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Home/Training Drills/Finishing Drills/Control It, Then Finish
FinishingIntermediate

Control It, Then Finish

Train the first touch that sets up a strike, under a spatial constraint. The ball must be controlled and struck without leaving a three metre box, so the touch has to be precise rather than merely adequate.

Create your own drill
Live animationFIN
Duration
14 min
Total drill time
Players
4
Recommended
Pitch
Full Pitch
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U13-U14
Any format

Setup & instructions

Mark a small box of four poles roughly three metres square, about nineteen metres from goal, and put the finisher inside it. Two servers stand on opposite flanks, well apart. They feed alternately into the box; the finisher takes one touch to control, keeping the ball inside the poles, and strikes with the second. Do not let the ball or the player leave the box before the shot. Change the finisher every two minutes and serve to both feet.

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

Shooting drills almost always allow the shooter to prepare the ball wherever he likes. A serve comes in, the player takes a touch to put it exactly where he wants it, and strikes. He gets very good at hitting a ball that has been placed perfectly, which happens rarely in a match.

The box of poles removes the preparation. Three metres square is enough room to control and swing, and not enough to push the ball out into the spot that feels right. The first touch therefore has to be genuinely accurate rather than roughly in the right area, which is a much harder standard and the one the game applies.

The simplicity is deliberate and worth keeping. Four players, four poles, a goal and a keeper. There is no pattern to remember, no rotation to manage, and no combination to get right first. Everything that could distract from the two touches has been stripped out, which makes it one of the few finishing exercises where a coach can watch the technique properly and correct it in real time.

Serving from opposite flanks is the detail that stops it becoming one-sided. A ball arriving from the left and a ball arriving from the right require opposite turns and opposite controlling surfaces, and a player left to his preference will take every one on the same foot. Alternating the side, without warning, is what makes the weaker turn happen at all.

How to run this drill

  1. Keep the touch inside the box. Pushing the ball out to a comfortable spot is the instinct and it removes the entire constraint. Three metres is enough to strike from if the touch is right.
  2. Set it across your body. A ball controlled under your own feet leaves no room for a swing, which is why so many strikes from range end up jabbed and high.
  3. Turn before it arrives. Facing the server as the ball travels means one touch does the controlling. Turning afterwards costs a touch you do not have.
  4. Two touches, no more. The third touch is the one that quietly turns this into a walk-in finish. Control, strike, and accept the ones that are not perfect.
  5. Pick a corner. From nineteen metres a keeper covers the middle standing still. Power without direction is a comfortable save every time.
  6. Alternate the serving side. Left to choose, a player takes every ball on his stronger foot with the same turn. Switching flanks unannounced is what forces the other side.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • The controlling touch stays inside the box: no pushing it out to get comfortable
  • Set the ball across your body, not under your feet
  • Turn to face the server before the ball arrives, not after
  • Two touches only, control and strike
  • Nineteen metres needs a corner, not just power
  • Alternate the serving side so both turning directions get used

Common mistakes

  • Pushing the first touch out of the box to make the strike easier
  • Setting the ball under the feet, leaving no room to swing
  • Standing square to the server and needing a touch to turn
  • Hitting for power from nineteen metres instead of picking a corner

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • First-time strikes, no controlling touch
  • Shrink the box to two metres square
  • Servers deliver at head height so the ball has to be taken out of the air

Regressions

  • Allow the touch to leave the box
  • Serve to the stronger foot only
  • Move the box to fourteen metres from goal
Equipment
Poles×4
Tactical principles
control and finish drillshooting drill footballfirst touch and shoot drilllong range shooting drillu13 shooting drillstriking technique drillreceive and finish drillfinishing from distancetwo touch finishing drillsmall group shooting drill
Audience
U13-U14

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