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In soccer, shooting is an essential part of the game. You’ll want to practice shooting whether you’re a defender, midfielder, or attacker.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a soccer goal to practice at home because we’ll give you tips to practice shooting without a goal.
Here are a few of the skills we’ll look at;
- Shooting without a soccer goal
- Making your own soccer goal
- Soccer shooting drills when alone
These tips will help you train anywhere!
How to practice shooting without a goal in soccer
If you don’t have a soccer goal, pick another target to shoot, such as a wall or fence. It’s best to shoot against a barrier like that because the ball bounces back to you.
But if you can’t find a wall or fence to shoot against, don’t worry. It just means you’ll have to run to get the ball, which will improve your fitness.
You can use 2 cones as upright frames to make a goal if you have them.
You can use anything to mark the goal if you don’t have cones. You could use 2 garbage cans or place 2 jackets on the ground. It’s important that you can easily see the goal, so try your best to make it as visible as possible.
Make sure you have enough space in front of your goal to move around and shoot from different angles.
When you’re practicing shooting, you don’t want to shoot from the same place every time. It’s great to practice from different positions because it’ll be more like a real game.
You won’t get to shoot from the same place or angle every time during a game.
Also, practicing your shooting while the ball is moving is good. Even if you practice shooting by yourself, we’ll show you how to get the ball moving so you can practice shooting like you’re in a real-game situation.
Once you’ve set your goal, you can practice shooting drills. We’ll show you some drills you can do alone.
Soccer shooting drills to do alone
Shooting drills are a great way to practice your shooting; you can do some even if you’re alone. Let’s look at 4 shooting drills:
- One-touch shooting
- Shooting from the side
- Turn and shoot
- Dribble and shoot
You can do these 4 shooting drills even if you’re alone.
1. One-touch shooting
One-touch shooting is exactly how it sounds. You only take one touch: the shot. Don’t touch the ball and then shoot when you’re doing this drill.
Hit the shot the first time.
If you’re shooting against a wall or fence, you can pass the ball against it and let the ball roll back to you. We want to shoot the first time while the ball is moving. This will mimic a real-game situation.
Start with the ball rolling back to you slowly, and then you can build up speed as you improve.
This drill is great practice for you to adjust your body, head, and feet to get off an awesome shot. The more you practice, the easier it’ll be to adjust for the shot.
Check out the video below to get an idea. Imagine the ball is moving back to you from the wall.
If you’re not shooting against a wall, you can still practice this drill with a moving ball. You have to be creative.
You can roll the ball out in front of you and shoot – do this as well even if you’re shooting against a wall. It’s good practice for when the ball is moving away from you.
When you’re doing this, roll the ball at different angles. Start off rolling it straight in front of you, then roll it at an angle to the right followed by the left.
Always practice shooting with both feet. This means you’ll be able to go left or right towards the goal, making you harder to defend against.
And try your best to keep the ball low and to the corner.
2. Shooting from the side
Shooting from the side is shooting from the right or left side of the goal, rather than shooting directly in front of it. Again, we want to practice this with a moving ball.
If you have a wall or fence at the sides of your practice area, you can pass the ball against it and let the ball roll back in front of you. But don’t worry, you can practice shooting from the side without passing the ball against a wall.
You can also roll the ball yourself like in the previous drill.
When shooting from the side, start outside the goal frame. So, if you’re level with the goal frame on your left, move about 10 feet further left to start. If you’re level with the goal frame on your right, move about 10 feet further right to start.
With this drill, you can practice one-touch shooting as well. But this can be more difficult, so don’t worry if you can’t do it. Take as many touches as you need to adjust yourself for the shot.
The fewer touches you take the better.
If you take 4 touches before shooting, get comfortable doing that first. Then, try to get down to 3 touches, 2 touches, and so on.
Practice shooting from the left side and the right side. And practice with both feet on each side.
When shooting from the side, always shoot across the goal.
This means that you’ll aim for the corner farthest away from you. So, if you’re on the left side, you’ll shoot for the right corner of the goal. This makes it harder for goalies to save the shot.
Thierry Henry’s goal against Celtic in the Champions League is a great example of shooting from the side. Check it out below (goal at 6:15):
3. Turn and shoot
In the turn and shoot drill, you’ll turn towards the goal and shoot. You’ll be facing away from the goal for this drill, so you’ll have your back to it.
Ideally, you’ll want the ball rolling to your feet. If you have something to pass the ball against and get it rolling back to you, that’s perfect. Otherwise, you can do this drill with the ball stopped at your feet.
Either way, your movement will be the same. With your back to goal, you’ll knock the ball to the side, turn towards the goal, and shoot.
You’re only taking 2 touches for this drill.
The first touch knocks the ball to the side, and the second touch is the shot.
You can practice this drill directly in front of the goal, or you can practice it from the side. It’s better to get comfortable doing it directly in front of the goal first. Then, you can try it shooting from the side.
Start slowly first before trying to turn quicker each time. Focus on turning and getting your body into a shooting position. Like with the other drill, practice turning and shooting with both feet.
Turning and shooting is a fantastic skill to learn. Master it, and you’ll catch defenders and goalies off-guard. That sets you up for scoring lots of goals.
Check out the video to see a turn and shoot drill.
4. Dribble and shoot
This drill is exactly how it sounds. You’ll dribble with the ball before shooting. You can set up cones to dribble around if you have them. But it’s okay if you don’t.
Whether using cones or not, concentrate on keeping the ball under control when you dribble. Keep it as close to your feet as possible until you’re ready to shoot. So, you’ll want to take small touches when you’re dribbling.
Once you’re ready to shoot, you’ll want to get the ball out of your feet.
That means creating some space between your feet and the ball.
It’s hard to hit a good shot when the ball is too close to your feet. So, you’ll want to knock the ball forward a little bit when you’re ready to shoot.
That allows you to adjust your body and get off a great shot on goal. Watch the video below to see what we mean:
That’s our advice for you to practice shooting without a soccer goal. And you can practice those 4 drills alone. If you keep practicing, you’ll score plenty of goals from those situations in no time.
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Joel is a seasoned soccer journalist and analyst with many years of experience in the field. Joel specializes in game analysis, player profiles, transfer news, and has a keen eye for the tactical nuances of the game. He played at various levels in the game and coached teams - he is happy to share his insight with you.
