Improve Football Shooting Power

K09

Hi,

I want to put much more power into my shooting when I play football.
Any tips or advice?? What muscles should I strengthen and what training methods should I be using?

Thanks.

Hanley

Outside of kicking a ball over and over again in different conditions, and with different bounces until you're able to hit it perfectly each time, I imagine the general lower body and hip dominant exercises like squats, deadlifts and power cleans would fit the bill.

cowzerp

+1

Leon11

From speaking to some mates who play Eircom League they do leg extensions, deads and hamstring curls focusing on getting the weight up as quick as possible more than the actual weight they lift.

It's really down to technique though most of them say, one or two of my mates don't bother with weights and they hit the ball so hard that I almost broke my wrist trying to catch the ball before:o

Morpheus

As a matter of interest, any idea how could one include the speed of foot movement... similiar to the blinding speed of Ronaldos stepovers?

thirtyfoot

Leon11 wrote: »

From speaking to some mates who play Eircom League they do leg extensions, deads and hamstring curls focusing on getting the weight up as quick as possible more than the actual weight they lift.

I would think doing leg extensions or hamstring curls very fast wouldn't be as efficient as doing the basics lifts as already mentioned, to get strong and then channelling that strength by actually kicking the ball. Just applying sprinting theory in that you don't get faster by lifting weights but you get stronger and then apply that strength by sprinting, I would say the same may apply here, but then again I ain't a football coach.

Colm_OReilly

Agree with Tingle, the leg extensions done quickly sounds like over-specificity imo, and more likely going to interfere with the motor neuron recruitment of actually kicking.

It's akin to the practice of swinging a heavier bat for baseball practice.

cowzerp

Leg extensions are isation exercises, kicking a ball is using many muscles in a controlled manner, squating is the closest thing to this in weight training.

i can understand leg curls as football players are prone to hamstring pulls due to weak hamstrings, if there strong there will be less pulls..

Leon11

Agree with Tingle, the leg extensions done quickly sounds like over-specificity imo, and more likely going to interfere with the motor neuron recruitment of actually kicking.

It's akin to the practice of swinging a heavier bat for baseball practice.

I would think doing leg extensions or hamstring curls very fast wouldn't be as efficient as doing the basics lifts as already mentioned, to get strong and then channelling that strength by actually kicking the ball.

I agree that it's not as efficient an exercise as the others Hanley mentioned however there's very few times that I think hip power is going to transfer over to actually kicking a ball, you primarily use the lower half of your leg to kick the ball. Yes you do twist and turn which requires hip movement but it's a small part in actually smashing a ball. Point in case is me messing about with mates who play a good standard, I'd be ok at football but there's not a chance in hell I'll kick a ball half as hard them even though I play rugby and train more in regards to power through the hip movement.

Mainly technique I put it down to.

matrixroyal

I would say that technique has a lot to do with it, not just raw power.


Out of interest, what do golfers do to get some extra distance on their shots ?

puntosporting

I managed to get a lot more power in my shots just from practising with a ball!
A good high wall if your alone or a mate will do its 90% technique i reckon !
Im sure building up all musce groups can only help matter but if your basic form is wrong when striking it wont matter anyway!

entropi

Morphéus wrote: »

As a matter of interest, any idea how could one include the speed of foot movement... similiar to the blinding speed of Ronaldos stepovers?

Trying to improve overall speedwork is the only way, practice using cones and shuttle runs/suicides without the ball, when you feel comfortable, progress to using a ball in some of the runs. Also study what those players do on the field, and how they are able to move so fast with the ball, as with just about everything, practice makes perfect.

puntosporting wrote: »

I managed to get a lot more power in my shots just from practising with a ball!
A good high wall if your alone or a mate will do its 90% technique i reckon !
Im sure building up all musce groups can only help matter but if your basic form is wrong when striking it wont matter anyway!

+1

The only way i was able to develop myself during the years i played was with friends, mostly 5 a side/7 a side but it was the constant playing and practice that improved me overall.

Building my own leg power for shooting was pretty much the same deal, although i had a bit of advantage over my mates due to building my leg muscles easier than theirs(genetics i guess)and since age 17 without any work since i've had 21in thighs and 15in calves of almost all muscle. Now if i done some leg work i could improve on that a bit and so could the OP, in turn having more available potential power in that shot. And definately do work on your hip flexors as they are one key to a good shot, and can become injured quite easily if weak.

madds

matrixroyal wrote: »

Out of interest, what do golfers do to get some extra distance on their shots ?

1. Widen the swing arc thereby increasing clubhead speed at impact
2. Make a full shoulder turn
3. Work on flexibility
4. Drive through at impact with the legs

Just because a person is ripped does not translate into hitting a golf ball a long way, although it does help. I've seen skinny 14 year olds out hitting fully grown men because they have better technique and flexibility.

Colm_OReilly

I didn't mean to exclude technique from the equation, just the idea of using leg extensions as the primary developer (if developer is even the right word for that)

Definitely work on technique. I'd say there's a ton of guys with a squat comparable or greater than ROG but very few can kick with the distance and accuracy he can.

But please, squat.

K09

Master of Nothing wrote: »

Building my own leg power for shooting was pretty much the same deal, although i had a bit of advantage over my mates due to building my leg muscles easier than theirs(genetics i guess)and since age 17 without any work since i've had 21in thighs and 15in calves of almost all muscle. Now if i done some leg work i could improve on that a bit and so could the OP, in turn having more available potential power in that shot. And definately do work on your hip flexors as they are one key to a good shot, and can become injured quite easily if weak.

How do I improve the strength of my hip area? What are hip flexors? Thanks.

colly10

If you want to improve the power in your shots practise shooting, its all technique. Anyone can blast a ball like you would for a kick out but then they loose power trying to keep the ball down and on target, its practise which helps you to strike the ball at full power while keeping it down and on target.

Id be suprised if your technique is so good that your shot would improve more from doing squats than it would from practise