Team Lightning – Shooting Drill

An adaptation of the ever-popular Lightning Soccer Drill, Team lightning has the added benefit of developing passing and receiving skills and delivers multiple repetitions for all players in a short period of time. Give this fun and competitive shooting game a go and your players will soon be begging to play it again and again!

Shooting Drill – Team Lightning

Set Up The Drill

Set up a full-size goal (use poles or cones if you don’t have a real one). Use small cones to create two 3x3x3 yard triangles (C), approximately 12 yards away from the goal. The tip of each triangle should be roughly in line with either goalpost. Next place two cones set on either side of the goal as shown in the diagram ( cones ‘A’ and ‘B’). You will need a supply of balls. Place ½ of the balls on cone ‘A’ on one side of the goal and ½ the balls on cone ‘A’ on the other. You’ll also need pinnies in two colors to help separate the teams.

Instructions

Split the players up into two teams and place them in pinnes (red and blue in the diagram above). Each team works on one side of the goal. Within each team, one person should start in triangle C, one person on cone B and the remaining players should all start on cone A with a ball each. The red team also puts a player in goal to act as the first goalkeeper.

The blue team begins the game, passing and following in sequence (A-B-C). When ‘C’ receives the ball they use their 1st touch to take it out of the triangle and their second touch to shoot. If ‘C’ scores, the blue team gets a point and repeats the sequence again. The person who scored joins the back of their own line, and the player standing in the red team’s triangle becomes the next GK.

If ‘C’ misses, they become the next goalkeeper, and the red team passes and follows in the same sequence to try and score themselves. Play continues until one team scores 5 or 10 goals. Switch sides and then repeat!

Variation

Instead of passing on the ground, have the players throw the ball in sequence until the player in the triangle receives in the air and then volleys or half volleys the ball to shoot!

Coaching Points

Players should pass at speed and with high quality (the quicker you can get your shot off the easier it is to score).

• The player on cone ‘B’ should receive with their hips open and on their back foot, redirecting the ball towards their next pass.
• The player on Cone ‘c’ should look to get the ball out from their feet with their first touch so they can step into their shot and strike the ball cleanly.
• Encourage all the players to glance over their shoulder before receiving the ball to check the space they are playing into.

Tip:

This should be a fast-paced and exciting game for players of all ages. Encourage the players to be on their toes so the relevant team starts their passing sequence as soon as the previous shot has been taken.