One-touch shooting is all about quickness with a capital Q. This drill is for intermediate to advanced players who want to improve their efficiency in the circle — it is an excellent venue to work on punchy leads, fast shots, reverse shots, and back-space shots. While your team will certainly love this drill, this is also an excellent exercise for players who want to get some extra reps in on their own time as it can be effective with as few as two field players.
Objective: Score as the result of using quick one-touch or two-touch passes and short, fast leads.
Set Up:
- Place a five-yard line of cones one yard inside of the circle
- Have a pile of balls in the center of the field two yards behind the broken circle or seven yards from the top of the circle
- Have your group form a line behind the ball pile
The Drill:
- The first shooter starts one step behind the line of cones
- The ball starts with the player outside of the circle
- The shooter leads toward the ball while the player with the ball passes it firmly to them
- The shooter plays the ball one-time back to the passer and then leads in one direction
- The passer read the shooter’s lead and one-time passes the ball into space for the shooter to pick up and shoot to the far post
- The passer replaces the shooter and the next person in line becomes the passer
Points of Emphasis:
- Encourage flat, firm passes
- Recommend that your players keep a low body position throughout their time in the drill, standing up and then dropping down to receive the ball takes up too much valuable time in a quick-paced drill
- Emphasize shooting to the far post
- Encourage your goalkeepers to make one-time clears to the least dangerous space or the opposite side of the circle the shooter is striking the ball from
Recommendations:
- For intermediate players: modify the drill to be two-touch passes and allow them to get their feet around to receive that ball on their strong side for the forehand shot
- For advanced players: encourage them to receive the ball on their reverse for the forehand shot and practice back-space shots
- The first check pass can be challenging, encourage your players to communicate clearly with their stick, their voice, and their lead to help time the pass
- Start the drill by only going to one side, then switch, finish with the players getting to choose the side they want to shoot from
- Make it a competition! Set a time and have the field players set a number of goals that they think they can score within the time frame — if they meet it, they win, if they don’t goalkeepers win!