Finishing

Finishing and striking the ball on goal is one of the hardest things to do in the game. Most players do not have enough technique to strike the ball consistently the way they want to have a better chance to score a goal. This does not mean just striking the ball hard with the laces. Most players overtime learn to strike a decent ball with this part of their foot as they develop and get older/stronger/more coordinated. Ball striking, and being a good finisher, requires being able to hit the ball in many different ways to get the ball to do many different things.

When it comes to striking the ball, I always refer to golf as I feel many of the principles are the same. Try to play a round of golf only using your driver. Great golfers are skilled using different clubs and hitting different types of shots. Most soccer players try to score only with their driver, and sometimes it is the right “club”, but there are many other times when they needed to try a different shot to score.

The players focused on the proper technique to strike a ball with the laces, outside of the foot, inside of the foot, and to chip the ball. There is not going to be a lot of improvement in any one of these areas unless players practice to do them on their own (before practice, at home, etc…).

A player should start with repeatedly striking the ball at a wall using different parts of the foot hitting different parts of the ball. This allows for a lot of repetitions with both feet and different parts of the foot. Although a shot is broken down into three pieces 1) Approach, 2) Point of Contact, and 3) Follow through, I tell players the point of contact is the most important. All influence the quality of the shot, but unless the player hits the right part of the ball with the right part of the foot, nothing else will really matter. The approach and follow through help the player be more consistent in this area, but in a game, it is rare that at game speed, under pressure, with limited time, that a player can strike a ball using “textbook” form and technique.

For this reason, here are the main points I want players to focus on:

• Head is down at the point of contact. Like a novice golfer, players tend to pick their head up to quickly to try to see their shot.
• THINK ABOUT the position of their foot. They have to do this at this point. It needs to be something they are focusing on through the shot. Most of the time, players swing the leg through and are focusing on other things. For me, this is critical to keep the foot in the right position. Until it is natural and can be done subconsciously, it needs to be a point of focus.
• See a small part of the ball to hit, not the whole ball. Have a very specific spot to try to hit and try to hit it. Often players are just looking at the entire ball and do not give themselves a point of reference for contact.

I know there are other coaching points like do not lean back, do not reach for the ball, follow through and land on your shooting foot. All valid and great coaching points as not doing these things make it harder to hit the ball properly. With that said, it is possible to hit a very good shot on goal to score while not doing those things but it just makes it harder.

Players cannot just WANT to be better at finishing. It takes a tremendous amount of practice and time. Often, the better finishers in a game are also the players who have the most control of the ball and are creative. These players have the ability to make the ball do what they need to, and the players are willing to try shots that others do not to try to beat the goalkeeper. While most players are nervous to do anything except hit the ball hard (I was one of these players), the creative player does not mind trying to chip or bend the ball around the GK when needed or just simply pass the ball in the corner with the inside or outside of the foot.