Goal Keeping
As all of us know, the goal keeper has one of the most important jobs on the field and yet we don’t often find enough time to work with and train them. Consequently the time we do get to work with our keepers must be put to the best use possible. And drills that the entire team is involved with can, and should be used, to train the keeper as well.
Too many coaches limit goal keeper training to kicking a few balls at the keeper followed by using the keeper in the team's normal shooting practice. In my opinion these shooting practices are all too often a waste of the keeper's time.
First, there is no set idea by anyone, coach, keeper, or shooters, about what the purpose of the drill is for the keeper. Is she supposed to work on low balls, high balls, or what? Coaches don't work with field players without an idea of what they expect from the practice, and keepers deserve the same.
Second, the players put the ball everywhere but on net. They kick the ball over, around, and if it were possible under the goal. If the ball is not placed on net, the keeper doesn't get any work. The players should concentrate on getting the ball on net and forget about trying to hit the corners. (Let them work on their own at hitting the corners.)
Related to the above is the desire of the shooters to put the ball where the keeper can not make the save. In order for the keeper to benefit, she MUST be able to make the save. When she doesn't make the save, the coach needs to COACH her by discussing what went wrong. Why did she miss the ball? Was the
foot work wrong, was the catching technique poor, was the positioning poor, or what ever. The coach should not let her go back to the goal until the fault has been corrected. This can take a minute or so of time. Of course the shooters don't want to wait and the coach usually doesn't spend the time.
Remember that the goal keeper is the only true specialist on the team. She requires special training to properly do her job. The material presented here is aimed at making sure that the keeper makes the easy save. We don't have anything flashy, but we have tried to provide solid information on training to make
sure that the keeper can make the easy save.
Keepers, like all other players, must have excellent field skills. Therefore they should be included in all of your foot skill and pass/receive warm ups. In addition there are several warm up drills that keepers should do to stretch out and prepare for their specialty
After the foot skill and pass/receive drills that the entire team does have the goal keepers warm up with drills like these:
A progression of this drill is to have them walk around, bounce the ball, lift their leg over the ball and re-catch it always emphasizing the “W” catch. Do it ten times with the right leg, then ten times with the left, then alternate legs. A second progression of this warm-up is to have them hammer the ball out of their left hand with their right hand and then re-catch it with the “W”. This is tougher because the keeper must quickly position their hands after releasing the ball
Keepers stand with legs shoulder width apart. Bend over at the waist and pass a ball back and forth between their legs. Initially start out with the hands stationary, i.e. right hand in back, left in front. Ball moves quickly, through the legs, from hand to hand, first rolling on the ground, then off the ground.
After they have the hang of this they pass the ball between their legs in a figure 8. In this case the hands are switching positions from front to rear. Again start this drill with the ball remaining in contact with the ground and then progress to the ball in the air between the legs.
This exercise improves hand eye coordination and stretches the back and leg muscles.
A third and more difficult component of this exercise is to have the player lie on their back and scissor their legs up and down while threading the ball through their legs.
This works the leg and stomach muscles while improving their hand eye coordination.
Have the players bounce the ball from the front through their legs and then re-catch it behind their backs. Both hands are used to serve the ball and catch the ball. Return the ball between the legs from the back to the front.
Have the keepers place the ball on the back of their necks. Let the ball roll down their back. They then catch it at the small of their back with two hands. Return the ball to the front and start again. Once players get the hang of it they can begin walking around rolling the ball and catching it.
The above two warm ups are good for letting the keepers get the feel of the ball in their hands even when it is not directly in their sight. The more they catch the ball in practice, the more comfortable they will be in a game.
I couldn’t think of a better name for this drill. Basically the player bends at the waist with the ball between their legs. The right hand covers the ball from the front, the left hand from the back. Player releases the ball and switches hands not letting the ball fall and touch the ground. This drill is good for quickness and touch. Have the players count how many times that they can do this in a timed period and then challenge them to do one more, and then one more, and then one more, etc., etc., etc.
Keeper lies on her back with arms extended over the head, a ball in her hands. Keeper executes a sit-up keeping the ball in her hands and extending her arms out in front of her. A player strikes the ball in her hands with their instep. This drill builds hand strength, abdominal strength and anaerobic condition.
A variation on this drill is to have the player throw the ball to you as they sit up and for you to chest pass it back to them at the top of the motion. This also builds hand strength, hand-eye coordination and quickness.
This is a drill to increase side to side quickness. Have the player bounce the ball hard on the ground. They then side to side shuffle under the path of the ball. If the ball goes high enough they might get two side to side shuffles in before the ball’s momentum is lost. If not, then the second movement should be a side roll under the falling ball.
This next warm up involves two people, either both keepers or a keeper and a coach.
Simply have the players stand 5 to 8 yards apart and toss the ball to each other. The catch is to be made one handed and returned the same way.
Progress by having the weaker hand use. Then run a pattern where first the left is used then the right. Finally if you have three or more in the drill add a second ball to increase the difficulty.
This teaches the player to soften the blow of the ball against the hands. It also works finger strength and hand-eye coordination.
This is a drill to teach the keepers proper arm position when gathering in a low ball (scoop) or a shot below their waist.
Proper arm position can be described as both arms forming “railroad tracks” That is the arms are parallel, the elbows are tucked in, the hands are palm up with the pinky and sides touching. The hands form a slight cupping position.
Have the player kneel in front of you with the arms and hands as described above. Start the drill by softly throwing the ball into her hands. Emphasize form! Gradually increase the speed of the throw. Make sure that you hit the arms, and not their head! The player should follow the ball into their arms with their eyes. The elbows must stay together or the ball will force its way through and be dropped. There must be a slight cushioning motion or the ball will hit and pop out.
This warm up also involves two people, preferably both keepers. One player bounces the ball so it will go over the head of his partner. Partner jumps for the ball and yells “Keeper”, catching the ball over head in a “W”.
Make sure that the catcher brings their knee up to protect their midsection. After the catch the catcher becomes the server for his partner. If a coach is warming up the only keeper have the player roll the ball back to the coach just the way they would serve it to a full back in a game situation.
Add a third player to create a distraction for the catcher. This player can lightly tap or push the catcher while he is in the act of catching the ball. This simulates some of the contact the keeper will get in the goal area.
This first drill starts with the keeper in a sitting position. The keeper has a partner who will serve the ball. The keeper rolls to the right as their partner serves the ball on the ground.
The keeper traps the ball on the ground using both hands. Keeper returns ball to server and rolls to a sitting position again in one motion. Server then rolls ball to the left and the drill is repeated.
After 5 rolls right and 5 rolls left switch keeper and server. This can be an exhausting drill when done at high tempo
Coaching Points
Progression
The next progression is to serve the ball in the air as the keeper rolls right and left. The catch is therefore made in the air and the keeper must cushion the ball as they hit the ground.
The next progression is to have the keeper move slightly forward each time they make a roll. The server backs up an appropriate amount with each roll so that they maintain the distance between keeper and server.
The next progression is to start this drill from the knees and repeat as above and the final progression is to do this drill from a standing position.
Have the team dribble in an enclosed area. On a signal from the coach, every player leaves their ball and gets another. The keeper has to scoop the ball and clutch it to their chest.
Make sure no one kicks the keeper. Have the players just place their foot on top of the ball to “claim” it.
Do not allow diving for the ball.
Maker sure the keeper is keeping on his toes, knees flexed.
A common mistake that you should look for in a keeper is slowing down to scoop the ball. The keeper should explode through he ball and after scooping veer to a side, just like they would do in a game situation with an attacker bearing down on them.
Have a player shoot a ground ball in to the keeper. Keeper explodes towards the ball and scoops it to his chest. He continues on and returns a roll pass to either the same player who shot it or to a third player who has gone wide.
This simulates both the explosive step towards the ball we want the keepers to employ and the quick, on the ground counter-attack which is more conducive to possession play than just punting the ball away.
It is also a good conditioning drill.
Passer is Here. Shooter is here
Keeper Lies Here
This drill is to teach stance and balance.. The keeper starts in a lying position at the near post. Player at the near post serves the ball to the top of the 18. As the ball is served the keeper comes to her feet. The player at the 18 plays the ball immediately back into the keeper.
Start the drill off simply. Have the ball played in, at a decent rate of speed to the keeper’s feet. The keeper should scoop the ball if at all possible. It is always better for the keeper to have the ball in her hands than loose in the box. Play all balls towards the post. That is the keeper will always be making the save going to the outside.
Increase the speed of play and increase the difficulty of the shots by mixing them up, high, low and in between but continue to keep them going towards the post. Finally mix the shots up by having them go both towards the post and away from the post.
This is a good anaerobic conditioning drill. Be aware of the fatigue factor. Stress technical excellence. When you see that breaking down, give the keeper a rest.
Keeper Starts Here
Multiple Players or one player with many balls
In this drill the keeper starts with her back to the field. Player with the ball at the top of the 18 yells “TURN!”. Keeper turns and the ball should be right there within a second.
The object of the drill is hand-eye- coordination, decision making and obtaining the correct stance and balance quickly. The keeper should be on their toes in the turn, knees flexed so that they can go in either direction. The shots should be easy at first progressing to more difficult but not impossible. Build confidence with success.
After the save the keeper should distribute the ball as they would in a game. Make the first round a roll of the ball to a defender on the right. The next round a roll to a defender on the left, the next a one handed “grenade” throw. You might even let them punt the ball occasionally, just don’t let them make the save and drop the ball off somewhere. Make the training as game realistic as possible.
Have the keeper turn and then do a front roll, come to their feet and make the save. This is great for stance and balance and also adds an element of anaerobic conditioning.
Have the keeper roll the ball through their legs and then turn
One of the tougher concepts for the young keeper is that of cutting down the angle of the shooter. At the younger ages you generally have two extremes, keepers who never come off their lines, and keepers who just charge at anything.
What the keepers lack is the perspective of how much net is left exposed if they do or do not move. This is so basically because there are no real visual cues for the keeper to lock in on.
Depicted below is a simple, visual way to show the keeper how much of the net is exposed based on the ball’s position and his position relative to it and the shooter.
All you need to demonstrate this is a net, a length of cord (a 150 foot extension cord does nicely) a ball and the keeper. Tie one end of the cord to the near post, the other end to the far post. Then you simply pull the cord out as depicted below and set the ball at the apex of the triangle.
Obviously everything outside the cord line will miss the net when shot, everything inside will hit the net. (There is of course the third dimension, height, but we’ll get to this later.
GOAL
Move out to cut the angle
It is clear to see from the depiction above that as the keeper moves out to cut down the angle there is less and less room to her sides for the ball to pass her and still be on goal.
It is also easy to move the cords around to show how different angles of approach by the attacker yield different angles that the keeper can cut down.
Now of course there is also the issue of a shot being played over the head of the keeper. At the younger ages this is usually a line shot that just clears their hands.
At the older levels, as players come off their lines more there are chipped shots for which the keeper must drop back quickly for to punch away.
For the younger ages however, where we just want to show them the basic perspective of how cutting down the angle helps them, use this simple technique.
With the cords still in place, put a ball at the apex of the triangle. Then have the keeper go out and lie on the ground with their head on the ball. This gives them a “balls eye view”. Have a second player be the keeper in the net and have them slowly approach the ball. The keeper with their head on the ball will see how the player approaching “miraculously” grows in relation to the net, giving the shooter less and less of a target….simple, yet effective.
The next series of exercises come from Bobby Muuss, Goalkeeping Coach at the University of Connecticut. The name of the drill is his, not ours.
Set up a grid of cones about 10 to 15 yards on a side. It helps if you have multiple color cones like a set of red and a few yellows (or vice versa).
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lukos1984