Tag Archives for " Footwork "

0 Footwork and Handling

By Wayne Henderson - This drill is very easy to set up, is relevant to all ages and has a great amount of variations. When working on footwork for your goalkeepers, especially when working on a new drill, it is important to emphasise the quality of footwork and not to put too much emphasis on

0 Moving Well

By Wayne Henderson - Goalkeepers are judged on many things, shot stopping, distribution, commanding their area, dealing with crosses etc. One aspect which goes a little unnoticed is the quality of their movement. The ability to move quickly in and around the goal mouth is a very important aspect of being a top class goal

0 Restricted Space

By Wayne Henderson - At this time of year in the United Kingdom the adverse weather conditions can cause havoc when preparing and delivering your coaching sessions. Due to frost and snow, The Grass pitches we use were unplayable and we found ourselves and the rest of our team training on a smaller than usual

3 Combining Footwork and Handling

By Tony Englund - Goalkeeping warm-ups typically feature isolated handling and footwork exercises, and one of our points of emphasis in our club setting is to roll these two elements together in the warm-up to create more efficient and realistic training. This article features a trio of simple, favorite means of mixing these critical elements in

0 Is Shot Stopping No Longer Enough?

By Wayne Henderson - Joe Hart being replaced at English Premier League side Manchester City by Claudio Bravo is the latest example of the changing demands and expectations on today's Goalkeepers. Possession of the ball is now rightly looked upon as being a fundamental aspect in the modern game, teams at all levels are “playing out

0 Goal Keeper Footwork

By Josh Jones-Keen - Warm-Up Start with quick feet ladder work. There are a number of different foot patterns that can be used; depending on your Keepers level of skill use whatever you think is appropriate. If they’re finding some too easy but can’t yet do another pattern make them do the current one but quicker!

0 Movement and Footwork

By Josh Jones-Keen - Warm up Keepers move through the disks and the coach will shout ‘left’ or ‘right’ and the Keeper must touch the flag and deal with the serve on the ground from the coach. Keepers touch the left flag, make their way to the centre of the goal and deal with serve from

0 Goalkeepers Footwork

By Josh Jones-Keen - I find a Keepers footwork is often overlooked. I believe it can be the difference between getting across to save a shot and not. What I look for in footwork is: Short, Sharp Sidesteps No heel clipping No crossing over It’s that simple. I find the 3 S’s stay in players’ heads

1 Improving Making Low Saves

By Patrick Kasperitis -

This exercise works the functional movement of diving to save low shots that are a little bit closer to the body. When looking at this type of shot we want to make sure that we address the issues of:

• the first step of the dive
• diving with our hands going towards the ground first (to minimize the chances of the ball going under the hands)
• Keeping our chest facing the field in the dive and propelling through as we make contact with the ball in order to parry.

Exercise is set up as such:

• One goalkeeper will work at a time
• Take two tall hurdles (should sit about hip high) and place them 4 meters apart
• One server will start about 8-10 meters away.

Exercise begins with a volley into hands, toss ball back, then a volley into a basket catch, toss ball back. After ball is tossed back a second time, the

0 Footwork and the Drop Step

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on footwork and the drop step.

Start with a keeper in goal, a speed ladder in front of him and a server 15 yards out.

The keeper starts by taking quick steps through the

0 Shot Blocking, Footwork and Rebounds

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on shot blocking, footwork and dealing with rebounds.

Start with a keeper in goal and three servers on the field. The first one is 15 yards out, even with the 6 yard box with balls. The second one is 15 yards out, even with the other side of the 6, with balls and the third is at the 12 yard spot.

The keeper starts by sliding and

0 Catching and Footwork

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Todays featured activity is a simple drill that works on catching and footwork.

Start with two keepers facing each other from 5 yards apart. Each keeper has a ball in his hands.

Each keeper tosses the ball, underhand, slightly to

0 Footwork, Fitness, Balance and Catching

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on footwork, fitness, balance and catching.

Start with a speed ladder on the ground and a keeper on one end facing a server who has a ball.

The keeper starts by hopping (with two feet) into the

0 Goalkeeping Specific Fitness Drill

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on footwork, fitness and balance.

There are still too many coaches who think that running laps is an effective way to work on fitness. Others lean toward full field or half field sprints. The problem with this type of fitness work is, while there is a place for it, it’s not the type of movement that a keeper does. Keepers do a lot of forward and backward movement but more in the 5 yard range as opposed to the 50 yard range. This is an activity to work on the type of fitness and movement that is more applicable for keepers.

Start with 6 cones staggered in two lines 5 yards apart. The keepers start in a line at one end and there is a server 10 yards from the last cone, on the other end.

One thing to emphasize from the very beginning is

0 Goalkeeping Clock Drills

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on footwork, balance and shot blocking.

A keeper is in the middle of 12 cones which make up a circle (this will represent a clock so the cones should be evenly spaced out and the circle is approximately 5 yards in diameter). A server is 12 yards away with a ball.

The cone directly in front of the keeper represents 12 o’clock. The cone directly

0 Extension Diving Drill

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on catching, footwork, extension dives and a bit of fitness.

Start with a keeper in goal and servers 12 yards from each post on the end line. These servers each have a ball in their hands. A third server is 15 yards out with balls.

The keeper starts by sprinting to the post closest to

0 Complete Goalkeeper Warm-Up

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity is a simple warm up that works on collapse dives, high balls and footwork.

Start with a keeper and a server. The server is 10 yards in front of the keeper with a ball.

The server throws a ball to the keepers side and the keeper

2 Eight-Cone Goalkeeper Drills

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on fitness, footwork and catching

Start with 8 cones 1 yard apart in a line. They are numbered 1-8 as shown in the diagram below.

A keeper starts in front of cone 1 and one server starts

1 Warm-Up For Hands and Footwork

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Todays featured activity is a great warm up for working on hands and footwork.

Start with 4 cones in a 3 x 3 square. A keeper is at one of the back cones and a server is 10 yards in front of the cone with a ball.

The keeper starts by sliding side to side to the other back cone and then

0 Drill To Improve Footwork For Shotblocking

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on footwork, positioning and shot blocking.

Start with 2 cones set up 4 yards apart 4 yards from goal. A keeper is in goal and 3 servers are inside the 18 with balls.

The center server starts and the keeper steps up through the cones to

0 Footwork and Fitness Drill

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on footwork, fitness and catching.

Start with a line of 8 cones 1 yard apart from each other. A keeper starts at one end and a server is 12 yards away with a ball.

To start the keeper slides side to side behind the cones and the server plays

1 Why Footwork is Critical For High Balls

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on footwork for high balls.

Start with a keeper on the top of the 6 yard box and a server at the top of the 18 with some balls. Place a cone 3 yards from the goal line and 2 yards in from each post.

The purpose of this activity is to have the keeper get back and behind the ball before

0 Why Footwork Is Important to Catching

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on footwork and catching.

Start with 4 cones in a line 4 yards apart. Even with the last cone are 2 mini goals 4 yards apart. In front of the last cone are 2 more cones on angles. There are keepers at the first cone and a server 10 yards from each mini goal.

The first keeper starts by slaloming through the 4 cones and then

2 Adjusting Your Position For Shots at Angles

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on shot blocking, footwork and angles.

Start with a keeper in goal and a few field players on one corner of the 18 with balls.

The first field player starts dribbling across the 18.  With each step the keeper has to