There are many ways to shoot the ball when trying to score in soccer. Of course these techniques require countless hours of practice but man are they beautiful when perfected. Here’s a couple of popular ways players strike the ball.
Finesse shot
For the finesse shot, players approach the ball at a slight angle turning their foot sideways and striking the ball with the upper part of the inside of the foot.
It’s a great way to shoot at the corners of the goal because the motion of the shot creates a curl effect while having control of the ball’s path. A tip with this shot is aiming a little bit off of your target (on the opposite side of where it will curl in) because the curl will bend it in more than you want.
This shot does lack the power of the power shot but it’s a great option when you have time to shoot, when the goalie is out of position or when you’re close to the goal.
Instep drive shot/ power shot
The standard, most popular shot in soccer is the instep drive shot, sometimes referred to as the power shot. It’s the shot most players learn when starting to play soccer. To execute the instep drive shot, players run up to the ball, tilt their bodies slightly, stretch out their arm that’s opposite the foot they’re shooting with (for balance) and strike the ball with the instep of the foot (where the laces are on the shoe). Players tend to point their toes down locking their ankle of the shooting foot resulting in a shovel-like strike. This results in a straight forward, fast shot with power if struck hard.
The instep drive shot does have less accuracy than the finesse shot but takes less time to shoot and has more power.
Outside foot shot/ Trivela
The outside foot shot or trivela, which has been getting more attention lately by super stars like Lamine Yamal using it, is a great shooting alternative. It can be used both as a passing option and a shooting option. Since we are here for shooting we’ll stick with the shooting side of the trivela.
To execute a trivela shot players run up to the ball, tilt their bodies at an angle, bend their foot inwards to expose the outside of the foot and strike the ball diagonally starting near the bottom left or right side of the ball moving outwards.
This shooting type is a great option when the player’s body position doesn’t give them time to adjust for a power shot or finesse shot. This is also a great shot because goalies usually don’t anticipate a trivela shot so their reaction time is slightly slower.
Overall there’s a lot of different ways to shoot in soccer. There’s plenty more I didn’t cover but these are the most used in my opinion. The superstars of today show us with great technique that different soccer shots, when perfectly executed, can be a beautiful thing to see.
