How to Improve Crossing and Finishing

No matter how good your team is at keeping possession and ball circulation through the thirds of the field, if you can't finish, your team will suffer. With teams becoming more solid defensively in front of the goal, it's important that you teach your team to play in wide areas and finish from these areas as well.

Using in-depth illustrations - both on a white board and on the field - Jay Hoffman shows you several small-sided games to train your team to create and finish from both central and wide areas. This DVD explains the teaching points he emphasizes during the games:

• Placement vs. Power
• Framing the goal from the supporting attacker and third man runners
• The attitude needed to finish
• Types of service from wide areas and the finishing needed for those balls

Six Exercises for Crossing and Finishing

Coach Hoffman provides a step-by-step guide to the main activities he uses at Centre College to improve the tactical and technical nuances of scoring.

He begins with a two man unopposed finishing pattern that lays the foundation to his team's ability to finish and frame the goal - while incorporating conditioning as well. The emphasis is on players developing a quick combination before going to goal, and the importance of framing the goal from the supporting player. After the combination, it's important to make the proper decision based on the type of ball received and the angle of the goalkeeper.

The second segment progresses to a two player horizontal finishing exercise with pressure. Here, Coach Hoffman puts his players in a more realistic game scenario, going to goal in a 1v1 with the goalkeeper. After the 1v1, he takes away the pressure and adds a supporting player, who must overlap and make it 2v0 going to goal with the goalkeeper. It's during this game that Coach Hoffman forces his players to have a shot or slot it across the goal for the supporting player, based on the quality of ball.

Next comes four line shooting with a target player. This is an excellent unopposed technical game working on a player's first touch through various types of balls, finishing, through balls, and also forces players to frame the goal.

The fourth exercise is the 4v4 Take Back Soccer drill. This 3v3 game in the middle forces teams to find their fourth player, who is a target player, and then quickly attack the goal with pace. This small sided game does a great job of incorporating attacking, defending, finishing, transition, possession with a purpose, and counter attacking all in one.

The fifth small sided game shown is an 8 vs goalkeeper and defenders drill. Coach Hoffman puts an immediate restriction on how attacking players keep possession and finish against one defender and another goalkeeper acting as the second defender. Based on the restrictions given, this should create lots of interchanging, overlapping, and creative play from the 8 attacking players.

The sixth and final segment of the training exercises is an unopposed passing finishing pattern. During this pattern, Coach Hoffman teaches the importance of framing the goal and the types of services needed to be effective in front of goal. He progresses the pattern by adding an overlap as the winger cuts in, giving the option of a third man run combination. The final progression adds an attacking midfield player, leading to 5 players crossing and finishing.

This video from Coach Hoffman is sure to help your team improve their finishing and crossing!

"I rank this video as a 5 or one of the best I have seen addressing this important topic.ÿ I took some of activities and used them with my High School team the night after I viewed the tape and found the players had a lot of fun (every player LOVES shooting exercises) and made improvement in their crossing and finishing. The activities are easy to set up, move fast and create many opportunities for the coach to address individual and team problems that can be fixed to improve the opportunities to score goals." - Customer Review

57 minutes. 2016