Finish with a chaser
Transcript
With a defender chasing, get your shot away before they catch you. Here's how. Warm up first. You need a goal, six balls, and a friend to chase. Start twenty five metres out, with the chaser three metres behind. Watch. Dribble at goal, shoot before they arrive. First, shoot early, in your stride. Then, pick a corner and keep it low. Not this. An extra touch lets them catch you. Chasers, stay on your feet, no tackles from behind. Our target is four rounds of four, resting two minutes between. After any knock to the head, if in doubt, sit them out. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
Finishing at speed with a defender recovering from behind: get your shot away early, in your stride, before they catch you. In FIFA's finishing practice the attacker gets 3 touches to shoot while a defender sprints to close them down.
Set up
- An anchored goal
- A friend to chase
- 6 balls, 25 m out
- Chaser 3 m behind
How it works
- Warm up first. Put a cone 25 m out, in line with the middle of an anchored goal. You start at the cone with the ball.
- Your friend, the chaser, starts 3 m behind you and about 3 m to one side (their own lane, so nobody runs into anyone). They go on your first touch.
- Dribble at goal at speed and shoot early, low into a corner, before they catch you. If they get level with you before you shoot, they win that go.
- A friend in goal is optional. Walk back and go again; swap roles after every 4 goes. Do 4 rounds of 4 (our target), resting 2 minutes between rounds.
Coaching points
- Shoot early, in stride. Shoot at the first good chance without slowing down: strike the ball as it rolls in front of you, in your running stride. FIFA's advice is to keep the ball within striking distance, so you can set up a shot quickly.
- Low into a corner. Pick your corner as you run in, then keep the shot low and on target. The side-foot gives up some power for accuracy; the laces give more power (England Football). Low into a corner is a coaching cue, not a research finding.
Not this
Taking an extra touch to set the ball, or dribbling on into the box. Every extra touch gives the chaser time to get level and block the shot.
Dose
- 4 rounds of 4 goes
- 2 min rest between
Our target: 4 rounds of 4 goes, swapping roles after each round, with 2 minutes of rest between rounds (the Football Reach target, not an FA rule).
Harder / Easier
Harder
The chaser starts 1 m behind you. Or a third friend plays the ball into space for you to run onto from 25 m out (the age ladder's set-up), so the race starts on the move.
Easier
The chaser starts 5 m behind you, so you have time to pick your corner before they arrive.
Safety
- If in doubt, sit them out: anyone with a suspected concussion stops straight away, does no training for at least 24 hours and plays no matches for at least 21 days (UK concussion guidelines).
- Chasers stay on their feet: no slide tackles, no tackles from behind, no pushing or pulling. Getting level wins the go, so there is no need to tackle.
- Only use a goal that is anchored to the ground or has a weighted back bar, and never climb or swing on it. A keeper stays on their feet: no diving at feet or on hard ground.
- Flat grass with room to slow down past the goal and nobody behind it, never a road or driveway. Stop if anything hurts.
Sources
- FIFA Training Centre - finishing: from 1v1 to 3v3 (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - attacking skills session programme (12-16) (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - how to coach shooting (opens in a new tab)
- The FA - goalpost safety (opens in a new tab)
- England Football - UK concussion guidelines for grassroots sport (opens in a new tab)
Not sure which skill to work on first? The free Football Reach test gives you a Player Development Score and shows which of the four corners of your game to work on next, in about two minutes.
Take the free test
