Week 9 · U14
Finishing & shooting
Objectives — what the players will do
- 1Strike a driven shot with the laces and a placed shot with the inside foot — and know when each fits
- 2Read the goalkeeper before shooting: set on their line, pick a corner; rushing out, go around or dink it over
- 3Follow every shot — rebounds are goals waiting to happen
Play 1 — starts when the second player arrives
Self-Serve Shooting
As players arrive: grab a ball, dribble in from the top of the area, shoot, collect your own ball, go again — no lines, no waiting. When a keeper arrives, they jump in goal. Add a second goal or targets in the corners as numbers grow. 15 minutes of free shooting builds more confidence than any drill.
Practice — the one taught activity of the night
Finishing Races
Two teams, two lines beside the goal, keeper in. On ‘go’, the first attacker sprints onto a served ball and finishes while a defender chases from behind — real pressure, real speed. Run rounds with a scoreboard: round 1 placement only (inside foot into a corner), round 2 power (laces, first time), round 3 attacker’s choice but they must READ the keeper and pick. Losing team resets the balls. About 25 minutes.
No chasing defender, closer range, stationary ball, and bigger targets (cones splitting the goal into corners). For brand-new players the win is clean contact — celebrate every struck ball on target.
Defender starts level with the attacker, 3-second limit to get the shot away, first-time finishes only, then a weak-foot-only round.
Play 2 — always finish playing the real game
Call Your Finish
4v4 or 5v5 to big goals with keepers, 25 minutes. Every shot on target earns 1, goals earn 2 — shooting is always rewarded. Bonus point if the scorer can NAME their finish (‘placed far corner’, ‘driven near post’, ‘dinked it — keeper rushed’). Naming it proves it was a decision, not luck.
Key coaching points — in your own words
- ·Look up ONCE before you shoot: where is the keeper?
- ·Placement beats power from close range; power wins from distance.
- ·Your first touch sets the shot — one touch out of your feet, then strike.
- ·‘What type of shot did you choose — and why?’ Make every player explain one finish tonight.
- ·Good teams shoot. Do not pass the responsibility away at the edge of the box.
Live defenders on every finish, time limits, weak foot only.
Remove pressure entirely, shorten the distance, enlarge the targets.
Game-day focus — watch for this on Saturday
The striker in the 1-2-3-1 stays high and works angles across the two defenders; midfielders arrive LATE into the box for rebounds and cutbacks. One team stat today: shots. Leaders demand them — ‘shoot!’ is a completely acceptable team talk.
Message to forward to your parents
Shot selection week — knowing which finish fits the moment. Ask your teenager: ‘what type of shot did you use today, and why?’ And cheer shots that miss: a teenager who stops shooting because a miss got a groan from the sideline is a striker we just lost.
This week's two videos
Every session is Play-Practice-Play: kids play from the moment they arrive, you teach ONE thing in the middle, then they play again. Watch the prep video the night before — the activity video is that middle PRACTICE part.
How to Train Final Third Attacking | Striker Movement- Creating Space & Finishing- Pro Coach Session
Watch the night before to understand the idea
A pro-coach session tying space creation, striker movement and finishing into one decision-driven design. Good second look at the Challenge stage if your group needs more decision load rather than more patterns. Keep score on every sequence so finishing always has consequence.
Watch on YouTubeAttacking Patterns in the Final 3rd!!
Your PRACTICE part — the one thing you teach mid-session
Three attacking patterns for the final third, moving from simple combinations toward tactical, opposed variations. Watch before Week 2 and pick one pattern per unit to own for the month. In Week 3, run the same patterns against a defending unit so timing and disguise are tested.
Watch on YouTube