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Home/Training Drills/Finishing Drills/Four Routes to Goal
FinishingAdvanced

Four Routes to Goal

Train finishing from genuinely varied positions and distances, and the switching that creates them. Players cannot groove one shot, because the route determines where and how the chance arrives.

Create your own drill
Live animationFIN
Duration
18 min
Total drill time
Players
8
Recommended
Pitch
Full Pitch
Setup space
Level
Advanced
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U15-U16
Any format

Setup & instructions

Split the area in front of goal into three channels with two columns of markers, full width, and set a keeper. Work short within a channel, then switch long into another, and finish whenever the route offers it. Run four balls so different routes are live at once: some sequences should be two passes and a shot, others should cross the pitch three times before finishing. Rotate players between the channels so nobody stays on one side.

Setup time: 3 min

Tactical breakdown

A finishing session usually produces a single kind of chance. The service is the same, the angle is the same, the distance is the same, and by the end a player has fifty repetitions of one shot he might get twice in a season.

The channel structure here exists to break that. Because the ball can travel short within a channel or long across to another, the position it eventually arrives in is genuinely unpredictable. In the animation the four finishes come from just under ten metres, from thirteen, and from nineteen, which are three different techniques: a placed side-foot, a firm strike across the keeper, and a full contact from range.

The tactical habit underneath is more valuable than the shooting. Players learn that the short pass and the long switch are different tools with different purposes: one advances within a line, the other moves the whole defence. Groups that treat every pass the same either circulate sideways forever or hit hopeful long balls, and the channel markings make the distinction visible enough to coach.

The failure to watch for is switching as a reflex. Once a group enjoys the long diagonal they start playing it even when a direct finish was available two passes earlier, which is worse than not switching at all. The switch is a tool for when the near side is closed, and part of the exercise is recognising when it is not.

How to run this drill

  1. Know which pass you are playing. Short within the channel advances the ball. Long between channels moves the defence. Playing them interchangeably means neither does its job.
  2. Switch only when the near side is closed. The long diagonal is satisfying and becomes a reflex. If a direct finish was on two passes ago, the switch has cost you the chance, not created one.
  3. Receive the switch already open. A long ball taken square needs two touches before anything can happen, and by then the defence has slid across and the switch has achieved nothing.
  4. Take the early finish. If the route hands you a shot after two passes, take it. Forcing another switch to make the sequence look better is how chances get talked away.
  5. Match the technique to the distance. Nineteen metres needs a corner and full contact. Ten metres needs placement and a side. The same shot from both distances misses one of them.
  6. Keep the channels honest. Short passes drift across the marker lines within minutes and the structure quietly disappears. Hold the lines or the drill becomes an ordinary shooting circle.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Short in the channel, long between them: know which pass you are playing
  • The switch is only worth it if it arrives ahead of the defence resetting
  • Receive the switch already open, facing the next channel
  • Take the early finish when the route gives you one, do not force another switch
  • From nineteen metres pick a corner, from ten metres pick a side and place it
  • Change the finishing distance deliberately, do not settle into one range

Common mistakes

  • Switching for the sake of it when the direct finish was on
  • Receiving the switch square and needing two touches to face goal
  • Every sequence ending in a shot from the same distance
  • Short passes drifting across channel lines, which erases the structure

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Cap each sequence at four passes so the route has to be found quickly
  • First-time finishes only
  • Add a defender in the central channel who can be switched around

Regressions

  • Work two channels rather than three
  • Run one ball at a time
  • Walk one full route so the channel structure is understood
Equipment
Markers×6
Tactical principles
finishing drill footballswitching play drillchannel finishing drillvaried finishing drillu15 finishing drillchanging point of attackshooting from distance drillattacking pattern drillwide to central finishingadvanced finishing drill
Audience
U15-U16

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Save this drill to your private library, then tweak the animation, swap equipment, or drop it into a session.

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All Finishing drillsAll drill collectionsFinishing for U15-U16

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