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 Titans News: THE ART OF SHOOTING |
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Wednesday, August 7
THE ART OF SHOOTING
There are four key concepts and skills that should be mastered in order to have a successful and powerful shot. Keep your toes curled, your knee over the ball, your head down and follow through. If you can do those four things every time you shoot, you will strike the ball low, hard and effectively.
Curling your toes: It is very important when you shoot that you don’t use your toes. If you do use your toes, not only will they hurt after awhile but your shots will never go the same place twice. When shooting the ball you want to use the top part of your foot, where the laces of your shoe are. This is a much wider surface than your toe so it will be more accurate and it doesn’t hurt at all. In order to hit the ball properly off the laces of your foot you must curl your toe. Curl your toe, you ask, what do you mean? Take off your shoes and socks and sit and grab yourself a towel from the closet. Lay the towel down flat on the floor and try and grip the towel using just your toes (if you are at a field you can also do this by trying to pick grass). Do you feel how your toes are curling downward to try and pick the towel up? That is what I mean by curling your toes. If your curl your toes like that when you shoot, you are 1/3 the way to a successful shot.
Getting your knee over the ball: A huge problem that people have when shooting is that they kick the ball over the goal. This is such a horrific problem because it can mean the difference between winning or losing a game. If you kick the ball over the goal you have no chance of making it. If you put the ball on frame though, you not only have a chance to score yourself but the possibility of a rebound may occur. Anything is possible when you get your shots on frame. To correct this problem simply concentrate on getting your knee over the ball. What does that mean you ask? To practice this and get the idea, stand on your left leg and point your right toe towards the ground next the front of your planted left foot. Look down and notice the position of your knee in regard to the position of where the ball would be in a shooting position. That is what NOT to do. Now slide your right foot, which is still pointed toward the ground, back towards the heel of your planted left foot. Look down! Notice how your right knee is now over the area in which a ball would normally reside when shooting. That is getting your knee over the ball. When you shoot you want to make sure that your knee is directly over the ball, keeping your shot low and also increasing the power and velocity of the shot.
Keeping your head down: It is very common to want to look at where you are shooting. You want to make sure that you don’t miss the goal to the right or left or shoot right at the goalie. Unfortunately, by looking up when shooting you actually reduce your chance of hitting the target. You definitely want to look up and know your target before shooting, but during the actual act you want to have your head down. If your head is down it will help you focus on getting your knee over the ball. If your head is looking up at the target your knee is most likely behind the ball and you shot is going over the goal. So remember to keep that head down and watch your foot make contact. There is plenty of time to look at the target after the ball sails into the back of the net.
Following through: The follow through is a very important part of the shot. It may make the difference of 5 to 25 miles per hour on your shot. When shooting the ball with your right foot you want to have your left foot firmly planted next to the ball. You want your right leg to be cocked with your toes curled. As you swing through the ball your knee should be over it at the point of impact and then your leg should continue to follow through the swinging motion. After contact you want to land on your right foot. That’s right! You want the force of your motion to throw you off of your planted left foot and onto your swinging right foot. The same thing works
when hitting shots left footed. Plant the right, cock the left, toes curled, knee over the ball at impact, follow through and land on your left kicking leg.
These are the four fundamentals of shooting a soccer ball. When practicing shooting make sure to look for and emphasize these key points to ensure success.
Courtesy of Coach Clay / Eteamz.com
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