Without goals, soccer would be almost nothing.
You need to have the knowledge and skills to be able to score them.
You can learn how to kick the ball correctly, but that is only the beginning of your journey to understanding how to make it a goal.
No matter your shot’s goal, it’s essential to use a good kicking technique.
This article will explain how to shoot a soccer ball in three ways: powerful, lofted, and accurate.
You will also find some fun drills to help perfect your deadly and precise shot.
Why are shooting and finishing so crucial in soccer?
The shooting often determines the outcome of a game.
The team with the best finishing times usually wins at the end of regulation.
You must be fully prepared for your chance to shine in a match, as you might have few options.
Consistent training is required to master finishing and shooting.
It’s simple:
It’s easy to lose these skills if you don’t practice them regularly.
You can always regain them if you return to your practice.
It is vital to have confidence in your finishing skills.
All of us have heard about strikers suffering from goal droughts.
They often need to be more confident to score.
It is how it works:
Unconfident players can have a goal shot.
It is essential to practice to maintain your confidence.
Train until you feel confident that you can score.
How to Shoot a Soccer Ball
It is where we’ll begin our How to Kick a Soccer Ball Tutorial.
We’ll then apply the lessons we’ve taught you to finish.
But, before anything else:
Let’s take a quick look at the basic principles of kicking.
Essential Steps for Kicking Positioning:
- Do a little run-up.
- Place your supporting foot (the one you aren’t shooting with) close to the ball, approximately 7 inches (18 cm) away.
- Move the planted foot gently.
- Your upper body should lean slightly over the ball.
- Many feel that it is natural for the opposite arm to swing backward or to extend its arm at this point.
- Your entire shooting leg should be pulled straight back at an angle of 45 degrees.
- Now, bend your knees towards your back and flex your knees down.
- Now, move your entire body toward the ball from that position.
- When your support foot is gone, your knee should pass your support foot. Now extend your leg down to hit the ball.
- Use the foot to contact the soccer ball.
- Your leg should follow the ball.
These are the basic steps for kicking a football.
Although everyone is different, these guidelines are good to start with.
We’ll use them as our foundations. However, we will make slight changes to some of them to get different results, like power shots and better accuracy kicks.
Drill 1: The Basic Kicking Movement
The first drill is elementary.
Practice our Basic Kicking Positioning Steps.
Continue to work until you feel confident and comfortable kicking the soccer ball.
How to do a Lofted Kick
Every player should have the lofted kick in their arsenal.
Here are some reasons:
- You might have to pass the ball into the box for your teammates.
- Sometimes, you might have to pass the ball to another player farther away than you.
- To prevent your opponent from scoring, you should clear the ball in front of your goal.
Correctly positioning your supporting foot will give you more height.
Regular shots are taken with your foot approximately 7 inches (18 cm) from the ball.
It will ensure you make good contact with the ball without letting it slip under your feet.
To achieve that extra height, however, you’ll need to move your supporting leg further.
It will allow your foot to move more naturally sideways, almost in line with the football.
Next, please make contact with the laces to kick the soccer ball through its lower half.
It’s almost as if you were sweeping the ball through your hands.
TIP – Positioning your upper body can add height to your shot.
You would place your upper body slightly above the ball for a regular kick.
To increase height, it is essential to lean slightly back. It’s easier to contact the ball under it and then move upwards.
We’ve now learned how to kick higher. Let’s test this knowledge and our skills.
Drill 2: Shooting Over The Cones
If you have completed the Basic Kicking Movement drill, you should feel more confident in your kicking technique.
It is time to challenge yourself.
Add height to your kicks.
You will need several tall cones and a ball to perform this drill.
You can also use tape markers to mark a wall if you need to own training cones.
It is where you set your goals using the markers/cones.
Here are some ways to do it.
- Begin with just one cone.
- The ball should be placed about 3-5m (3-5 meters) from the cone. Next, kick the ball toward the cone.
- Continue to boot until you have ten consecutive kicks over the cone (without knocking it down).
Next, add another cone to top of your first one.
Keep on kicking to achieve your 10-kicks in-a-row goal. You can add more cones on top (or set the tape markers higher on the wall) to see how high you go.
The higher you go, the farther you are from the cones.
You can eventually kick the soccer ball over a goal.
Only move on to the next step if the one you’re on is easy enough.
How to Shoot a Soccer ball, Harder
Everyone wants to be able to say that their shots are powerful.
You know that some power is essential, but it’s not necessary.
“With great strength comes great accountability,” Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben would say.
It would be best if you learned to manage your responsibility.
You can add power easily, but you must be aware of when it is too much.
It’s simple:
It is essential to keep some level of accuracy.
The first method refers to how close your foot is to your backside.
It is Step 7 of the Essential Kicking Positioning Steps.
The sign of power is indicated by how far you can bend your knee and bring your foot back.
It is called “range of motion” when I speak to my children about it.
The greater the motion range, the more power you’ll have to make the shot.
It is essential to understand which kicks are more effective in achieving power.
It is a good idea to shoot with your laces.
It is the most accessible type to kick for momentum, as it’s the most natural movement.
For instance, if you want to kick with your inside foot, you need to open your hips and swing at your ball. It isn’t as natural as shooting with your laces.
It is why you should practice shooting with your laces.
You can increase your power by practicing your kick technique.
These steps and tips can be kept in mind.
TIP- The run-up is a tip that may seem obvious, but it’s something many forget. The more momentum you have behind your shot, the longer the run-up.
There is a limit. It’s not worth taking a 30-yard (30-meter) run-up to get a shot.
You could also kick the ball a bit closer in a game. You can then take a few accelerating steps before you make contact.
Everybody wants to know how far and hard they can kick a football.
It is why the drill can be both entertaining and tedious for some.
Drill 3: Kicking harder, farther, and more effectively
We’ve all seen Zlatan Ibrahimovic make some incredible shots.
As I mentioned above, it takes a lifetime to master that power.
It is the primary purpose of this drill, which I also play with my players.
You will need a goal, a good-sized soccer field, and a soccer ball to follow it.
This drill will require you to keep the shot under the crossbar to ensure it doesn’t become a lofted chip and give it enough power to reach the goal line.
Let’s go:
- Start at the penalty spot or roughly at that distance and kick your beloved sphere into the goal.
- Move back a few yards (meters) every time you reach the target in your space.
- Continue repeating steps 1 through 2 until the football is no longer in the goal.
This section will briefly touch on power, effectiveness, and accuracy.
How to Shoot a Soccer ball Accurately
Power is only a tool that can get you far. Accuracy is the key to success.
My youngster always hears that a soft shot in the corner of the goal is more effective than an exact cannon at the goalie.
It looks just as elegant as the best billiards shots.
It will take you (or anyone else) many days to reach this level.
It is essential to know your shot.
Knowing how often you curl and what spin you apply to the ball is essential. Also, how high you kick.
These details will help you to determine where to place your focus to ensure you get the ball to where you want it to go.
TIP – Move to the penalty spot, and pick the corner you want to shoot into. Try to aim for the side netting. Continue doing this until you know what type of shot you have.
Although the result is always the same, it will allow you to see what your kick is.
For example, many people curl their shots naturally. However, they must be aware of this when practicing accuracy.
It is simple to practice accuracy.
You need to pick a target and then shoot.
It is essential to break it down into manageable steps. It will help you see if you are making progress.
Drill 4: Playing “HORSE 2.0”
As a child, “HORSE” was a simple and fun game.
Here’s the way it works for those who have never heard of it:
You must meet your targets to be sent a letter.
You lose if you don’t receive all five letters in the word “HORSE.”
It was my version of “HORSE” when I played this game.
I would need ten balls and a random goal.
It could be in the lower left corner of a goal, trash can, or any other place you can think of.
Then, I would shoot all ten soccer balls. If I hit the target more often than half that number (i.e., more than five times), I would get the point.
Each point would be a credit, allowing me to get further away from all the letters.
It is what I mean:
If I earned one point and restarted my game but failed to hit the target at least six times out of 10, I would lose that point. I would be sent a letter containing the word “HORSE” if I failed to hit the target again after restarting the game.
Having fun with “HORSE” can be a great way to test yourself.
Growing up playing soccer as a kid, I discovered that making practice drills into games was more fun and motivating.
You can do this to step up your game (while still aiming for your target):
- Kicking harder.
- Kicking a moving object.
- A soccer ball is shot against a wall and controlled by you before being kicked.
- There are many other ways to make it more challenging, engaging, and fun once it becomes easy.
Using the inside of your feet is the easiest and most reliable method to learn how to shoot a soccer ball with accuracy.
This area is the largest and provides the best hit.
It is why you should practice accuracy with this area of your foot.
TIP – This is a simple tip to improve accuracy. It concerns the position of your supporting foot. It’s common to place it right next to the ball and not think about it.
Because your body aligns naturally with the foot pointing in the same direction as it is pointed towards, this is the direction you most likely kick in.
Using this foot will help you aim.
You will need to learn these fundamental skills to improve your kicking abilities.
Once you’ve mastered each one, it’s time to put them to the test.
Shooting was the essential skill that you had to learn up until now in our How to Shoot a Soccer Ball article.
The following section will teach you how to shoot in game-like situations. It is where kicking becomes finished.
How to finish in soccer
Shooting is crucial because it is the ultimate goal of this beautiful game.
Kicking becomes more fun if there is a goal.
Trust me
It is a great feeling to help your team win a game of soccer.
Now, we will apply some of the knowledge you have gained to the game.
Finishing refers to adapting to various situations and putting the ball in front of the net.
These two drills will make you a more consistent striker.
Drill 5: Put It Firmly on Target
It was the first drill I used with my coaches when I was younger. It’s something I still use a lot in my coaching sessions today.
You must first get a good feel for where the ball is going.
- Take a bag of 10 balls and place yourself on the 5-yard line. Then, hit the side netting.
- When you can hit eight out of ten easily, move backward in a diagonal line from the side netting.
- Step 1 is repeated from your new position. Once you have reached 8 of 10, repeat step 2.
- Once you reach the goal box’s edge, switch to the opposite side of the net.
- Once you’ve managed both sides of the game, invite a friend to play. You must be on the same side as your friend to achieve the goal.
- Repetition the previous steps but kick the ball from the friend’s hand.
- This drill is made even more difficult by having a friend shout “low” and “high” to make it harder for you to adjust your shot accordingly.
You can kick the ball harder as you go through the drill.
It will allow you to be accurate while hitting with power.
Controlling your shot power is one of the most difficult things you can do. It’s also one of the most well-known skills for coaches.
I can attest to this because of my experience as a player and coach.
This drill is simple and effective, making it easier to kick and finish.
It’s easy to get tired after a while, but you must keep your eyes on the prize.
Finishing should become second nature to you.
Drill 6: Finishing in a Game-like Scenario
This drill was designed to familiarize you with the ball and ensure you hit it accurately and firmly.
Next, we will apply it to more game-like situations.
You will need a friend, a goal, a cone, and some footballs to do this exercise.
Place a training cone in the middle of your goal line before you proceed.
- Position yourself on the goal box’s edge.
- Pick a side and kick the ball to that side.
- Then, pass another ball to a friend and control it. Next, shoot the ball into the same spot as before.
- Then sprint to the goal box. Have your friend throw the ball up in the air, which can be a cross from the corner spot, and then score on the volley.
- These steps should be repeated.
Your friend(s) should be standing in different places while you do the same drill.
In another round, for example, your friend could stand halfway and pass the ball to you. It would be necessary to control the ball, then turn around and shoot it.
A goalkeeper can be added to the mix, as it will be someone you have to beat to score in an actual match.
As you increase your power, start slow and work your way up.
It is a great way to gain confidence and feel more comfortable.
Remember:
Thinking about what you can score is a critical component to completing accurately.
Finalizing the Article
We’ll explain why finishing and shooting are so crucial in soccer.
You will learn how to shoot a soccer ball by learning the basics of kicking and then how to kick it harder, higher, and more accurately.
We also showed you how to score and finish the game.
It is up to you now to put this knowledge into practice!
You can practice all aspects of kick first until you feel confident.
Once you have mastered these, it is time to put them together.
Begin with gentle, small kicks and work your way up to more significant and challenging moves.
Keep this in mind:
There are many ways to kick a soccer ball.
Only the right way is for you.
Keep practicing, find your way, and feel confident in your final skills.