Soccer Drills – Page 5

Top tips for goalkeepers

Keeper/sweeper

The idea of having the goalkeeper push up to the edge of the penalty area or even the halfway line when their team is attacking is not new or particularly unusual.

Futsal goalkeepers routinely move out their goal area to give their team a numerical advantage and a regular football team goalkeeper often takes free kicks in his own half of the field. Goalkeeping goalies can even be seen in the opposition penalty area when their team has a corner, but only when their team is losing by the odd goal and time is running out.

Why do football goalkeepers leave it so late to move upfield? Because it’s a risky strategy, that’s why.

There is always a chance the goalkeeper won’t be able to get back to her goal in time to protect it if her team loses possession. Even more embarrassing, an alert opposition player with a strong shot could score in an unguarded goal from 30, 40 or even 50 yards away.

But pushing your goalkeeper up out of her penalty area to support an attack is a tactic that can pay off, especially if she is athletic and has an outfield player’s skill set: a good first touch, good “vision” and the ability to find team mates with an accurate pass.

Communication

A goalkeeper’s “job description” includes organising the defence at set pieces and coming off her line to claim possession of the ball wherever possible.

To do that, your goalkeeper has to be vocal. A quiet call of “keeper’s” is no good. As soon as the decision is made to come for the ball, you should hear a loud shout of “KEEPER’S”.

When defenders hear this, they know the goalkeeper is coming and they should get out of the way. Conversely, a loud shout of “AWAY” means the goalkeeper is not coming and defenders should deal with the situation.

At set pieces, your goalkeeper should give strong, specific instructions to the rest of the team. A vague shout of “mark up” is unhelpful. “Joe, mark the number 10” is much better.

Defenders should be taught to listen for and obey instructions issued by the goalkeeper and to let her know that they have heard them. A simple wave of the hand or “OK” allows the goalkeeper to quickly move on to organising the rest of the defence.

Quick clearances

When she stops a shot or collects a loose ball, your goalkeeper should immediately try to give her team an advantage with a quick, effective clearance.

She should first look for a team mate in space and within range of a roll or throw out. If there is no one available nearby, your goalkeeper should look upfield to see if any of her team mates are in a “numbers up” situation.

If they are, she should try to kick the ball to them without delay. If a quick roll, throw or kick is not on, your goalkeeper should wait until her team mates have moved to better positions before releasing the ball.

Know the rules

Goalkeepers and goalkeeper coaches need to know all the laws of the game but they need to be particularly familiar with those laws that relate directly to goalkeeping.

Note: the laws below are the laws according to FIFA, the game’s governing body. Your local league’s rules may be different. If in doubt, ask your league for clarification.

Law 4 – The Players’ Equipment

The goalkeeper’s kit must be a different colour to the players on both teams and the referee.

Law 8 – The Start and Restart of Play

It is important to note that a free kick awarded to the defending team inside it’s own goal area (the six-yard box) is treated like a goal kick: it may be taken from anywhere in the six-yard box.

It’s equally important to note that an indirect free kick awarded to the attacking team in the goal area – for example, if the goalkeeper picks up a deliberate back pass – should be taken from the line of the goal area parallel to the goal line at the point nearest to where the infringement occurred.

Law 10 – The Method of Scoring

It’s worth making sure your goalkeeper knows that the whole of the ball must cross the line for a goal to be scored.

Law 12 – Fouls and Misconduct

Your goalkeeper must be aware that she cannot:

control the ball with her hands for more than six seconds before releasing it.
touch the ball again with her hands after she has released it and before it has touched another player.
touch the ball with her hands after it has been deliberately kicked to her by a team mate.
touch the ball with her hands after she has received it directly from a throw-in taken by a team mate.

Any of these offences will result in an indirect free kick being awarded to the other team.

You should also make it clear to your goalkeeper that it is an offence to play “in a dangerous manner”. So she should take care not to charge wildly at attackers or jump for the ball in a manner that could injure an opponent. Referees usually allow goalkeepers more leeway than outfield players when it comes to Law 12 but they don’t have to.

Law 14 – Penalty Kicks

An easy one this. The defending goalkeeper must remain on her goal line, between the goalposts and facing the kicker until the ball has been kicked.

Three team keepaway

Objectives: To practice support play, ball control and ‘vision’.

Age group: U10s and upwards.

Set up: Create a 25-yard square with goals on two of the four sides.

Divide your squad into three teams.

How to play:

Two teams play keepaway in the area.
The third team is positioned around the sides of the square.
These players act as side supports, receiving and returning passes to the team in possession.
They cannot be tackled but should be restricted to two or three touches of the ball or have a time limit of four seconds to pass it back.
The team that puts together four or five passes (depending on the skill of your players) can shoot at either goal.

You can award one point for the required number of passes and additional points for scoring a goal. Play to a set score then bring the side supports on. The losing team becomes the new side supports.

Coaching note: Young players may have difficulty keeping the ball way from the other team, even for one or two passes. If they are getting frustrated, reduce the number of players on one team or make the playing area bigger.

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Three easy steps to improve goalie positioning

Being in the right place at the right time is the most important part of the goalkeeping art.

You can help your goalie understand the basics of positioning by explaining these three key techniques.

1. Your goalkeeper must know where the goal is. This sounds obvious, I know. But ‘keepers can’t do their job unless they know exactly where the posts are relative to their own position. Make sure they glance behind themselves occasionally and get a fresh fix on the goal.

2. The goalkeeper should be positioned on a line between the centre of the goal and the ball. You can help very young players understand and master this by simply walking around the penalty box with a ball in your hands while they maintain the correct position. Once they have got the hang of it, play the games below to reinforce the technique.

3. The goalkeeper should be able to save a shot aimed at either post. This requires the goalkeeper to be in the right place relative to the centre of the goal and the ball, and also to be off the goal line.

Young players often stay rooted to the spot as an attacker advances. If you can get them to narrow the angle by moving out to meet the attacker, they will stop a lot of goals.

This is not just a good idea because they can save shots aimed at either post, but because their very presence will make many young attackers shoot too early and wide.

Soccer coaching note: If the shot is coming from a very narrow angle (from an attacker near to the end line), your goalie needs to be positioned so that the post is just behind him, not in front.

This will prevent the goalkeeper diverting shots aimed at the near post into his own net.

Three and in

This is a classic game from the past that was played in the street, the park and the playground.

It’s a great way for everyone to have a turn in goal.

Objective: To score lots of goals!

Set up: Divide a suitably size playing area in two so there are two games going on in each half.

Split your players into groups of four plus two goalkeepers.

How to play: Keepers start the game by kicking or throwing a ball into space.

The players play against each other. Everyone is trying to score!

The keeper gets a “goal” for every save he makes and changes places with an outfield player after three goals are scored.

Who is the winner – the keeper or the outfield players?
Who is the winner between the outfield players.

Progressions: Play two teams of two against the keeper.

Players can’t enter an exclusion zone marked in front of the goals.

“The goalkeeper is the lone eagle, the man of mystery, the last defender. Less the keeper of a goal than the keeper of a dream.” – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist

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The three zone game

Objective: To improve passing accuracy, decision making, spotting opportunities.

Age group: U8s to U14s.

Set up: Create a 40×20 yards playing area, dividing into thirds as shown below.

Note: The goals at each end are only required for the progression.

Divide your players into three teams of three.

How to play:

The teams on the end try to pass the ball through the centre area to the opposite end without the team in the middle winning the ball.

If the team in the middle wins the ball, it changes places with the end team that played the last pass.

Teams score a point each time they pass a ball through the central area.

Progression:

Play 5v4 using the whole playing area.
The central zone is now a “no tackling” area. Encourage the defending team to drop back behind the ball and regroup as soon as its opponents enter the central zone.

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Three musketeers

Objective: To improve passing, support off the ball, teamwork and communication.

Age group: U8s to U12s.

Set up: Divide your players into teams of four – a goalkeeper and three outfield players.

Two teams play football in a 30×20 yards area with one condition: All three outfield players have to touch the ball before a goal is scored.

All for one and one for all!

Play for a set time or until one team scores X goals.

Coaching notes: The three outfield players have to touch the ball without a player from the other team touching it. If the ball is intercepted, the sequence has to start again.

Variation: Award a bonus ‘goal’ for five or more consecutive passes.

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Is heading dangerous?

There has been (and still is) a lot of discussion about the dangers of heading the ball but the short answer to the question “is heading dangerous?” is “no”.

There is no evidence that heading a ball has ever resulted in actual, long-lasting harm… as long as you teach your players to do it properly.[1]

What age to begin?

Children under the age of six have neither the body awareness or ability to visually track the flight of a ball and are very unlikely to even try to head a ball during games.

That said, you can help children as young as four or five develop the skills they need to head the ball safely by starting with a balloon instead of a ball.

Just make sure you teach the “mouth closed, eyes open” technique (see below) and encourage your players to jump up to meet the balloon on its way down.

You can also make it a fun team game. Have four or five children in each team and see which one can keep the balloon in the air the longest.

How to teach the basic technique

When your players get to U8 level, you can expect them to try to make contact with the ball when it’s in the air. So it’s important to make sure they do it properly.

Give every child a beach ball or a small, light football ball and demonstrate the following technique before allowing them to have a go themselves by throwing the ball up and heading it on the way down.

Keep your eye on the ball.
Eyes open – if you can’t see the ball coming, it could hit you anywhere.
Mouth closed – if you don’t, you could bite your tongue.
Chin tucked in – helps keep your neck stiff.
Use your arms to balance.
Use your legs to move your head towards the ball – don’t let it hit you.
Make contact with your forehead – the thickest part of your skull.
Follow through towards the target.

Have your players hold the ball in their hands and move their forehead to the ball (you want to ingrain the habit of meeting the ball with the head, not waiting for the ball to hit the head). Then ask them to throw the ball a couple of feet in the air and head it back into their hands.

If you ensure your players are using this technique and heading the ball correctly, their forehead will absorb the impact of the ball and their neck will not flex.

Games to practise heading

Throw, head, score

Set-up: Divide your players into teams of four or five and set up a 40 yards by 20 yards playing area with a goal at each end for each pair of teams.

How to play: The players advance towards the goals by throwing the ball to each other.

They can only take one step with the ball before throwing it again. If they take too many steps or allow the ball to fall to the ground, possession is given to the other team.

Goals can only be scored with a header.

Coaching note: Correct faulty technique as soon as you see it.

Heading volleyball

Set-up: Divide your players into teams of three or four. Set up a badminton net or rope attached to two poles in the centre of the playing area.

How to play: Teams play volleyball by heading a beach ball over the net or rope.

Serves are made by punching the ball over the net by hand.

A point is conceded if a team allows the ball to fall to the ground inside its half of the playing area.

A ball that lands outside the playing area results in a point to the defending team.

Challenge!

You can also play a small-sided game (SSG) called Challenge!

It’s a standard 4v4 game with the condition that every time the ball goes out of play you restart by throwing the ball in the air and awarding a point to the team whose player heads it first.

Tip: Don’t allow players to push each other to reach the ball. You’re looking for decisive jumping and a desire to get to the ball first. If the ball hits the ground before anyone heads it, throw it up again.

Reference

[1] The American Academy of Pediatrics, Heading Soccer Ball Doesn’t Cause Brain Damage, Pediatrics, February 2010; 410-414

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.

Six goal game

This is a classic coaching game that I use several times a season with players aged from six to 15.

It works on several key skills – attacking, defending, communicating, making decisions, passing, shooting. In fact, just about everything your players need!

Set-up: Mark out a 40×30-yard area with three evenly spaced goals at each end.

Create two evenly matched teams of four or five players. No goalkeepers.

How to play: Each team defends its three goals and tries to score in the opponent’s three goals. The team with the most goals at the end of the game wins.

You can play for a set time or until one team scores a certain number of goals.

Variations:

Play three or two-touch.
Goals must be scored with a player’s first touch.
Dribble through the goals instead of shooting.

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.