Category: Goalkeeping

You may not be able to stop every shot that comes your way, but if you make the attempt, you will find that you are stopping shots you never before thought possible. You will also have the personal satisfaction that at least you made the attempt and your teammates will be more forgiving even if you miss

After a save – get up quickly!

If you have gone to the ground to make a save get back on your feet as fast as possible. Look for a fast break distribution or to direct your teammates into position to receive a build-up distribution. This aspect is particularly important if you are injured. You cannot show weakness, you may tend to your injury after you have started the counterattack. This will particularly intimidate your opponents and raise the confidence in your teammates.

Do not be half-hearted — 100% effort!

Every time you make a play it must be with all of your ability. If you go half way you will miss saves and injure yourself.

Communicate loudly!

You must constantly give instructions when on defence. When your team is on the attack, come to the top of your penalty area or beyond and talk to your teammates and offer support to the defenders. Be mentally involved in the entire match, no matter where the football is.

No excuses! No whining! Just get on with it!

If a goal is scored against you, a corner kick is given up or the shot is a near miss, DO NOT yell at your teammates even if it’s their fault. DO NOT hang your head; kick the ground or the post if it was your fault. During the match is no time to point fingers or make excuses. The play is over, its ancient history, get on with playing the remainder of the match. Focus on what lies ahead!

This article presents a few hints on keeper training for young players. This is not presented as a practice plan, because an entire practice on keeper training is not appropriate for young players and because all players should be exposed to these basics.

First let’s define the age group as U-9 or U-10 and younger. A player this young should not be forced to play goalkeeper full time. All the players should get some keeper training. This training should include the rules for keepers including where they can use their hands and how they may get rid of the ball. Pay special attention to the latter since it varies widely at the lower levels. For example a local recreational league allows the keepers to run to the top of the area and get rid of the ball, whereas another league enforces the 4 step rule.

Specific training should be aimed at teaching proper catching technique. Forget diving and all the advanced stuff. For the upper limit of the age group (U-9) you can begin to teach positioning. Stress importance of protecting near post, cutting down angle, and moving across the goal mouth as the ball moves across the field. You can teach them to come off the line for free balls in the area where they can handle the ball beginning at the U-7 level.

Spend time also on what to do after the keeper gets the ball. Teach the kids not to panic. Lots of kids in this age (and older too) want to get rid of the ball as soon as possible. Teach them to catch the ball, take a deep breath, let the traffic clear, and then distribute the ball. U-8 and younger you probably want to kick, throw, or whatever the ball as far up field as possible. When you reach U-9, you can probably start adding other options, if the field players have sufficient skill to retain control of the ball after the keeper gets it to them. If the field players lack skill, then its still best to blast the ball up-field.

The team should buy a couple of junior keeper gloves (2 sizes so that all the kids can use them) that are form fitting and provide a dimpled surface. These gloves cost under $10/pair at your local department store. Avoid the big gloves. As anyone who has coached young kids baseball can tell you, young kids can barely control their bare hands. So don’t even think about any of the large modern gloves.

At U-8 or so, you may find a kid who is more serious about being a keeper and will come to practice with a pair of big gloves, just like the big kids use. I suggest you don’t let him use them because of the kid’s inability to control them. Talk to the parents and explain why you’re not using the big gloves. Better yet have a meeting before the $ is spent.

Assuming that practice time is limited, I would suggest a few sessions as follows:

For the whole team go over the rules for keepers.

For the whole team demonstrate proper catching. Divide the team into pairs and let them practice catching. Walk around and make necessary corrections.

Above is probably 5 to 10 minutes.

Set up shooting/keeper drills and rotate all kids into the goal. Keeper teaching points are catching technique and what to do after the ball is caught.

During scrimmages, place emphasis on what the keeper should do with ball after the save.

There are three key points for training young keepers:

Don’t blame keepers for giving up a goal.

The coach MUST stay calm when the keeper has the ball. Too many coaches panic and start screaming “GET RID OF THE BALL.” If the coach panics, there is no way to expect the kids to stay calm.

Remember that young kids have a short attention span and may be studying the bugs on the field while the ball is headed for the back of the net. Don’t let this bother you.

Technique Training Exercises

During most warm-ups the coach can include some GK work with the field player’s workout. Some suggestions are:

All players are dribbling in an area. The designated GKs are jogging around and call for a ball from a dribbler. The dribbler makes a ground pass to the GK who runs through the pickup and returns the ball to the dribbler. The coach could make this a team-wide exercise–the GK that picks up the ball now is a dribbler and the passer becomes the GK. As the skill level increase, the dribbler can “shoot” a catchable ball at the GK.

All players are passing and moving in pairs. The designated GK calls for the ball from a dribbler who passes to his partner, who “shoots” a catchable ball at the GK. The GK distributes back to one of the players and finds another pair to receive a shot; or the GK distributes to and pairs up with the original dribbler as the shooter becomes the new GK.

The above exercises could be where only the GK has the ball and distributes to a player for a one-touch return or a pass over to his partner for a shot on the GK.

GK play can be incorporated into passing warm-ups and exercises. For example, in pass and change lines, the GK can use this exercise to pick up ground passes. At times, the passer may “shoot” a ball off the ground for the GK to catch.

Specific training for youth GKs should start with basic catching technique. Coaching points include:

• hands move together, both behind the ball; the thumbs should be close, the index fingers slightly turned towards each other.
• elbows are in front of the torso and close together
• hands are forward and fingers high on the ball
• the GK should constantly be bouncing on the balls of the feet and moving the body behind any balls to the side
• the hands move together for all catches; if the ball is below the chest, the hands should be extended and turned to where the little fingers and sides of the palm are touching; the elbows especially should be very close on this catch
• on a ground pickup, the GK should step one foot beside the ball, lower one knee close to but not touching the ground behind the ball and scoop the pickup, continuing in a forward run after the pickup (this is called running through the pickup)

Sample exercises include:

2-man pass and catch

short ball serve, followed by a high ball; the GK should be made to move forward, then backwards

2-man pass and catch with moving side to side or forwards and backwards

GK in the middle with 2 servers alternating

GK forward pickup with server moving backwards laying ground passes off at different angles

GK sit-ups with ball, coach kicks ball as GK brings it forward; this is to teach proper hand position and give the GK confidence in his grip

Footwork is the next area of GK training. Sideways shuffling between cones or quick steps forward and backwards between cones is the first part. The youth GK should be taught to move from post to post in an arc that extends about 2-3 yards out from the centre of the goal. This can be taught with two servers that are positioned several yards out, say at the top of the penalty area and wide of each post. As they pass the ball back and forth, the GK moves on his arc.

Forward movement can be taught with a gate several yards in front of the GKs arc. Balls are played from some distance so that the GK can pickup the serves before they reach the gate. If you have a couple of GKs, a fun exercise is to have a “goal-line” that is as wide as a goal. Place two gates a couple of yards shorter than the goal width about 3-4 yards in front and back of the goal-line. The GKs take “shots”, beginning with ground balls, from the servers in front of each gate. After each “shot,” the GKs trade sides and catch the next serve before it passes through the gate. Another footwork exercise is to have a server on the side deliver a low ball to the near post; immediately after the GK makes the save, they move back to the far post for a high serve.

While diving is not appropriate for the younger age groups, we’ll take a quick look at it anyway. Teaching basic diving technique starts with the GK sitting on the ground. The GK should hold the ball and fall to one side and plant the ball. One hand should be behind the ball, the other hand on top of the ball. The elbow and forearm should not be touching the ground.

The next step is to fall from a squatting position. If the GK continues to land on the elbow and forearm, then have the player put his hands together in a praying position and fall. Then have the player fall holding and planting a ball. The ball, the hip and the shoulder should be the only areas that touch the ground. The ball should be planted first, followed by the hip and shoulder almost together.

From a standing position, the player should squat and fall. This teaches the knee bend required. From here, the player should take an angled step with the near foot, lowing the near hip and then falling, planting the ball. At each of the above stages, move from the GK holding the ball to the GK catching a served ball.

Once the dive mechanics are understood, the GK must be shown the final position to protect the body. The ball and forearms should be in front of the face. The top knee should be driven forward to almost touching the top elbow, this will protect the torso. The bottom leg should be extended and raised slightly.

When comfortable enough, have the GK make consecutive dives to one side on served balls across the goal mouth and then zigzag dives forward from the goal mouth to the top of the penalty area.

Finally, the GK should be taught distribution. Though last in this list, distribution can be taught early on. When playing catch, have the GK do 3/4 overhead tosses. The GK must cup the ball in one hand (which is difficult for some of the younger players to do). The ball should be delivered just lower than straight above the head and the body and head should be as tall as possible.

Another distribution technique is the volley kick (or punt). The initial stages can again begin with playing catch. Have the GKs serve the balls with short volley kicks. The closer to the ground they can kick the ball the better. This moves to the full volley kick where the GK should drop (not toss in the air) the ball with the hand opposite the kicking foot.

A young GK may not be mature enough to understand the angles involved with playing the GK position. However, the coach can start to reinforce the idea with a 100-150 foot rope tied to each goal post. As the apex of the rope moves, the GK will be given a visual layout of the path of a shot to either post.

A drawn arc out from each post to a couple of yards from the goal center will show the GK, the path he should travel when the ball moves from one post to the other. The point is to get the GK off the line a little bit when the ball is in the center and to cover the near post when the ball is on the side.

Coming out to pick up a ball or close down the angle is a skill that requires lots of experience. Playing balls into the area with an attacker running on but well within the GK’s capability of getting to them will help establish the GK mentality of coming out. Playing balls to an attacker where the GK cannot get there first will hopefully train the GK that there are ball he must stay back on. The coach must work with his GK to establish his range. This training should include kicking the ball away if the GK has to play it out of the penalty area.

The rule of thumb for coming out is, if you are sure you can get to the ball first, then go for it, else, hang back and look for the next touch by the attacker to be your ball.

Introduction

The U12 goalkeeper is ready to take a major step in his or her development. Up to this point, many players have probably taken turns playing in goal, but at this age the player that wants to concentrate on the position of goalkeeper usually makes him or herself known. It is, however, important that all players still do a lot of dribbling and passing exercises as all goalkeepers need to be good with their feet too.

The requirements and training of this position are specific and must be dealt with in a patient and understanding manner. It is helpful for every young goalkeeper to get basic instruction from an older keeper who has gone through proper training. Exposing a player to diving and defending breakaways (1 v 1) without proper preparation usually ends in injury and discouragement, and should be avoided. All keepers enjoy playing out on the field, and should thus be encouraged to participate in all areas of practice to improve their vision, technical foot skills and overall development.

Proper instruction for goalkeepers in this age group can improve them tremendously.

They have generally reached the age where they will not move out of the way of a hard shot, and should therefore concentrate on receiving all types of balls and on distribution. It is at this age group that they should also be exposed to proper diving techniques.

Once the player has the basic goalkeeping tools, he or she can be worked into all the team’s training. The goalkeeper should always be a part of the team and certain parts of training should emphasize the goalkeeper’s involvement more than others.

The Ready Position:

Start by teaching players the “ready position”, the stance that all young goalkeepers should adopt anytime they prepare to stop a shot, whether during practice or in a game. The ready position involves being balanced on the balls (or front) of the feet, bending comfortably at the knees while keeping as tall as possible, and having the hands relaxed through the fingertips.

To add to this the player should be shifting weight from foot to foot at speed in order to increase his reaction time and jumping ability.

Hand Positioning

It is imperative that young goalkeepers are taught the correct hand positioning for both low and high balls. In both cases, the hands should form a supple web that surrounds the back side (closest to the goal) of the football. (Remember to always play with an appropriate sized ball for the age group that you are coaching). Coaches should also remember that at this age, players often have difficulty judging the height and speed of a moving ball.

For low balls the hand position resembles an ‘M’, with fingers pointed down and palms facing forward. The little fingers of both hands are almost touching.

For high balls the hand position resembles a ‘W’, with fingertips pointed up and palms facing forward. The thumbs of both hands are almost touching.

Coaching Points:

It is stressed that whenever possible, the young goalkeeper should try to get two hands behind the ball (no show diving!) as quickly as possible. This means that we have to encourage the young goalkeeper to have quick feet, attack the ball and move forward to meet the flight of the ball.

When meeting the football, the goalkeeper should also use their body to form two barriers, a cushion and a wall. Try to get the goalkeepers to cushion the ball towards their bodies with their hands. The goalkeeper can absorb the force of the shot by relaxing slightly at the moment of contact. We do not want to form a brick wall that the ball will just bounce off back towards the attacking player! The wall will be created behind the cushion by the goalkeeper’s legs or body.

A goalkeeper should always be on the balls of his/her feet to be ready to react to different and developing situations.

Practice:

At practice utilise 1:1 technical work at this age group. Emphasize that the hands are supposed to cushion the ball into the chest area. A good practice exercise for this is to work in pairs with one throwing the ball, the other catching with one hand pretending that the ball is a water-filled balloon! Alternate the catching hand and vary the service. Make the catching player move his or her feet. This can be developed into two hands using the correct hand positioning getting the players to not let the ball make a sound as they catch it. Coaches should try this too; it is more difficult than it seems!

Collecting Balls

Before going into the methods of collecting/saving/catching different types of balls, stress the importance of being ready to move in the direction of the shot. A good goalkeeper makes difficult saves look routine by anticipating his or her movements well in advance. If a young goalkeeper can concentrate for 5 minutes on the opposition attack, he or she will learn much about where the most danger will come from. Things to look for include: which foot the forward favours, which way they are likely to turn with their back to goal and which side of the field they prefer to attack down. In most games of this age group the coach can help by identifying simple patterns to his or her players.

Players at this age often have difficulty judging the height and speed of a moving ball, therefore, wherever the ball is coming from tell the goalkeeper to be on their toes and ready to move their feet to get their body behind the line of the ball.

Ground Level:

In the handling of ground balls (rolling), the main concern is to get the body between the ball and the goal. Goalkeepers should learn to ‘shuffle’ (side step) to the rolling ball and attempt to create two barriers (the cushion and wall) between the ball and the goal. The cushion is the goalkeeper’s hands in the ‘M’ position, and the wall will be the goalkeeper’s legs. Again once behind the line of the ball, the goalkeeper can attack it by moving forwards to meet it. Once the keeper is certain of the line of the ball he should position one foot to the side of the ball, kneel down on the opposite knee (forming the wall) and make a ramp leading to his chest with his hands and arms.

Get the body behind the ball no matter how slowly the ball is travelling. As the ball travels up the ramp, the hands and forearms should curl around the bottom of the ball and hold it into the safety of the chest. It should not be ‘scooped’ as young keepers have a tendency to be too keen and the ball can end up slipping out and into the net! The goalkeeper can alternatively attempt to bend from the waist and maintain fairly straight legs to collect a ground ball. This is sometimes preferred because of a bigger body surface forming ‘the wall’ and also for speed of distribution from a standing position.

With no pressure a goalkeeper should be encouraged to come away from his goal line and field the ball with his feet. His or her first touch, however, should be at an angle away from the goal and/or direction of pressure (where ball has just come from). It should be reinforced that the young keeper should also play to their strongest foot.

Waist Level:

Again, instruct the goalkeeper to get directly behind the ball and field it with the fingers relaxed towards the ground. As the ball makes contact, the goalkeeper can absorb the force of the shot by giving or withdrawing slightly. By curling around the ball from the waist, a majority of this force is absorbed.

Chest Level:

Teach the goalkeeper to get behind the shot and allow the ball to make contact with the fingertips of both hands. Do not attempt to clasp the ball from both sides. Form a net with the hands around the ball in the ‘W’ position, with thumbs together and finger tips upward. Pull the ball into the chest for safety.

Overhead Level:

Handling high shots requires sure hands because in this case, the hands are the only wall between the ball and the goal. The hands must be outstretched and fairly relaxed to absorb the shot’s force. Again, the hands must make contact on the backside of the ball and not the sides.

To help ensure that this happens, ask the keeper to keep his thumbs touching whenever he goes for the ball. Many young goalkeepers will move their arms from their sides in large arcs to meet in the middle above their head, although by the time they have done this the ball has often gone through already! Get the keepers to get in the habit of always moving their arms in straight lines towards the line of flight of the ball. Pull the ball to the safety of the chest as soon as possible.

Jumping:

When the shots are overhead, a goalkeeper should still attempt to make two barriers between the ball and the goal. The goalkeeper can do this by jumping up vertically, although we must encourage our young goalkeepers to attack the ball (move forward to collect it rather than wait for it to come to them). During practice, the coach should ask his players to jump as high as they can, firstly from a still position with hands by their sides, then allowing them to use their arms to thrust upwards, and then finally taking a few steps forward, taking off on one foot, and using one knee and both of their arms to thrust upwards. Which of the three methods saw them leap highest? If the goalkeeper can anticipate quickly and get behind the line of the ball, then he can afford himself most time to get vertical. It is vital that our young goalkeepers practice jumping and holding on to high balls.

Summary:

To summarize, no matter what type of shot, the goalkeeper should do the following:

1. Side-step quickly behind the line of the ball

2. Attack the ball whenever possible

3. Create two barriers between the ball and the goal, or have as much of body behind ball as possible

4. Absorb the ball’s force by cushioning

5. Bring the ball to the safety of the chest

6. Concentrate until the ball is in the hands

7. All goalkeepers need a good warm-up of all the above and some basic diving (explained below)

These basic concepts must be taught before placing a child in the position of goalkeeper.

Narrowing Angles

Generally speaking, if the opposition is attacking down the middle of the field, the goalkeeper will want to stay in the middle of his goal. If however, they are attacking the goal from the side he will want to move slightly in that direction to cover his ‘near post’ (the goal post nearest the shooter) because the ball when shot can travel to that side of the goal more quickly than to the other side. Most professional goalkeepers will tell you that they would much prefer to get beaten with a shot to the far post than the near post.

A coach can easily demonstrate where the young keeper should position him or herself by tying a piece of rope to each goalpost and having the shooter hold them to form a triangle. The goalkeeper should try and position himself on the line that bisects the triangle.

A coach can very easily demonstrate what ‘narrowing the angle’ means by getting each player in turn to place their ball on the penalty spot and stand behind it. Ask the player how much of the goal he can see unprotected. Then ask the player what his chances are of scoring.

Then move forward to the edge of the 6-yard box and ask the player the same questions.

The same concept is utilized whether the attacking team is coming at the goalkeeper from the middle or the sides. Obviously we do not want the keeper to come out too far as the ball could be deliberately chipped over his or her head, although at this age group this is rare. As a general rule if the forward has the ball at his feet, then the goalkeeper can advance at least yards. The coach should reinforce that the keeper should always be in the ready position.

Diving

Young players will both head, slide tackle and dive for the ball, whether we want them to or not, therefore, it is imperative that they be taught the correct techniques from the outset.

The first dives should be taught in practice from a seated or kneeling position. The coach or partner kneeling 3-4 yards away will roll a ball (slowly) to an agreed side about one yard from the keeper’s upright body. The keeper’s arm is to produce a ‘long barrier’ between the ball and the imaginary goal behind him. Again we want to encourage our keepers’ to attack (move forward towards) the ball, so they will dive to their side but slightly towards the ball. The player will do this by placing his hand (on the side of the body that he is going to dive) on the ground, fingers spread, with the little finger almost touching the ground. This hand is to move in a straight line at this distance from the ground at all times, keeping the arm as straight as possible.

The opposite hand should move across the body, again trying to have the thumbs nearly touching, but this hand will end up half behind and half on top of the ball in order to control it.

In essence the bottom arm attacks the ball, the body rotates and the bottom elbow is tucked in.

The goalkeeper will end up lying on his or her side arm outstretched to make as long a barrier as possible. Again, the ‘barrier’ must be flexible enough to absorb the force of the ball and not rebound it to the attacker. The ball must again be brought into the body in a controlled fashion as soon as it is under control. The knee of the top leg should be brought up also for protection.

It is very important that the coach alternates the player doing the exercise regularly (every 1-2 minutes). It is extremely tiring utilizing sets of muscles that are not used very often. The coach should try it sometime! The practice should continue with balls rolling to each side (the partner telling the keeper which side he is rolling to). When the keeper is competent (and agreeable) the service can speed up and finally not let the keeper know which side it is going to, in order to increase his reflex speed.

As the goalkeeper matures throughout the season, the coach can determine whether it is prudent to advance the goalkeeping practice to starting from a kneeling position (making a slightly longer barrier), then crouching, and graduate to a standing ‘ready’ position with feet shoulder width apart. Then the partner can serve the ball from a longer distance using his feet, getting the keeper to move his feet (side-stepping) to make the save as easy as possible.

Remember that if the keeper can make two barriers then he should. Again, we want to encourage the goalkeeper to attack the ball. When in a standing position, the first step must be forward at a 45 degree angle towards the side of the ball. The goalkeeper’s feet must be pointed up the field.

Landing is an extremely important issue when diving for a ball. Young goalkeepers have a tendency to dive stomach-first giving a superman impression. This is wrong as it goes against our key factors of having our eyes on, and our body behind, the ball. It can also be very painful.

For a ‘collapse’ save (for a ball fairly near to the body) it is essential for the goalkeeper to land on his/her side, breaking their fall first with the side of the leg, hip and then shoulder. For a ball further from the keeper’s body, the dive will more closely resemble a dive into a swimming pool with the keeper’s forearm and then shoulder landing first. Again, in both cases the goalkeeper should then pull the ball in to the body in a controlled fashion, keeping it safely out of the reach of attackers.

As this stage is reached and the coach feels that the goalkeeper work can be incorporated into a team shooting exercise, then the coach should first concentrate on emphasizing the above coaching points to the keeper, while the assistant controls the rest of the team shooting. It is often helpful for the coach to stand behind the net to see things from the goalkeeper’s perspective. Remember that all players need to be warmed up properly, especially the goalkeeper, and thus it is advisable to have the players shooting from a longer distance first. Try to encourage the keeper to concentrate in practice as to which foot certain players will use and where they like to shoot. This can help concentration and anticipation in games.

The progression described above can be utilized for a basic warm-up prior to a practice or game.

Ball Distribution

Once the ball is successfully collected and controlled, the goalkeeper must make a quick decision on the method of distribution, whether to roll, throw, pass or kick the ball back into play. Remember that the keeper is trying to distribute the ball to a teammate in space and in such a way that it is fairly easy to bring down under control. Most players at this age will be most accurate if they roll, pass or throw the ball. Again, goalkeepers should be encouraged to distribute the ball to the sides of the goal and to try to switch the play to the opposite side from where the pressure (ball) has just come.

Roll:

Rolling the ball to a team-mate who is fairly close and does not have an opposing player near him involves a motion very similar to bowling. The goalkeeper’s feet are usually moving in that direction and the strongest arm provides the rolling force, while the other hand simply helps guide the ball in the appropriate direction.

Throw:

There an abundance of different throwing techniques a goalkeeper can use. It is best to expose the young players to all of them and then they will decide which ones they favour. Most frequently seen are the underarm throw, the sidearm slingshot, the baseball pitch and the over arm throw.

The over-arm throws are slightly more difficult for a team-mate to control, so it is vital that the keeper allows for this in looking to see where the nearest member of the opposition is.

This action is similar to a tennis serve, holding the ball in one hand (the strongest serving arm), but the feet are positioned firmly on the ground one foot in front of the other.

Pass:

Quite regularly in the game these days, one will see a long ball played over the defence that rolls straight to the keeper and the opposition forwards give up the chase. If a keeper has been regularly involved in matches (as most kids have at the younger age groups) then he will have time to control the ball and pass to a teammate in space. This may even be done outside of the penalty area. It is recognized that it is often difficult for a younger player to look up and take a ‘snapshot’ of where players are before concentrating on the ball, however, a simple call of ‘time’ by a defender will allow him to relax sufficiently in order to control the ball, look up and pass. If the goalkeeper is attempting to control the ball with his feet, he should try to do this when the ball is not heading directly to his goal! The coach can help the players practice this.

Kick:

There are times when the players in front of the goalkeeper will all have a member of the opposition fairly close by. The coach can teach his players to move into space, but sometimes a goalkeeper will have to kick the ball. To most easily get a young keeper to do this, get him to hold the ball in both hands, then walk forward after a few steps drop the ball and attempt to kick just after the ball bounces. This technique will set up the desired motion. The keeper must keep the toes of the kicking foot pointed down and remember to follow through the ball as far as possible. This skill requires a lot of practice before it can be done successfully on a regular basis. The coach should emphasize accuracy before power to start with.

Communication & Support

Undoubtedly the goalkeeper has the best view of the field of play, particularly in his own half. The keeper therefore must be encouraged to communicate with his defenders and midfield players. We have already seen how a defender can make a call of ‘time’ to his keeper, and in this way the relationship is dynamic and players should be communicating with each other constantly.

This communication should always be positive. Constructive analysis must only come from the coach.

As with all game situations, a player who wants to control the ball should call for it, and this is no different for young goalkeepers. They should be encouraged to call ‘keeper’s ball’ for any ball that they feel they can control (both in practice and matches). This is a real safety issue as a player that does not call for a ball he is going towards risks getting run into by another player.

Having every player in practice call for every ball that they want to control, as well as every ball they want to receive from a teammate, gets them learning good habits from an early age. The goalkeeper should learn this too, and also to give instructions for the defence to go wide, come in, or to a specific player to hold position or drop back to cover. This develops trust and will eventually be used to take advantage of the opposing team’s weaknesses and break down an attack.

Footwork

Footwork training starts off every season. Basic footwork drills and warm-ups are used throughout the rest of the season for warm-ups and repetition. Even when training other topics, don’t let them forget good footwork.

Warm Up (10 min)
After jog & stretch, and introduction of basic steps (shuffle and crossover) if necessary, do footwork mirroring. Coach or leader move back and forth with good footwork, varying speed and with quick changes of direction, players mirror the leader. Using a speed ladder can also be a great warm-up for this or any other session.

Make sure players stay light on their toes, knees bent, and keep their shoulders square to the leader.

For beginners, here’s a great demonstration of why keepers need to be on their toes. First, have the players stand lightly on their toes and tell them to jump as high as they can. They should easily be able to get off the ground. Then, tell them to put their weight on their heels and jump again. This time they won’t go anywhere!

Ready Position (5 min)
Do footwork mirroring again, but now the coach or leader will call “Shot!” every so often. When he does, keepers must instantly come to the ready position. Then keep moving. Then, the leader gets a ball and dribbles back and forth with the players tracking the ball; occasionally the leader fakes a shot and the keepers must come ready.
Make sure keepers are still light on their toes when in the ready position, not on their heels.

Footwork to cones (20 min)
Players in pairs, each pair with two flat cones. Place cones 6 paces apart. Players face each other across an imaginary line between the two cones; one player is the leader, the other is the follower. Leader uses good footwork and attempts to touch just outside either of the cones before the follower can touch just inside; if they are successful, they get a point. After a set length of time (30 sec for younger players, 60 sec for older), rest, and then switch leader and follower. Winner has the most points after the two rounds. Rotate winners so players get different match-ups.

Keep shoulders square. Do not stretch for the cones — keepers should use quick footwork to get all the way behind the cone. Use the crossover step to accelerate away from the follower. This is an exhausting drill, so allow a good amount of time between rounds for rest.

Warm Up Hands (5 min)
Now we get the goalkeeper’s hands involved. Again in pairs, with a ball, players simply shuffle back and forth over about 10-15 yards tossing the ball back and forth. Simple throws for the first couple of minutes, then have the players intentionally throw the ball just off to the side of the other keeper.
Don’t allow poor hand position on catches. Adjust shuffle steps so the body is behind the ball; even if the keeper has to reach for the ball, they should quickly use the feet to get the body behind it.

Footwork Through Cones with Catch (20 min)
Set up a line of 6-8 cones (use multiple lines if you have more than three or four keepers). Coach or server is 5 yards from end of the line; players at other end. Each player quickly shuffles side to side through cones, finishing by saving a ball hand-served slightly off target. Next, move the cones into a zigzag with 2-3 yards in between. Now keepers must use a crossover step between cones, with a quick shuffle around them, finishing with a save. Progress to finishing with a save off a out-of-hand volley or shot off the ground.

Footwork should be quick, and keepers should come ready for the shot as they round the last cone. Once ready, keeper should be light on their feet and able to still quickly get their body behind the ball for the save. Balls should be served within “footwork” distance; do not allow dives.

Mirroring with Saves (15 min)
Players in groups of three (each group in front of a net, if possible). One keeper stands in front of net, or cones marking an 8-yard long line. Shooter stands 10 yards away with ball on the ground, third player stands behind shooter. Third player begins side-to-side footwork with the keeper mirroring. At a random point, shooter strikes ball at the keeper. Keeper, while moving, must time the shooter, come to the ready position, and make the save. Keeper gets three shots, then rotate positions. You can make this a competition to see who gets the most saves.

Shooter should serve the ball within “footwork” distance of the keeper; do not allow dives. Similar coaching points to previous exercise.

Shots on Goal (15 min)
Take shots on goal from 14-16 yards out and have keepers make saves using good footwork (no diving). For young keepers, you can stipulate that shots must be below waist level, or even on the ground. Give each keeper one or two shots, then rotate keepers/shooters. Challenge the keepers as a group to see how many saves they can make.
Encourage quick feet, and insist the keepers get all the way behind the ball — no reaching out, and if they must, they should finish the motion by ending with the body behind the ball. Make sure keepers start on their toes before the shot comes; small “training bounces” will help.

POSITIONING

Simply being in the right place at the right time is critical for successful goalkeeping. The positioning demo can be dropped (or briefly reviewed) for more experienced keepers; use the time for more of the game-like exercises at the end.

Warm Up (10 min)
Jog and stretch, light footwork mirroring exercise, simple catch in pairs to warm up the hands.

Positioning Demo (15 min)
Have three ropes set up beforehand; one tied to a stake at the center of the goal line, one tied to each post. Place a ball out near the edge of the penalty area, off center, and explain the center line and covering the posts. You can move the ball and ropes around the edge of the penalty area to demonstrate the goalkeeper’s arc (see the Positioning page for a brief description of this). Don’t forget to point out they need to be “outside” the near post on shots from an angle.

Make it clear that this positioning is a general starting position for facing shots; crosses and breakaways are handled a bit differently. It is helpful, but not absolutely necessary, to have the field markings on the grass for this demo.

Two-Sided Saves (15min)
Keepers in groups of three, with two cones 6 yards apart. One keeper stands between the cones, the other two players are about 8 yards away, one on each side of the cone “goal”, with balls. Keeper faces one player, who shoots a ball at keeper who makes the save. While the keeper is making the save, the player behind them is moving their ball to a new position. After keeper makes the save, they must turn, find the ball and the other shooter, get in good position and save the shot from the second shooter. The keeper immediately turns and find the other ball and shooter, who has also moved to a varied position, and save the next shot. Each keeper makes 5 saves in succession, then rotate positions. Encourage shooters to serve balls from all angles.

The keeper’s arc for this 6-yard “goal” is smaller, but keepers need to quickly check the posts and find good position, along the center line and far enough out to cover the posts. Make sure the keepers, after turning, move through and out in front of the cones, off the goal line, to make the save.

Colour-Coded Shots (20 min)
Place four differently-coloured cones, bibs or other objects in an arc around the goal, about 16-18 yards away from the goal. At least one should be at an acute angle close to the goal line. At each cone, there is a shooter and several balls. Keeper starts at one goalpost. The coach calls a colour. The keeper must quickly find that colour object, get in good position along the arc, and make the save. Coach calls next colour, and so on until the keeper has faced four shots. Then rotate keepers. First time through, have the shooters evaluate the keeper’s position and help adjust them if they are not properly positioned. The second time through, the colour call and the shot come immediately after the previous save. If the shooter thinks the keeper is out of position, they should try to take advantage of it.

Make sure the keepers check the posts as they move to be sure of their positioning. Keepers need to be off the goal line and outside the near post, along their arc. Footwork comes into play here too; the keeper should try to be in proper position before the shot is taken, if possible. Don’t hesitate to “freeze” the keeper after a shot and correct their position if necessary.

Follow the Bouncing Ball (15 min)
This is similar to Colour-Coded Shots, except now the keeper must track a moving ball. Put 3-4 players in a similar arc around the penalty area, and one keeper in the net. There is one ball. Players pass the ball around the arc; the keeper must use footwork and positioning to track the ball. At any point after 3-4 passes, a player may elect to take a shot, particularly if they feel the keeper is out of position. Each keeper saves three or four shots, then rotates out.

Similar coaching points to the previous exercise. The field players should try to quickly move the ball side-to-side to try to get the goalkeeper out of position.

Moving Ball plus Defenders (15 min)
Take the “Follow the Bouncing Ball” exercise, and now add one or two players as defenders who can pressure the ball but not tackle it away or intercept it. This adds a match-related condition to the exercise.
This exercise is a good one to use in a team training environment, and make it a more match-condition exercise, by adding more players in a larger area. The offence should always be numbers up (e.g. 5v2+K or 6v3+K) and encouraged to quickly switch the point of attack.

Soft Catch

Play game in pairs throwing and catching a football. Try to make no sound as the ball hits the hands (almost impossible!)

The heading game 1v1

In 10×5 yard grid, players take it in turn to head ball over opponent’s goal line by pulling ball back and using their own momentum to head the ball. The player who is attempting to stop the ball can use their hands or dive if necessary. They can also advance as far as they like so if they stop ball they are in a better position to score. Then make it competitive and play for 1 minute and then the winner moves up the ladder, the loser moves down. If tied use ‘rock, paper, scissors’ as a tiebreaker. Do 8-10 rotations to establish a championship!

The heading game 2v2

Players are paired up to play 2v2 in a 10×10 grid. One pair has ball and tries to advance down field heading to each other. Once they get near the other teams goal line then one of them can attempt to head it past their line to score. The other team stays on their goal line and attempt to save ball. Once the ball hits the ground or is saved, the two heading retreat to their goal line and the other 2 begin to try to keep the ball in the air and advance up the field to score. Can do as a competitive ladder as above.

American Football

Create a playing field of 15 x 30 yards, but make the last 5 yards of each end an end zone. A touch down is scored by keeping possession and creating an opportunity to dribble into the end zone. If this is done with the ball under control, then a touch down is scored.

Death on the Nile!

20 x 30 grid. 3 teams of 4 players, and 3 balls. Each team get one minute in the middle as goalkeepers (they are the crocodiles in river trying to intercept the ball!) Count the number of interceptions. Other 2 teams have to play the balls across the ‘river’ back and forth.

Introduce calling for the ball, then passing to a teammate on same side to open ‘channels’. Goalkeeping techniques being used include – anticipation, setting position for shot, receiving balls, etc. If ball is intercepted have keeper distribute back to coach on sideline.

Keeper’s Nest

One player (the keeper) guards, but cannot touch the ball. The keeper may stand over the ball. The objective is for the other three players to get to the ball away from the keeper (using hands, feet or either), without being tagged and frozen by the keeper. The keeper’s goal is to freeze the other three players. Once a player is frozen, he can remain frozen until all players are frozen, or until the ball is snatched away by the other players, or until the player counts to 10.

Keeper’s Nest 3v1

Place three cones in a triangle 10 yards apart. One player is inside the triangle as the keeper. The other three try to possess the ball and score goals by moving the keeper out of position and playing through the triangle. If the keeper intercepts the ball, the player who played the ball last becomes the new keeper.

3v3 or 4v4 ‘American Football!’

Play 4v4 but players use their hands to pass. Concentrate on proper hand position under pressure. If a player has the ball in his or her hands then they cannot move their feet. Players cannot grab the ball if it is in a players hands! Instead of making goals for the teams to score in, create an end zone at either end of the small field. A team can score a ‘touch-down’ (6 points) if they pass the ball to a team-mate standing in the end zone. Think up any number of variations for an extra point! Then restrict a player waiting in the end zone to staying in there a maximum of three seconds and then has to get out similar to basketball.

Advance the game by not allowing any player to stand still in the end-zone, or then limit access to the zone to 3 seconds at a time for any player.

Numbers Up

Play with one goalkeeper in a goal. Add pressure – (i.e. 2v 1, v2). Provide a target for the defender if they win the ball. Encourage the players to shoot as quickly as possible, having their body in the correct position. Make sure they show good 1st touch when receiving the ball. 1st touch should be away from pressure. Disguise your shots.

Quick Fire!

Pull one goal all the way up the field to the outer edge of the 18 yard box. Play 5v2 in an area 18×36 yards with two full size goals 18 yards apart. Play for 1 minute at a time, with the 5 having to make 5 passes before shooting. If the defenders steal the ball they go for goal also.

You can add goalkeepers at any time.

Cone Ball!

Can play 4v4v4. Put large cone (or similar) in middle of the field. The three teams play against each other. To score a team simply has to hit the target (the cone). Add a 5 yard exclusion zone around the cone and introduce a goalkeeper to this area. Kids will play this game forever!

Triangular Goals

Create triangular goals (3 flags 2 yards apart in a triangle shape) in the middle of the penalty area. Play 4v4 in penalty box.

One team has 4 attackers, the other 3 keepers and 1 defender. If the ball goes out of the box, or the keepers/defender makes a save, switch. Let each team captain keep scores.

Then go to larger area – 6v6 or 8v8 in between halfway line and edge of 18 yard box. Open goals up to 6 yards wide.

Advance the activity appropriately by asking players to play 3 passes before shooting or chip over goals to teammate! Have to score with a volley or half volley, etc.

Finish with 2 fields of 4v4, with a different method of scoring on each field.

Group 1: Head to score.

Group 2: All 4 have to be in opponents half of field for their goal to count!

Option: Have to go around the back of goal and dribble/pass through cones the opposite way.