flat Circles / Discs, covering the width of the goal with a ball at either end.
On the whistle. the defender runs goal side of the cones, whilst the attacker goes the other.
The idea of this drill is the for the Forward to use body movement to try and create space for a shot.
Whether that be through, dummies, faints, dropping a shoulder or whatever.
The ball CANNOT be dribbled and is only allowed to be touched once for the shot.
The Striker can move across the line back and forth as many times as they like to get the shot off.
However, as soon as the first shot is taken, it is then a test of reactions to get to that second ball as quick as possible for the second shot, otherwise the defender just stands in front of it to block.
Shooting & Blocking Drill – Scoring Points
| Attackers: | 1 Point for every GOAL Scored |
| Defenders: | 1 Point for every SHOT Blocked |
| Goalkeepers: | 1 Point for every SHOT Saved |
Add up Attackers and Defenders scores… then switch them round and let them try and beat them.
What they will Learn
This really is a great drill for all 3 elements.
Goalkeepers have to be constantly on their toes and on the move across the line in anticipation of the shot.
Defenders will learn how to effectively close down space to stop the shot, and not to commit too early.
Attackers will learn how to use the bodies to create space to get a shot away.
Overall, Shooting & Blocking is a really good workout for everyone and a drill you can use over and over again
Finishing Drills: #2
First Time Finishing Drills
First time finishing is a great skill to master, its not about whacking the ball as hard as you can, its about timing the run, body position and keeping an eye on the ball.
This drill takes care of all that and brings bag loads of fun to the table as well.
Its a really quick drill and the kids love the challenge.
Set them an overall goal target. Usually just over 2 goals each to start with.
If they beat it. Coaches and Keeper do a lap.
If they don’t, they all do a lap.
Set up your 4 position with 2 balls on each position.
Put 2 poles in about 5 yards or so outside the penalty area.
There are two ways you can work the crossing, depending on age / ability of the players.
- Use two Coaches, one works positions 1 & 3, the other works 2 & 4
- Place a player on each cone
The passes should be aimed around the penalty spot. If they are too close, the Keeper can come and claim.
First Time Finishing – How it works
Players line up behind Pole 1.
They start their run towards the penalty spot, and call for the cross from position 1 as they do.
Once they’ve had shot 1 they go round the OUTSIDE of Pole 2 and circle back in calling from the cross from position 2.
After shot 2, they go round the outside of Pole 1 and circle back inside for the pull back cross from position 3. and so on
Encourage them to use both feet to shoot if they can.
Encourage them to keep their eye on the ball and concentrate on making contact.
Do this one for a few weeks running and you’ll be amazed just how quick their technique improves.
Get ready to do some laps though
Finishing Drills: #3
One Touch Control & Finish
The One touch Control & Finishing Drill is such a good tool for a player to have in his locker no matter the age.
Its relatively simple to teach and gives the player so much confidence on the pitch when they’ve mastered it.
For this Drill, both the Forward and the Goalkeeper start on the goal line.
Line the Cones, Flat Circles / Discs, as shown above.
On the whistle, both players run.
The Goalkeeper runs to the top of his cones, then back peddles into goal to get in position for the shot. This improves footwork and concentration.
The Forward runs to the end of his cones, where he receives a pass from the coach.
The player has one touch to move the ball round the corner and set up the shot.
If the touch is heavy, the keeper is to come out and narrow the angle or collect the ball before the striker can get there.
The kids will love this one, its fast paced, challenging and fun.
Everyone loves a One touch Control & Finish and they are no different, it will give them a really good buzz.
Depending on the age group, this will take them a few weeks to Master…. then you can Scale it up
Scale it up
One Touch Control & Finish v Retreating Keeper with Tracking Defender.
By adding a tracking defender into the mix, it massively increase the pressure on the forward making a good touch.
They need to be positioning the ball so their body is between the ball and on rushing defender so they can get a clean shot away.
This really increases the challenge and gives it a real match feel to it.
Finishing Drills #4
One Touch Finishing Drills
One Touch Finishing Drills – Left Foot / Right Foot
This One Touch Finishing Drill is fantastic for all players to learn.
This is a great Side Drill – one to pull a couple of players at at time, whilst your main drill continues.
A lot of quick movements, forward, backward, left and right required, as well as reactions and listening to the calls from the passer.
This will improve reactions and encourage players to communicate with each by way of passing instructions.
One Touch Finishing Drill – What you will need
You will need 3 Cones of different colours, here we use Red, Green & White
2 Mannequins – These aren’t essential, and you could always but defenders / coaches in there place.
An even number of balls – 10 if possible, 5 either side, but it doesn’t matter as long as the number is equal on both sides.
How it Works
The Shooter starts by standing right behind the Mannequin and the Red & Green cones.
When ready, the shout for the ball from one of the passers.
They then back-peddle to the white cone.
Once there they will receive the pass along with a shout of “Green” or “Red”
The player then has one touch to set up the shot to the side that was called. If its “Green” its control to the left followeed by a left footed shot, if “Red” then control to the right and a right foot shot.
Each player will have an even number of shots to each side.
Keep track of the scores so you can challenge the players to beat their tally next time around.
One Touch Finishing Drill – What to expect.
First time around, expect the scores to be low.
There will be a bit of confusion with the touches, either too hard, not hard enough or mis-control.
The Mannequins play a key part. If a touch is too shallow, it will only leave a part of the goal available making the keepers job a lot easier.
As they get the hang of it, the number of goals will increase sharply as will the type of goals they score.
Finishing Drills: #5
The “No Bounce Challenge” is a great game for the kids to play during training and also a great way to work on their kicking technique
The Idea of the game is for the players to take a shot at Goal from varying distances.
To go through to the next round and the next cone back, they have to score a goal and the ball has to hit the back of the net without bouncing.
If they score, but the ball bounces behind the line BEFORE hitting the net, then it does not count.
No Bounce Challenge – How it Works
Split your squad into 2 teams.
This is both a Team challenge and an Individual one.
Mark out 3 rows of Cones, as per image above.
First Cone should be about 6 yards out, with each following cone, another 3 yards behind that. ( Increase the distance for older age groups )
You can have has many rounds / cones as you like.
| Round 1. | 6 Yards Out | 1 Point |
| Round 2. | 9 Yards Out | 2 Points |
| Round 3. | 12 Yards Out | 3 Points |
| Round 4. | 15 Yards Out | 4 Points |
| Round 5. | 18 Yards Out | 5 Points |
| Round 6. | 21 Yards Out | 6 Points |
| Round 7. | 24 Yards Out | 7 Points |
Ideally you should have a line up of 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 and maybe 24 for the older.
1 Player from each side start off the game, taking it in turns to take their shot at each Round.
If they Score without the ball bouncing, they progress to the next Round and move back a cone.
If the Ball bounces before hitting the back of the Net, then they are out and stand alongside the cone that represents that round so the score can be kept.
The Player that scores from the furthest distance wins the individual game. The Team with the most overall points wins the Team Game
What to work on
Technique is the primary challenge.
Encourage the players not to take tentative steps as the approach the ball, but big steps with speed to help generate power and elevation.
The secondary challenge is mental.
Rounds 1 – 3 will be relatively easy. The shot they play on Round 3 will sometimes be the good enough to get them through round 5, but when they line up at the 4th cone, the distance can challenge them mentally and make the players change there approach, or be too keen to look up as they are kicking.
Its a great game and they will have loads of fun.
Definitely one you can repeat and they can challenge themselves to beat there previous score.
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