Objectives
The objective is that all the players involved take a lot of shots in a somewhat realistic situation. There will be a defender, there may be a keeper, there will certainly be limited time. They'll have to move to create their own shooting opportunity.
Setup
- Set up a pitch about 16m deep and 10m wide, with two medium size (5m by 2m) goals and a centre line.
- Divide the players into two teams of three to five players.
- Keepers are optional
- Keep a supply of balls in each goal
Rules
- Players can only score from their own half
- Only one player can go into the opposing team's half at a time
- If the ball goes out, restart with a ball on the goal line
Play
The team with the ball have a simple task, create a shooting opportunity for one of their number. The defending team can send one player into the opposing half to put pressure on the ball, effectively turning the game into a rondo. The other defenders can position themselves to block shots.
Adaptions and variations
- Limit the number of touches each player can take (3, 2 or 1 depending on ability)
- Shots have to be hit first time
- Triple points for weak foot shots
- With this setup players will usually be shooting from about 10-12m, if you want them to shoot from further out, make the pitch deeper.
- You could add more players, and potentially allow two defenders into the opposing half, but it might be better to set up a second drill
Coaching points
This drill provides plenty of opportunity to talk to players about their shooting technique. It also creates opportunities to talk about how you can best lay the ball off for someone else to shoot, and how you can work together to create opportunities to do that.
On the defensive side, there's a lot of transitions, with one player having to quickly choose to 'go' and press the ball, while other defenders can get in position to block shots being taken from near the half-way line.