Among young players especially, developing effective finishing skills is one of the most elusive – and demanded – attributes for players at all levels of the game.

Regardless of whether you’re playing Sunday League football, you have a child playing in the junior leagues, or you’re looking to reach a professional level, the lack of decent finishing skills is hugely detrimental to all offensive players.

Below, we’ll run through three key areas to consider when looking to develop finishing skills to a professional level.

Killer First Touch

It might not be the finish itself, but how you are setting yourself up that is proving detrimental to the amount of chances you are putting away.

Without doubt, having a controlled first touch that gets the ball out of your feet is essential to all good finishes.

A key sign that you need to work on your first touch is if you often find yourself off balance or slicing the ball when shooting, or you’re having to rearrange your feet after controlling the ball.

This is because your touch should have the ball sitting comfortably in front of you and in stride – ideally on your stronger foot.

If you’re stretching to get the ball while shooting, you’re giving yourself a mountain to climb before you can even think about where to put the ball.

Awareness of Defenders and Goalkeeper

So, once the ball is controlled and in stride, you need to be aware of the players around you – especially the opposition.

This is largely psychological – involving a lot of game intelligence and composure – but if a defender is behind you and bearing down on you as you prepare to shoot, judge whether he is going to try and slide to block the shot.

If he is – and he is sufficiently close – it is wiser to dummy your first shot and drag the ball on to your other foot with a clear shot on goal.

One professional player who desperately needs to work on this facet of his game is Everton’s promising young striker, Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

He has a blossoming all-round game, but his lack of awareness of defender and goalkeeper positioning is why you won’t find him amongst the Premier League betting for top goalscorer anytime soon.

This aspect of a striker’s game often comes with maturity and confidence. It’s a very fine line between a goal and a miss, so make sure you’re sure what’s going on around you.

The key to improving this area of your game is to regularly check over the shoulder for opponents throughout the game, and also have your head up before shooting.

Bottom Corners

The third and final key to finishing like a Premier League Pro is finding the bottom corners of the goal on a regular basis.

You do not need to break the net. Accuracy beats power when inside the box.

How can you improve on finding the corners more? Practice, practice, practice.

Fancy drills aren’t needed here, simply have someone feed you balls around the penalty spot and practice trying to find the side of the netting with a mixture of one and two-touch finishes.