Football Training Drill Heading and Shooting Games

Heading and shooting skills are used to put the finishing touch on a successful attack. This is easier said than done, because scoring goals remains the single most difficult task in soccer. During the 2002 World Cup, tournament players such as Ronaldo of Brazil, Raul of Spain, and Michael Owen of England received most of the media attention—and rightly so. These players and a handful of others make up a select group of world-class scorers. They are the ultimate marksmen of international soccer. Although a goal scored is generally the result of a team effort, the player who can consistently finish the attack by putting the ball in the back of the net is a rare and valuable team member.

Success as a goal scorer depends on several factors, one of which is the ability to shoot with power and accuracy. Intangibles such as determination, anticipation, confidence, composure under pressure, and a burning desire to score also factor into the equation. Players might use several different shooting techniques during the course of a game, depending on whether the ball is rolling, bouncing, or taken directly out of the air. The instep drive is used to strike a rolling or stationary ball. The full volley, half-volley, and side volley are used to strike a bouncing ball or a ball that's dropping from above.

Soccer is the only sport in which players literally use their heads to propel the ball. Scoring opportunities can originate from balls crossed from the flank, corner kicks, free kicks, and long throw-ins. A player uses the jump header technique when leaping above an opponent who is also trying to head the ball. The player uses a two-footed takeoff to jump up, arches his upper body back, and then snaps forward at the waist to contact the ball on the flat surface of the forehead. During an attempt to score, the ball should be driven on a downward plane toward the goal line. The dive header technique is an acrobatic skill used to score off a low-driven cross traveling across the goal area. The player dives parallel to the ground with the head held firm and tilted back. Contact is on the flat surface of the forehead, with arms and hands extended downward to break the fall to the ground.

The heading and shooting games in this section expose your players to the competitive pressures they'll face in game situations—pressures such as restricted space, limited time, physical fatigue, and determined opponents. Modify the exercises to emphasize the scoring technique of your choice. You can also easily adapt the exercises to make them more or less difficult by adjusting variables such as area size, number of touches permitted, and number of players participating.

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