Category: Goalkeeping

A young goalkeeper who can fly across their goal and stop a good shot hitting the back of their net always gets up wearing a big smile!

Diving is an important part of a goalkeeper’s skills set but it has to be taught carefully. Coaches should remember that their number one concern is player safety, so diving on hard ground must always be discouraged.

It’s much better to concede a goal than allow your goalkeeper to risk hurting themselves.

How to teach the correct technique

The first thing to remember is diving is – or should be – a last resort.

Normally, correct positioning, anticipation and good footwork should eliminate the need to dive but there will be occasions when your goalkeeper has to dive to save a deflected or sudden shot.

So let’s teach them how to do it

A dive begins with a quick, shuffle sideways in the direction the ball is going.

This shuffling movement should also be in a forward direction.

By moving sideways before they take off, the goalkeeper’s weight will be moving the right direction and by moving forwards they will be able to deflect the ball away from the goal.

If this movement is omitted or is backwards, your keeper may not be able to get to the ball and, even if they do, they are likely to drop it into the net. So make sure your player’s weight is shifting forwards as well as across the goal.

At this point, the player’s back leg should drive their body off the ground.

The goalkeeper’s body should be square on to the field, i.e., parallel to the goal line. This enables them to get their hands in the usual “W” catching position, with their thumbs behind the ball.

Having their body square on to the field also allows them to land on the hip/side which is the safest way to hit the deck.

This is perhaps the most important coaching point. If you allow your players to twist their body in the air they could land on their back or stomach and, if they do this, they will hurt themselves.

The risk of injury to your players will be further reduced if tell them to concentrate on catching the ball in the air and use it to cushion their landing.

Young players’ understandable fear of hurting themselves if they dive can be further reduced by making sure you don’t practise on hard ground and you take care to show them the correct technique.

However, this fear can be hard to overcome so be patient and don’t force young goalkeepers to dive if they don’t want to.

Finally, if your goalkeeper dives but doesn’t make contact with the ball, encourage them to get up quickly and get ready to make another save. A fast recovery might still allow them to stop the ball hitting the back of the net.

Time for some practice

To begin, place two balls on the ground about 10ft apart. Your goalkeeper stands between and slightly behind them in the “ready” position.

On your command of “left” or “right”, the goalkeeper dives sidewards and forwards and tries to smother one of the balls.

Progress by tossing a ball to the left or right of the goalkeeper at about shoulder height and three or four feet out of their reach.

Now the instruction is “dive left” or “dive right”.

Watch for the right pre-dive movement, body square on, hands in the correct position and a nice soft, landing on the hip/side.

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The job of goalkeeper in youth soccer is not a glamorous one.

Games are either one-sided affairs where goalies are either picking the ball out of their net every few minutes or watching the rest of the kids on their team knocking the ball into the other net sixty yards away.

Or if the game is close, young goalkeepers are keenly aware that one mistake on their part could mean the difference between winning and losing. For a child that is a worrying thought.Is it any wonder that it’s often hard to find a player who actually wants to play ‘between the sticks?’ We can make our ‘keepers lives a bit more bearable by taking the time to coach them properly (not just for five minutes every other week…) and making sure they know exactly what their job entails.

So let’s give them some tips:

1. Always make a 100% effort to save a shot, even if you know you can’t stop it.
a) your team-mates will find it hard to blame you if you at least try to stop the ball and
b) you will find that you can stop shots you didn’t think you could. All you need to do is try!

2.If you dive to stop a ball, don’t lie on the ground any longer than you have to. Jump up quickly and look for a teammate to pass to. If there isn’t anyone available, tell them – loudly – that there should be!

3.If you do concede a goal, don’t complain. Don’t have a go at defenders, even though they may be at fault. What’s done is done. If you dwell on it it will affect your game and the confidence of those around you so just get on with the match and concentrate on the next save, not the last miss.

4. Communicate! Loudly! Goalkeepers need to tell their defenders where to stand at set pieces and warn them when attackers are approaching on their blind side.

But young ‘keepers are often reluctant to say anything, let alone shout instructions, and you will need to work hard on this aspect of their game. Encourage your keeper to talk to any team-mate who is in earshot and give him your permission to make as much noise as he wants to.

Look after your goalkeepers – they’re worth their weight in gold!

This game helps young goalkeepers learn how to move in line with the ball and be in the best position to save shots.

Age group: U9s and upwards.

Number of players: Four to six players plus a goalkeeper.

Set-up: Divide your squad into groups of four or five. Set up a goal on one end line of a 20-yard square and mark a semi-circle 10 yards from the goal.

Put one player in goal and the rest take a ball and stand next to different coloured cones (or bibs) positioned around the arc of the semi-circle.

How to play:

To begin, have the cones fairly close together.

You call out a colour and the player standing at that cone shoots.

Make sure the keeper moves to the right position (on a line between the ball and centre of the goal) before making the save.

If the keeper is out of position, stop the game and show them where they should have been.

Go through all the colours then change the keeper.

Progression 1: Move the cones further apart.

Progression 2: Remove the cones. Now the players standing around the semi-circle pass a ball to each other.

The goalkeeper has to move quickly to stay in the right position. The player with the ball shoots on your command.

Each goalkeeper saves four or five shots.

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Here are some tips and tricks that give your goalkeeper a good chance of saving at least some of the penalties in a shoot-out… and help her to get through the whole experience without being emotionally scarred!

What to tell your goalkeeper

• Make yourself big – standing tall and stretching your arms out wide will make the goal look a lot smaller to a nervous penalty taker.
• Look confident – try to make eye contact with the kicker as she prepares to take her run up. Show her that you confident. Smile at her!
• Stay mobile – bouncing on the balls of your feet as the penalty taker runs up allows you to move quickly to the left or right.
• Sidestep – make a small, quick step to one side and back to the middle of the goal as the penalty taker is approaching the ball. This is often enough to make her take her eye off the ball and lose focus.
• Don’t dive before the ball is kicked – in junior football a lot of penalties are directed straight at the goalkeeper. You might just have to stand still and wait for the ball to be kicked into your hands.
• Dive forwards – if you have to dive, try to dive forwards. This cuts down the angle and makes it easier to reach the ball.

Visual cues

• Keeping a careful eye on the penalty taker will often give a keeper some useful clues as to which way they are going to shoot.
• Do they keep glancing in one direction?
• Are they left or right footed? Most right-footed players shoot to the goalkeeper’s right and left-footed players shoot to the keeper’s left.
• Watch the plant foot. In youth football, the ball will nearly always go where the plant foot is pointing.

Positioning

The law relating to penalty kicks states that the goalkeeper must be on the goal line and may not forwards until the shot is struck.

But the keeper does not have to stand in the middle of the goal.

In fact, it has been shown that by standing slightly off centre, the keeper will encourage the kicker to shoot at the wider half of the goal.

Standing just a few inches to the left or right often does the trick – even if the shooter hasn’t consciously noticed that the keeper is not standing in the middle of the goal, they will usually aim for the wider side.

To catch or not to catch?

The pressure of trying to save a penalty in a shoot-out is enough, don’t make it worse by trying to catch the ball.

Remember that the penalty taker in a shoot-out can’t touch the ball again after she’s kicked it. So if the shot is saved, that’s it.

Practising penalties

If you’re about to play a cup match that could end in a penalty shoot-out or you’re entering a tournament, devote one coaching session to penalty taking and saving.

Discuss a few of the key points with your players then play a small-sided game (SSG) where all restarts, even throw-ins, are penalty kicks.

But don’t get overly concerned with penalties. Try to win the game in normal time instead!

It’s a good idea with young soccer players to rotate all the players in the team, so that everyone gets the chance to be goalkeeper. A lot of coaches just put their weaker players between the sticks but that’s not fair on those players and it’s also short-sighted. Star attackers can easily become star goalkeepers given the chance!

This is one of my favourite goalkeeping games.

Place three cones in a triangle 10 yards apart in the middle of a 20-yard square playing area. One player is inside the triangle as the goalkeeper.

Two or three more players try to keep possession of the ball and score goals by moving the goalkeeper out of position and playing through the triangle. If the goalkeeper intercepts the ball, the player who played the ball last becomes the new goalkeeper.

This soccer coaching game is fast moving, lots of fun and will give all your players a chance to practise their goalkeeper skills.

Your goalkeeper has saved a goal, he has the ball and should be about to start your next attack but it doesn’t always work that way.

Very often a young, inexperienced goalkeeper will make the wrong decision, throw the ball to a team mate who is surrounded by the opposition forwards or kick the ball straight up in the air.

I’ve even seen a 10-year-old goalkeeper kick the ball back into their own net!

Mistakes, of course, will happen and they are an essential part of the learning process. But you can cut down on the number of avoidable mistakes your goalkeeper makes by spending some time going through distribution methods and decision making with him or her.

Let’s talk about distribution

Do not encourage your goalkeepers to hoof the ball down the field as far as possible, in the vague hope that one of your players will get on the end of it. That should be the last resort, not the first choice.

It’s far better for your goalkeeper to roll, throw or simply pass the ball to a team mate standing relatively close to the goal. But it is important that the receiving player is not under pressure.

As soon as your goalkeeper has the ball, your defenders should be moving into space and be ready to receive a pass. Your midfielders should also be in a position where they can support a defender who receives the ball.

How to roll the ball out

• The leg opposite to rolling hand should be in front of the body.
• Roll the ball like a ten-pin bowl, releasing it at its lowest point. Do not drop it.
• The goalkeeper’s knees and waist have to be bent.
• The rolling motion should be fast and there should be a good follow through.

Rolling or passing the ball out is the most accurate method of distribution.

But if there are no team mates standing close to the goal who are in a position to receive a pass, more distance can be gained by throwing or kicking the ball out.

There are three types of throw your goalkeeper can use: javelin, overhand and sidearm.

For the javelin (or baseball) throw, the ball sits in the palm of the hand and the throw starts with the hand level with the goalkeeper’s cheek and their fingers on the top of the ball. As the goalkeeper steps forward, the ball is thrown out.

A little more distance can be achieved with the sidearm throw. Again, the ball sits in the palm of the hand but this time the throwing arm is stretched back behind the body then brought forward with a slinging action.

The overhand throw is the most difficult to master but it is worth working on as many young goalkeepers can use this technique to throw the ball as far, or further, as they can kick it.

This time, the arm holding the ball is taken straight back with the elbow locked. As the goalkeeper steps forwards, the arm is brought forward (elbow still locked) and brought around in a circle over the head. The ball is released when the arm is at its highest point.

But if it’s not possible to pass, throw or roll the ball out, your goalkeeper needs to know how to kick it out of their hands.

This is often a dangerous moment in youth soccer matches as very often a young goalkeeper will only achieve a partial contact on the ball or miss it altogether. Result? Heart attack for watching coach!

There are two types of kick – the punt and the drop kick.

Most young players find the drop kick easier. This is where the goalkeeper drops the ball and kicks it as it hits the ground. A half volley, if you like. The low trajectory of the drop kick makes it a good technique for kicking into the wind and a drop kick is usually more accurate than a punt.

Although it’s not a very accurate method of distribution, goalkeepers can usually achieve more distance on their kicks with a punt. This is where the goalkeeper holds the ball in both hands, takes a short run and drops the ball directly on to the laces part of the foot. The kicking foot should be pointing at the target and come straight up and through the ball.

Whichever method of distribution is chosen, practice makes perfect. Goalkeepers should be encouraged to practise kicking and throwing as much as possible and they should not get disheartened if, at the beginning, they have little accuracy or distance. Both will come with practice and hard work.

Whatever you do, don’t tell them to “just get rid of it!”. Allow your goalkeeper to decide how to distribute the ball in matches, be patient and accept that mistakes – that often lead directly to the ball hitting the back of your net – will be made in the beginning.

Although young goalkeeper often kick the ball away in the interest of getting the ball away from the goalmouth, throwing the ball is much more accurate and is a great way to start the counterattack.

Warm Up (10 min)
Jog and stretch, putting more emphasis on upper body and arms: large arm movements (windmilling, etc.) will get the shoulders loosened up. Have goalkeepers throw & catch in pairs or facing lines, but make the distance a bit larger than usual.

Coaching Points Make sure the arms and back are thoroughly warmed up.

Rolling the Ball (5 min)
Demonstrate or review basic rolling technique; have them roll the ball back and forth in pairs; then have the target player moving so the roll must lead them, like a good pass. Keepers should receive the ball with their feet, like a field player, then pick it up for their throw.

Coaching Points The release point of the ball should be low, so the ball rolls smoothly. Rolls shouldn’t be slow and lazy; they should get there as quickly as possible, so put some zip on the ball! A moving receiver should be able to take the ball in stride.

Baseball/Sidearm Throw (5 min)
Demonstrate or review techniques for these throws. Again in pairs, practice the throw first to a stationary partner, then to a moving one.

Coaching Points As before, the release point should be low. The ball should not be high and looping; it should hit the ground half- to three-quarters of the way to the target so it has time to settle. Some backspin on the ball will help this happen. Again, the throw should have some pace on it. Keepers receive the balls with their feet.

Same/Switch (5 min)
This activity needs four keepers in a square about 20 yards on a side. One player rolls the ball an adjacent teammate. As this is happening, the player diagonally across the square will call “Same” or “Switch”. If the call is “same”, the goalkeeper returns the ball to the player it came from with a roll. If the call is “switch”, the keeper sends the ball to the opposite side with a baseball or sidearm throw.

The player diagonally across from the keeper receiving the ball calls “Same” or “Switch” and the sequence repeats.

Coaching Points Rolls are used for close distribution, which might typically be a teammate on the same side of the field as where the ball is. A baseball or sidearm throw is used for longer distances, as when the keeper might want to quickly switch fields. The diagonally opposite player should call “same” or “switch” before the keeper across from them has received the ball, so the keeper must quickly distribute the ball in the proper direction and with the correct technique. Make sure they keep up a quick pace in this exercise.

Overhand (Sling) Throw (5 min)
Demonstrate or review the overhand throwing technique. Keepers should practice in pairs at a distance of 25-30 yards.

Coaching Points Once again, look for a low release point with a low trajectory throw that hits the ground a ways in front of the receiving player. Three common problems I see with this throw: 1) Bent elbow. The arm needs to be straight, elbow locked, throughout the throw. 2) Ball not locked in. The ball must be held securely between the hand and the forearm with a bent wrist, not just held in the palm of the hand. 3) Sidearm throw. This throw should be straight over the top for better accuracy.

Throwing square (10 min)
Four keepers in a 25-yard square, with one defender in the middle. Keepers throw the ball around the square, using a roll, baseball or sidearm throw to teammates on either side, or an overhand throw to the player across diagonally, keeping the ball away from the defender. Keepers receive the ball with their feet before picking it up to throw; if the ball can’t be received cleanly the defender may challenge for the ball. If the defender in the middle are keepers, they can exchange places with an outside keeper if they win the ball. You can vary the number of players outside and number of defenders based on ability and the number of players available.

Coaching Points Encourage quick decision making — find the open player fast, before the defender closes down. Throws should find their teammates feet and be on the ground (not bouncing) to prevent loss of possession.

“Ultimate” Throwing (15 min)
Divide keepers into two groups, and mark out a field a bit larger than you would use with a similar number of field players. Add an 8 yard deep “end zone” at each end. This game is similar to Ultimate Frisbee, except that players receive the ball with their feet. One team throws the ball to the other to start; a team advances the ball by throwing to a teammate, who receives it with their feet and controls it. Once they have, they may not move, but must pick the ball up and throw it to another teammate from that spot. Score a point by throwing to a teammate who controls the ball in the end zone. Defenders on the other team may intercept the throw or win the ball using their feet if the thrower’s teammate does not control the ball. The thrower may not be closely marked; defenders must stay at least two arm-lengths from the thrower.

Coaching Points: Find open teammates quickly and hit them in the feet. Enforce good goalkeeper throwing techniques; often players begin to simply lob the ball up towards the end zone. Using a neutral player or two who is always with the team in possession will make this game easier.

Throwing Distribution Game (20 min)
This game uses two keepers in goals at each end (cone goals are fine for this activity) and field players in the middle, one or two of whom are neutrals who always play with the team in possession. Minimum in the middle is 1v1+1 (1v1 plus neutral), it can go all the way up to almost full sides if you like (8v8+2). Field size varies with the number of players, but it should be on the large side. Play like a regular game, except that the objective of the offence is not to score goals — it’s to “shoot” the ball right to the goalkeeper so they can then distribute. The neutrals make this work by giving the attackers a couple extra players to get “shots” on goal, and giving the goalkeeper a couple more distribution options. Defenders can play less than 100% as well to give the keepers more work.

Coaching Points Keepers should look to distribute quickly when the receive the ball — look long first, and if there is nothing there go shorter. The longer they wait, the harder it will be to find an open player as the defence gets organized. Make sure throws are to feet and easy to receive, and have enough pace to get to the receiver before the defence can pick off the ball.

Soccer Golf (Throwing Only) (15 min)
Soccer golf is one of the most popular activities with my goalkeepers every season. Before practice, chart out a “golf course”, noting “tees” and “holes”. Tees just need to be a grassy location; holes should be 75 to 150 yards in length with an object at the end to hit. Please use objects nobody will mind getting hit with a soccer ball! Trash cans, street signs, goalposts, and fenceposts are some items that are usually acceptable. You can also mark out your own course using corner flags or coaching sticks. Then play “golf”, using throwing technique to get the ball near to, and then hitting the “hole” object, in the fewest throws.

Coaching Points Use the appropriate throw — tee off with a long overhand throw, then a more accurate baseball throw to get close, and a roll to finish it off.

Objective: To practise goalkeeping, teamwork and scoring goals.

Age group: U7s to U10s.

Set up: Divide your squad into two teams.

Place a cone goal for each player on one of the teams inside a 40-yard square.

How to play: One team guards the cone goals.

The players on the other team have a ball each and try to score as many goals as possible in a set time.

The attacking team can shoot from either side of the cone goals so the keepers need to be very aware of what is going on around them.

Coaching tip:

Ask your players if they can score more goals by working together instead of each attacking player working on their own.

Progression:

• Play with uneven teams (6v3, etc.).
• Take away some balls so there is one ball between two players on the attacking team.
• Make the goals bigger or smaller.
• Create more goals than there are defenders so that each player has to defend more than one goal.