Nike Academy: Finishing Drills

Toe Poke

Mastering the one-touch finish. A quick unconventional finish is a nightmare for keepers – you don’t give them a chance to get ready.

EQUIPMENT:

5 mannequins
20 balls

SUMMARY:

I. Place the mannequins between the edge of the area and the penalty spot. The coach stands at the edge of the box, ball at his feet.

II. The strikers position themselves around the penalty spot, between the mannequins and the coach.

III. The coach smashes the ball against one of the 5 mannequins. The nearest striker – there can be several in a scoring position – has to poke the rebound past the keeper with one touch.

IV. Continue for 10-15 minutes.

Wingers Movement

Top wingers need to possess a variety of techniques to break the defence and receive the ball without falling for the off-side trap.

EQUIPMENT:

4 cones, 2 balls

SUMMARY:

I. 4 cones are set up as shown. There are 2 players behind each of the far cones and 1 player behind each central cone.

II. The players behind the far cones are servers. The nearer cones represent full-backs. The players behind the nearer cones are wingers.

III. One of the players behind each extreme cone passes the ball into the area behind the central cone as shown.

IV. The winger has to get to the ball by deceiving the full-back. There are 4 movements to do this:

a) Get behind the cone with no touches, but don’t be off-side;
b) Do the same, but across the front as defender’s head turns;
c) Drop off the cone towards the ball, then spin behind the cone;
d) Move away from the cone, back in and away again.

V. After choosing one of the 4 movements, the winger receives the ball, passes it on to the next extreme cone and players rotate clockwise.

STRIKER CIRCUITS

Every striker needs speed. This physical drill puts you through your paces while you build the attack.

EQUIPMENT:

2 mannequins
4 balls
4 hurdles
8 cones

SUMMARY:

I. Lay out the mannequins, cones and hurdles as shown. The balls are with player 1. The coach stands on the outside of the second mannequin.

II. Player 1 passes to player 2 and follows it to receive the pass back from player 2. Player 1 then passes to player 3 while player 2 runs to the first mannequin.

III. Player 3 dribbles to his nearest mannequin to meet player 2. They use one-touch passes to get around the mannequin.

IV. Player 3 dribbles to the next mannequin and exchanges one-touch passes with the coach. He breaks into the area for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

V. In the meantime, player 2 sprints towards the centre circle, jumping over hurdles and reaching the gate in the middle of the pitch at top speed.

VI. After shooting, player 3 runs through the triangle next to the goal as shown, touching every cone.

VII. Rotating players, continue at a high intensity for 15 minutes

Quick Fire

Wherever the pass comes from, a deadly striker will simply turn and finish. This drill shows you how.

EQUIPMENT:

20 balls

SUMMARY:

I. Spread the balls between three serving spots (both corners of the box and just outside the D) as shown.

II. Place a striker in each of these positions, numbering them 1, 2 and 3.

III. The working striker stands by the penalty spot.

IV. The coach calls out a number between 1 and 3. When a player’s number is called, he passes towards the working striker.

V. The working striker runs to collect the ball and completes a swift two or three-touch finish.

VI. Rotate your strikers so each is in the working position for at least 20 balls.

ACADEMY LEARNING:

Scoring goals quickly with limited touches.

Near-Post Finish

Top strikers have to make the most of limited space and touches in the box. This drill polishes your positioning and accuracy in those situations.

EQUIPMENT:

3 mannequins
20 balls

SUMMARY:

I. Place 3 mannequins on the edge of the area. Put 10 balls to each side of the box and allow the servers to get ready.

II. Give each striker a number. Ask them to position themselves around the penalty spot.

III. The coach shouts a striker’s number followed by ‘left’ or ‘right’. The striker runs between the mannequins in the stated direction, receives the ball from that side and finishes at the near post. No more than two touches allowed.

IV. Continue for 10-15 minutes. Make sure the coach gives each striker a go on both sides.

ACADEMY LEARNING:

Practising passing the ball into the net – accuracy before power.