Why football is all about ‘shooting’

18 Nov, 2018 - 00:11 0 Views
Why football is all about ‘shooting’

The Sunday News

mane

Cosmas Zulu

Amhlophe, Makorokoto, congratulations to Taurai Mangwiro and his technical team and to the entire Triangle family for winning the Chibuku trophy.

I also want to thank the CEO of the PSL, Kennedy Ndebele and his team and sponsors for taking the final to Triangle, its football development in a big way.

The Coaches’ Attitude: The raw excitement of soccer contained in even the most mediocre games is embodied in shooting, there can be no doubt that shooting  is the  most  important  aspect  of attacking play. Everything that an individual or team does is designed to contribute towards creating a shooting opportunity. It is surprising therefore that at every level of soccer a high percentage of opportunities to shoot are missed.

Some teachers and coaches are mystified by the fact that players often fail to shoot when they are in a position to do so,  but it is the teachers and coaches themselves who unwittingly regularly contribute towards the downfall of their players. They fail to maximise the shooting potential of their players in several ways.

By reducing shooting to a secondary consideration: It is easy when coaching passing or some other aspect of attacking  play to lose sight of  the main objective which  is  to score a goal, as a result many coaches fall into the trap of being satisfied with creating a scoring opportunity,   poor shots or indeed no shot at all frequently passes without  a comment. We even hear coaches speaking after games making observations such as “We  played very well, we just did not take our chances” but playing well involves taking scoring chances. It can be seen therefore that whatever aspect of attacking play one may be coaching, the emphasis should always be on the taking of scoring opportunities.

By praising unselfish play: As if the previous fault was not sufficient, it is often compounded by teachers and coaches who are far from criticizing  players for not taking shooting opportunities, praise  them for unselfish play.

Players who pass when they are in a position to shoot are more anxious to pass the responsibility. Unselfish players do not win matches, players should be educated to have aggressive approach to shooting, accepting personal responsibility for scoring as well as missing is fundamental to that aggressive approach.

Analysis of shots
Shots off target: Analysis of shooting shows that of the shots which are taken a large percentage miss target, it should be emphasised that it is a lesser sin to shoot wide than high, a shot going wide may have some chance of a deflection, a shot going high merely gives the opposition a goal kick. Missed shots are not always entirely due to a fault in technique, the personal attitude of the player may well be a contributory factor, particularly when  a player places a greater emphasis on power than accuracy. The correct attitude should always be accuracy before  power.

Low shots:  Shots along the ground are more difficult  for a goalkeeper to save than shots in the air. A player may like to see the roof of the net bulge but in going for high shots he is offering the goalkeeper a greater chance of stopping the ball. A goalkeeper will move quickly to a ball which is high than a low shot, which requires the goalkeeper to move the whole of his body to save. For a high ball, it may be possible to save by stretching out one arm, low shots are likely to stick, bump and skid all of which makes the goalkeeper’s task a little more difficult.

Let’s keep reading until next week. Feedback [email protected]/  0773842671

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