Shooting
Counter Long Range Zone
Strike cleanly from outside the area
Shooting
Attacking
Counter Long Range Zone is a 16-minute shooting drill for 4-16 players, suitable for Under 11 to Adults at beginner, intermediate, advanced level. You need balls, cones, full goals. Below you will find the objective, the set-up, how to run it, coaching points, common mistakes, progressions, regressions and variations.
Back to drill libraryShooting
Attacking
Technical Practice
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Full Squad
Youth Friendly
Adult Suitable
Goals Needed
Counter Attack
Duration
16 min
Players
4-16
Pitch size
41 x 36 yards
Ability levels
Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced
Pitch diagram
Counter Long Range Zone — Finishing set-up — serve, receive, shoot · 41 x 36 yards
Step 1 of 5Player receives on the edge of the zone and takes one touch out of the feet.
- 1. Player receives on the edge of the zone and takes one touch out of the feet.
- 2. The strike must be hit before leaving the zone.
- 3. Rebounds are live for a follow-up finish.
- 4. The team in possession starts each rep in their own half and must build forwards.
- 5. Turnovers earn a direct counter at the mini goals worth two points.
- Cones mark the area
- Full goal
- GK = goalkeeper
- S = server
- Ball
- Dotted arrow = rotation between repetitions
- Shooter becomes the next server
- Solid arrow = pass, thick = shot, dashed = run / dribble
Objectives
- -Strike cleanly from outside the area
- -Judge when the long shot is on
- -Improve technique on the driven ball
Setup
- 1A shooting zone marked 22-28 yards from goal in a 41 x 36 yards area.
- 2Place two mini goals on the halfway line for the counter-attacking side to aim at.
- 3Plenty of balls at the edge of the zone, keeper in goal.
Coaching instructions
- 1Player receives on the edge of the zone and takes one touch out of the feet.
- 2The strike must be hit before leaving the zone.
- 3Rebounds are live for a follow-up finish.
- 4The team in possession starts each rep in their own half and must build forwards.
- 5Turnovers earn a direct counter at the mini goals worth two points.
Coaching points
- -Ankle locked, laces through the ball
- -Get the shot down and on target
- -Only shoot when the lane is clear
- -Counter in a straight line — the first pass forward beats the recovery run
Common mistakes
- -Shooting from impossible angles
- -Ball bouncing before the strike
- -Dribbling into traffic when the counter is on
Where this drill fits
- More football shooting drills
- More football attacking drills
- football drills for U12s
- football drills for U14s
- football drills for U16s
- Football session plans built around this theme