Ian Wright's insane shooting drill shows how good professional footballers really are

We all could have made it as professional footballers had we just not suffered that knee injury at the age of 14, which held back our development.

That is a statement that every football fan has said, be that in sincerity or in jest, but let's be honest, there is a reason that so few have made it professionally.

Now, Ian Wright has shared a shooting drill which demonstrates that the delusion that some of us supporters have in our head that there is little difference between us and professionals is just that, a delusional thought.

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Ian Wright’s insane shooting drill

The former Arsenal striker was renowned as a predatory finisher during his professional career. Wright would score a total of 324 goals across 626 appearances for clubs such as Arsenal, Crystal Palace, and West Ham United.

Now, Wright has shared an insane shooting drill to help explain why he was such a danger in the box, and helping to explain why many could never have made it as a professional footballer.

An extract from the former England international’s biography detailed a tough drill, as the tweet helped explain the difference in mindset between him as a professional footballer and us mere mortals.

The post claimed too many people have been taught that if they simply aim for the general target and test the goalkeeper, then that is a positive mindset to have when shooting.

However, Wright proved why he made it as a striker in the game as he claimed he would spend hours practicing, and it would not be simply trying to find the net but specific areas of the net each time.

The former Arsenal star said: “I’d shoot from different angles and distances, I’d chip it, I’d curl it… all that stuff. After a while I didn’t just want to curl it into the goal, but the side netting, then I wanted it to clip the post on the way into the side netting.

“I’d spend hours trying to curl it into minute spaces. I’d focus on an area as precise as four squares of the net.”

Wright has perfectly summed up the difference between professionals and average footballers. It is that dedication to the craft and the sheer precision required to be at the elite level of the sport.

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Ian Wright’s fellow clinical operators

The former Arsenal international was seen as a natural finisher, and there have been many of these players in the Premier League throughout the division's history.

While Alan Shearer is the record goal scorer in the division with 260 goals, the Newcastle United legend is not often described as a natural goal scorer, but he was a force of nature in front of the net.

There are several names that will jump to people’s minds as natural finishers that have operated in the Premier League, including Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler.

The former England international has often been described by several former players as the most natural goal scorer in the division

Another player who only operated in the division for months but was a former teammate of Wright and was simply clinical was Henrik Larsson. The Celtic legend was greatly admired by many as one of the best strikers in Europe at the time, during the early 2000s.