Set and shoot: outside the box

What it trains

One small set touch out of your feet, then a low laces strike at a target corner, from just outside the box. Most goals come from inside the box (82% at Euro 2020), so this is for the chances that fall just outside it.

Set up

• A goal
• 6 balls
• Cones 2 m inside posts
• 18 m out, outside box

How it works

1. Warm up first. Use a goal that is anchored or weighted, with nobody in or behind it. Put a cone 2 m inside each post: the two corners are your targets.
2. Line up 6 balls about 18 m out, just outside the box (a full-size penalty area is 16.5 m deep). Size 4 ball at U12-U13, size 5 from U14.
3. Pick a corner. Take one small set touch out of your feet, about a step ahead.
4. Step in, plant your standing foot beside the ball and strike it low into your corner with your laces. Follow through.
5. Shoot all 6, collect the balls and rest 1 minute. Do 3 rounds of 6 (our target).

Coaching points

1. Set it a step ahead. One small touch, about a step ahead: the ball is out of your feet with room to swing your leg, but close enough that you do not stretch for it. Young players usually need a few touches to get ready to score (England Football Learning).
2. Foot beside, follow through. Plant your standing foot beside the ball, pointing at your corner, with your knee over the ball. Strike through the middle with your laces and follow through, landing on your kicking foot. These are coaching cues, not research findings.

Not this

Striking the ball while it is still under your feet: there is no room to swing, so the shot is cramped and scuffs or lifts. A touch so big that you have to stretch for it does the same.

Dose

• 3 rounds of 6 shots
• 1 min rest between

Our target: 3 rounds of 6 with 1 minute of rest, from 18 m at corners 2 m wide: Football Reach targets, not FA rules.

Harder / Easier

Safety

• Warm up first. Only use a goal that is anchored to the ground or has a weighted back bar, and never climb or swing on it.
• Flat grass or a pitch, with nobody in or behind the goal and clear space behind it: never a road, a window or a neighbour's wall. Anyone fetching balls stays to the side, out of the line of the shot.
• Low shots only, along the ground or just above it. Stop if anything hurts.

Sources

• England Football Learning - finishing session: set and shoot (opens in a new tab)
• England Football Learning - how to design a shooting session (touches before scoring, Euro 2020 goals) (opens in a new tab)
• England Football Learning - different finishing techniques (the laces) (opens in a new tab)
• IFAB Laws of the Game - Law 1, the field of play (penalty area 16.5 m) (opens in a new tab)
• The FA - goalpost safety (opens in a new tab)
• England Football FutureFit - ball sizes by age group (opens in a new tab)