Teaching the Instep Drive

When a player wants to kick a ball with optimum power, the instep drive is the technique that is most often used. On the center top of the foot, towards the inside is a hard bone. This is the primary contact point for the instep drive. Because of the proximity on this point to the shoe laces, some refer to this as the "laces" kick which may be a good reference point for young players, even though the contact point may be just inside of the laces.

If a player wants to keep the ball low, toe of the foot must be pointed at a downward angle when contact is made. The upper leg (thigh) must be the prime muscle group moving the lower leg through the ball on this kick.

Some of the key technical points for the instep drive are:

• support foot beside the ball and pointed at the target
• kicking foot pointed down and locked throughout the shot and follow through
• body weight is moving forward and through the shot, landing on the kicking foot

Instep Drive Training

Warm-ups

• two man pass and move.
• stretch the ankles by rotating them while standing on one foot; then press the toes into the ground and try to drive the front of the foot forward and down with the upper leg; this should give the player a since of driving the lower leg with the upper.
• by standing sideways to and grabbing onto a stationary object, swing a leg slowly until maximum swing is reached; switch legs; stress the leg swing being driven with the upper leg.

Technical Exercises

• have the players pass back and forth in the two man groups using the instep; move through the technical points above, individually focusing on each one; the players should not one-touch their kicks at this point; increase the power of the pass and distance between the players gradually
• have one player hand serve the ball to an area below her partner's knee; this is to reinforce the foot-down kicking position throughout the kick
• ghost kicking--to reinforce the support foot beside the ball, place a ball in front of a goal and have the players plant their foot just wide of the ball and pretend to kick an imaginary ball just beside it; the coach should watch that the plant foot is in the proper position, i.e. neither too far behind nor too far ahead of the ball; that the kicking foot is pointed down; and that the follow through is well forward. In some areas, coaches emphasize that the player should land on the kicking foot and keep moving towards the target, which helps with a proper follow-through.
• shoot and tend goal--set up cones 6-8 yards apart, with groups of 3-5 players; one player is between the cones facing another player with ball; the player with ball dribbles a step or two and takes a shot; the shooter then trades places with the goalkeeper as the player on the other side of the goal collects the ball and shoots on the new goalkeeper, becoming the next goalkeeper after his shot
• close-in shooting--on a goal, have the players take a short dribble and shoot from about 6 yards out with "some" power; the purpose is to develop some confidence of hitting the goal during the learning phase; the coach should stop all bad habits that start to form as the players try to increase their power; stress keeping the ball low through proper placement of the plant foot and by getting the body over the ball; gradually increase the distance of the shot on goal
• pass and shoot--set two cones about 20 yards out from each post; divide the team into two groups, one on each post; one player starts his run from a post to around the cone in front of him; the player at the far post passes to the player as he rounds the cone; after receiving the pass, the player sets up his shot with as few touches as possible and shoots; the shooter collects his shot and goes to the other line and the original passer starts his run around his cone to receive a pass from the other post player.

Tactical Exercises

• off the dribble--half the players are dribbling a ball in an area above the penalty area; each player has a number, starting with one; the other half are behind the goal collecting balls; they are numbered as well, starting with one; when the coach calls out a number, that player quickly dribbles the ball into the penalty area and shoots; the player behind the goal with the shooter's number collects a ball and switches with the shooter
• back angles--have a player dribble to the goal line then pass the ball to a player running in on goal
• through ball--player A has ball just wide of one goal post about 35 yards out from the goal line and passes the ball to player B who is making a run towards the opposite post from about 35 yards out; B is to shoot on the second touch
• wall pass--one player is 25 yards out from the goal line between two groups of players who are 35 yards out, the first player of group one dribbles and plays a wall pass (i.e. "give and go") combination with the middle player and shoots the return pass; immediately after the wall pass the first player in the second group plays a wall pass combination with the middle player on the other side; after a series of passes, the middle player is switched out

Match Related Exercises or Games

• Keep Your Yard Clean

  set up two parallel lines of cones far enough apart so that it will take a reasonable shot to get across. The area between the cones is "no mans land". Divide the team in two groups, one group on either side of "no mans land", each player with a ball. Instruct the players to get rid of all the balls on their side by kicking them as hard as they can to the other team's side. No one can go into "no mans land". Play for 3 minutes. Whoever has the least number of balls on their side wins. Watch for kids backing up, and lining up the ball like a goal kick. Stress getting rid of the ball as quickly as possible. You may need to even up teams if it seems unbalanced.

• 4v4 Shooting Game

  move two goals about 20 yards apart; play teams of 3 or 4 with goal keepers. Start with all balls in the goals, evenly divided between the two either keeper starts play by tossing a ball on the field. When a ball goes out of play, the nearest goal keeper puts another ball in play as soon as possible; players are urged to shoot on their attacking goal as often and as they can.

• 5v5 on One Goal

  10 players in the penalty area, remaining players on outside as servers with multiple balls. Servers toss balls into the area where players contest possession and shoot as often as possible. Emphasize need for players that gain possession of the ball to quickly turn and shoot.