How to score more goals in football.

There is nothing more enjoyable than
scoring goals. So how can you score more goals? There is no magic formula, but there are some simple tips to help increase your chances of scoring goals.

1. Technique - First Touch

All players must have a good first touch to get the ball under control quickly. However, the key is to make sure your first touch sets up your second touch. This can be practiced by kicking a ball off a wall or rebounder and controlling it with one foot and passing it with the other. This type of training will encourage your first touch to be good enough so you can quickly get your pass away with your second. This will lead you nicely into the technique required for finishing.

2. Technique - Finishing

Once you are confident getting the ball under control then move onto your finishing technique. There are many different kinds of finishes but we will concentrate on two; with the laces for straighter power strike and with the side of your foot for more bend and accuracy (finesse strike).
Again, your first touch will set you up for the type of finish you require. If you are left footed you might take your first touch across your body, control it with your left and finish with your left via your laces. Alternatively, you might take your first touch with your right foot to get ball into a position where you can use your left to bend the ball towards goal with the side-foot.
This kind of preparation is key for any strike in football, be it a pass or shot. Another key area is your standing foot placement - if you are striking the ball with your left foot then your right foot needs to be next to the ball (about 6 - 8" away) to help your balance, accuracy and power.
Bonus Tip - your standing foot should be pointed in the direction you want the ball to go.
Either way, it is best to get your body over the ball for both finishes as this will keep your shot lowand avoid the ball flying over the bar.

Here's a good video that breaks down power strike technique -

Here's a good video that breaks down sidefoot finishing techniques -

3. Want The Ball

Now we have the proper technique, we need to remove or minimise the next obstacle - pesky defenders. Defenders love nothing more than attackers standing still and being easy to mark (and tackle). If you are always on the move, then you are harder to mark. Think about it like this, over the course of a game, if you continually run in behind the defence, a defender needs to track your run every time. You only need them to forget to track your run once to be in on goal. The more you move, and in particular the more you make positive forward runs, the more opportunities to score you will get. Combine movement with the correct technique and you will score more goals.

4. Be Confident

In a game, you might have lots of shots which go wide, over the bar, be blocked by a defender or get saved by the goalkeeper. It's enough to make you lose confidence in yourself, which makes you pass instead of shoot or delay your shots just enough for a defender to get back and block the shot.
However, all players miss chances. You need to keep making runs so you get more opportunities to score. If you find yourself missing chances and starting to doubt yourself, relax on the ball, remember your technique and be confident. Do these things and the goals will come.

5. Be Ruthless

If you get a little bit of space to get a shot away, then don't delay the shot. This will let a defender get a block in. Instead, be ruthless and get your shot away. It might go straight in, it might take a deflection and go in, or the goalkeeper might make a mistake and it might go in. It is no coincidence that the more shots a player has, the luckier they appear to be.
The main point is that unless you are ruthless and get shots away, you can't score goals.

6. Practice with a Purpose

You can use your back garden and a Samba football goal to practice your technique, but always practice with a purpose. If you place the ball down, take 4 steps back and smash it straight into the net then how often will you get the chance to do that during a game? It is more likely you will be finishing while on the move after beating a defender, receiving a pass or if the ball breaks to you. Try to replicate these scenarios when practicing. You can use a cone, pole or mannequin to act as the defender and do the following:

 Beat the defender with a move and then finish
 Dribble up to the defender, shift the ball either side of the defender to create space and
then finish
 Knock the ball around the defender to replicate a through ball, chase it and finish while on
the move
 Bounce the ball in the air and practice finishing when the ball is at different heights (so
replicate the ball breaking to you)

Practice your technique with both feet to increase your chances of scoring.
These are just some simple tips to help you get into more positions to score more goals. When you are in those positions it is important to have the correct technique to be able to put the ball in the net. However, as a coach I always say that I cannot help improve a players finishing if they do not shoot so be ruthless and get a strike at goal when the chance presents itself. The better your movement and technique, combined with confidence and ruthlessness, the better your goal tally will be at the end of the season.

What do you think? Have we missed any tips out? Let us know in the comments below.