If you want to know how to shoot harder in football, it comes down to three things: set your body up so the force goes where you want it, strike the ball with the right part of your foot, and come into the ball with more speed. Force equals mass times acceleration. The faster you're moving into the shot, the more force goes into the ball.
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Most players only practise the second one. Here's all three.
Step one: your plant foot and your hips
A powerful shot starts with how you set your body up, before your kicking foot even moves.
- ✓Plant foot next to the ball, pointed at your target.
- ✓Hips and shoulders lined up with where you want the ball to go.
Whichever direction your hips face, that's the direction the ball goes. So face into where you want it. That gives you balance and direction, and it lets you strike cleanly with your body over the ball.
For a real power shot, step forward aggressively with your non-kicking leg and bend that knee as you land. That bent knee is your brake and your base. It stops your body so the energy transfers into your swinging leg instead of carrying you past the ball.
Step two: where you strike the ball
For power, use the front part of your foot, the area between the big toe and the ankle: your laces.
- ✓Drive your leg through the ball, then drive your knee up as you follow through.
- ✓Keep your chest upright or leaning slightly forward. This stops your foot getting too far under the ball and skying it over the bar.
- ✓Hit through the centre for a driven, flat shot.
If you want more control, hit the centre of the ball with your instep. If you want lift or curl, strike just under the centre or slightly off centre. Practise the same contact every time and it becomes automatic. That's how you control height, spin and power.
Once you've got power, there's a whole menu of shots to add: the curler with the edge of the big toe, the chip when the keeper's off his line, the topspin shot that dips late, the outside-of-the-foot strike on a breakaway. They all use the same basics: body position, contact, follow-through.
How to shoot harder in football: run into the ball
This is the step most players skip. Don't just shoot from standing.
Force equals mass times acceleration. Your mass doesn't change much on the day. But the faster you're travelling into the ball, the more force you can put through it, and the faster it flies in the direction you're shooting.
So practise like the game. Shoot quickly after receiving a pass. Shoot with a defender closing you down. Shoot on the run. That trains the shot at the speed and pressure you'll actually meet on Saturday. See?
Why technique alone has a ceiling
Here's my take. You can do as much shooting practice as you like, and it'll help your technique. But technique works with the engine you already have.
You can teach a six-year-old to shoot tens of thousands of times. They will never have the accuracy, the power and the stability of an adult who has trained their engine and produces far more force. Right?
The same is true for a 15-year-old next to a stronger, faster 15-year-old. If they both have good technique, the one who makes more force wins. More force into the ground on the plant step. More speed in the leg swing. More speed coming into the ball.
So if your shot feels weak, ask where the power is leaking:
- ✓Is your plant foot in the right place? Too far behind the ball and you lean back and sky it.
- ✓Are your hips facing the target? If not, you're pulling the ball wide.
- ✓Are you coming in slowly? Then you're relying on leg swing alone.
- ✓Does your standing leg collapse when you plant? That's a strength problem, not a technique one.
The bigger picture
Shooting is a skill sitting on top of an engine. Work on the skill as much as you want. But if the systems for speed and force aren't built underneath, you'll be limiting yourself your whole career.
That's why our athletes run flat out and lift heavy every week, alongside their football. Faster into the ball, stronger on the plant, more force through it. If you want to see how speed changes the rest of your game, read how to get faster for football.