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SHOOTING
Fundamentals of Shooting
There are many different ways to shoot the ball in soccer. Like passing, some of
them are basic and some more advanced. You can shoot with the instep, with
the inside of the foot, and the outside. You can drive the ball
out flat, make it curve in or out, chip it, loft it etc.
What we’ll be concerned with here initially are the fundamentals of basic shooting
what you would teach to a 7 year old (and up) to build a foundation for more
advanced techniques.
The basic coaching points for basic instep drive shooting , From the Nose to the
Toes are:
1. Head down – eye on the ball
2. Plant non-kicking foot along side the ball
3. Pick a spot near the center of the ball, strike ball at, or slightly above, this
spot.
4. Knee of kicking leg is over the ball
5. Instep is “locked” Toe down and ankle flexed up in direction of calf
6. Approach is slightly from the side.. not dead on
7. Follow through
Sounds simple right? Well lets break them down one by one and then suggest
ways and means of teaching this technique.
First, head down, just like in passing The “head up” component of shooting
precedes the actual execution of the skill.
In other words the player must already have his target picked out before he
executes the shot. Why head down? Because your eyes cannot affect the flight
of the ball. It is more important that you strike the ball correctly and that is done
by eye-foot coordination. In the best case, and with a lot of practice, the head is
down for only a split second. As the players get older, peripheral vision comes
into play and only the eyes move.
Second... the plant foot. Important because if you plant your foot behind the ball
your kicking foot is coming up as you strike leading to undercutting the ball. Now
in advanced shooting that is sometimes what you want to do but when we’re teaching the younger ages we just want the ball to travel in a straight line with
some “weight” on it.
Third.. picking a spot on the ball. Again if you kick too low you’ll undercut the
ball, pick too high and you’ll “top” it. With a lot of practice a child will
automatically pick the sweet spot on the ball.
Fourth.. the knee of the kicking leg is over the ball. This technique determines
the correct body position. If the knee is forward of the ball (which rarely
happens) the weight is too far forward and the ball is mis-kicked. If the knee is
behind the ball, a far more common occurrence, the player tends to arch their
back away from the ball. This results in too little power.
Fifth.. instep is locked. A wobbly foot leads to inaccurate and low power shots.
Locking the instep (sometimes referred to as locking the ankle) is not a natural
thing for the kids to do. You have to break this down into steps and be vigilant
when they shoot. It is very easy to back slide after this technique is taught.
Sixth… approach from the side. The biggest fault in the instep drive is coming
straight at the ball. This leads to toe kicking. At the younger ages toe kicking is
quite common and natural. They will enjoy more success kicking with their toes
than with their instep. They will seem to get more power on the ball. This is
illusionary. It is a simple matter of physics. The more surface area applied to the
ball (instep) all other things being equal, the more accurate and the more
powerful will be the shot.
But the biggest reason not to let them toe kick is that it is a bad habit that is
extremely difficult to break in later years. Teach them the right way now and
there will be far less problems in the future.
By moving in slightly from the side you naturally tend to want to kick with the
instep instead of the toe
Last.. follow through. A common mistake made at the younger ages is the lack
of a follow through…kick through the ball. They tend to jerk back as they strike
the ball and consequently do not get a lot of power on the pass.
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