Finishing tasks: how to get your players shooting more and better

The classic finishing drill: a line of twelve players, one shot each, a goalkeeper who ends up exhausted. In fifteen minutes each player shoots six or seven times, and almost never in a situation that looks like a match.

Finishing improves with repetitions and with pressure. This post explains how to get both, with tasks for each type of finish.

Two goals instead of one, or two stations working at the same time. Groups of 4–6 players per goal. A rebound or a second ball in every repetition, so that the player who shoots has to react after the shot.

Count: goals, shots on target, first-time finishes. A simple scoreboard raises the intensity more than any instruction.

Turning and shooting: receive with your back to goal, turn and shoot quickly, then follow up the rebound.

After a combination: a wall pass with a teammate before the shot, at match speed.

From crosses: low crosses and cut-backs for the youngest players, and near-post and far-post runs from U13–U14.

In a game: a 4v4 where you shoot on sight, or a match where only goals from outside the box count, to encourage long-range shots.

Look at the goalkeeper before shooting. Accuracy before power: a low shot to the far post often beats a powerful shot at the goalkeeper. Body over the ball to keep the shot down. Always follow the shot.

With the youngest players, correct very little and celebrate a lot: they need to want to shoot.

A finishing session is also a goalkeeper session. Give them time to reset between shots and include specific work on their set position before the shot.