Combination Shooting with Dummy Run
Two players check to the ball — the front one steps over it and lets it run, sprints around the stick, and finishes the back checker's first-time ball on goal.
Finishing within the 18 is the whole job here — the dummy run and the combination exist to put the ball in the back of the net, one touch, on target.
15 min tonight · 4 even groups, plus a keeper
- Ages 9+
- 4 even groups, plus a keeper
- 15 min as the drill is written
- Cones, practice sticks, full-size goal
Grab Cones, your practice sticks, the balls, and your full-size goal.
Build On a half field, set 2 sticks around the 18-yard box — spaced the width of the goal and squared up to it; the diagram confirms the spots.
Place Split the team into 4 even groups — a line on the end line about 5 yards off each goal post, and two lines about 30 yards out, each even with an end-line group. The balls start at the top line.
- 1
Organize the players
Make your 4 even groups — one on the end line about 5 yards off each post, two about 30 yards out facing them — put the keeper in the goal, and start the balls with the top lines.
“Four groups — two by the goal, two out top with the balls. First two on the end line, be ready to check.”
- 2
Show the jobs
Walk one rep — two players from the end-line group check in to the player with the ball, about 5 to 7 yards apart. The top player plays the ball in toward the front checker, who dummies the run — steps over the ball and lets it run between their legs — then sprints around the stick looking for the next ball. The back checker plays a first-time ball into the middle of the sticks, and the front player finishes with a shot on goal.
“Front runner — let it run right through your legs, then go around the stick. Back runner — first time, into the middle. Then hit it.”
- 3
Play
Alternate each shot between the two sides and keep the reps coming. Hold the checkers to focused, attentive runs, keep passes and shots to one touch, and demand good shooting technique with the ball on target — this drill is all about finishing, finishing, finishing.
“One touch — on target! Put it in the back of the net!”
Look for The finish — one-touch shots struck with good technique, on target and in the net.
- 4
Switch and repeat
Rotate every rep — the shooter joins the top line, the back checker goes to the back of the line and becomes the next front checker, and the top player joins the back of the end-line group. Keep alternating sides so both lines work.
“Shooter to the top! Next side — check in!”
If the dummy keeps turning into a tangle, freeze it and ask — whose ball runs through, and who hits the shot? Let them answer, then play on.
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Why it works
Every rep runs the same chain — a checking run, a dummy stepped over the ball, a first-time ball into the sticks — so the finishing chances arrive fast, from both sides of the goal, and the whole drill stays pointed at putting the ball in the net.
What they learn
Finishing within the 18 — focused checking runs, the dummy run stepping over the ball, one-touch passes and shots, and good shooting technique with the ball on target.
Where does this come from?
SoccerXpert — their published drill library.
A published drill library. Useful and widely used, but not a governing body — so it fills gaps rather than leading.