Football-adapted gameFinishing
Shooting Through the Gates
Small cone gates are spread around the area. Each child dribbles to a gate and scores by shooting the ball through it from 3 m away.
- Objectives
- Technical: Improve finishing, Improve dribbling
- Concepts
- Technical:ShootingRunning with the ball
- Tactical:Scanning
- Physical:Change of direction
- Focus and load
- Technical5/5
- Tactical2/5
- Physical2/5
- Format
- Football-adapted game
- Approach
- Analytical
- Age
- U6–U10
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Players
- 4–14
- Duration
- 10 min
- Area
- 20 × 20 m
Training diagram
Shoot through a gate from behind its marker, run round to collect the ball and find another gate.
Legend
- Attacker
- Run without ball
- Dribble
- Shot
- Ball
- Cone
Objective
Shoot accurately at a small target after dribbling, many times in a short time.
Organisation
- 20 × 20 m area with six gates of two cones 1.5 m apart, spread around.
- A flat marker 3 m in front of and 3 m behind each gate, so they can shoot from either side.
- Each child has a ball.
Equipment
- Balls 1 per player
- Cones × 16
- Flat markers × 12
How it works
- The children dribble freely. To score, they shoot the ball through a gate from behind one of its markers.
- After shooting, they run round the gate to collect their ball.
- They cannot shoot through the same gate twice in a row.
- Rounds of 90 seconds: each child counts their goals and tries to beat their own score.
Coaching points
- Stop the ball before shooting if you need to: it is easier to aim.
- Look at the gate, then at the ball, and shoot with the inside of the foot or the laces.
- Look up to find a gate with nobody near it.
- Change direction quickly after collecting the ball.
Progressions
- Move the markers to 5 m.
- Only with the weaker foot.
- Make the gates narrower (1 m).
Regressions
- Wider gates (2 m) and markers at 2 m.
- No limit on using the same gate.
Variations
- In pairs: one shoots through the gate and the partner on the other side controls and shoots back.
Key principles
- Aim before you shoot.
- Many repetitions, no queues.
Shooting practice with lots of repetitions and no goalkeeper or queue. Each child has a ball and chooses a free gate, shoots through it from behind the flat marker, runs round to collect the ball and looks for another gate. They cannot shoot twice in a row at the same gate, so they have to look up, find a free gate and change direction. A good warm-up before a game with goals.
Use it as
- Warm-up
- Technical block
Updated October 29, 2026
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