By Matt Carroll -
This is a goalkeeper conditioning drill that can be used either as a quick technical warm-up to get the player’s heart rate up, or the time can be extended to assess the player’s physical stamina and ability to stay focused. It starts by placing 4 cones in a square about 5 feet apart. One goalkeeper stands in the middle. The coach stands on one edge of the box with a ball, any additional goalkeepers can stand on any other edge with the ball.
The drill starts with the coach playing either a ball on the ground, to the goalie’s midsection, or in the air. The goalkeeper then must utilize the appropriate technique to field the ball then shovel their feet clockwise to the next goalkeeper or coach and do the same.
An additional element of difficulty can be added by having the cones color-coded and the coach giving commands such as ‘“blue and red” to dictate which edge of the box they should shuffle to and receive from. This makes the drill more mentally challenging, but also allows the coach to have greater control of the pace of the conditioning.
By Matt Carroll
