Tag Archives for " Goalkeeper "

0 Reading the Angles

By Patrick Kasperitis -

The ability for goalkeepers to judge their angles correctly is paramount to the success of any goalkeeper. Athleticism can only make up for so much where as good positioning can make any save look comfortable. Below is a session that I use to help goalkeepers improve their understanding of the angles they need to take within the goal.

The key to this skill is making sure that the goalkeeper keeps their body weight forward so that they can get to a good set position and make a good dive. We want our goalkeepers to have that forward body weight and if that is not present in their movement, they might be flat-footed when trying to make a

0 Dealing with Balls Cut Back from the End Line

By Patrick Kasperitis -

A common soccer tactic is for the attacking teams to have a player drive towards the end line and play a ball at a backwards angle toward the top of the 6-yard box. This type of play allows for the ball to already be behind the defenders and allows the attacking players to be able to attack the ball at an angle that is moving away from defenders and the goalkeeper. Plus because of the fact that this ball is often driven from a close distance it can be difficult for the goalkeeper to hold on to it. This exercise will

0 Getting Back to Your Line

By Patrick Kasperitis -

This exercise set looks at the goalkeeper’s ability to not only deal with a cross, but to get back onto their line in order to deal with any save that might come from having to punch or tip the shot.

Set-Up
Place cones off to the side of the penalty area in line with the penalty spot. Using the Line for the end of the penalty area (or setting a cone 6 yards away from the gates) the server will toss the ball up in the air for the

0 Playing Out with the Goalkeeper

By Patrick Kasperitis -

The modern goalkeeper is required to use their feet almost more often than their hands. Players like Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich FC and German National Team) and Hope Solo (Seattle Reign and US Women’s National Team), whose stories involve relatively late changes in position to playing as a goalkeeper made their ability to play with their feet seem almost natural. On the opposite side we see fantastic shot stoppers like Simon Mignolet, who plays for Liverpool FC in England, come under immense criticism for his relative short comings playing with his feet.

The skills they use to help their team to play out of the back are things that we can train. We want to try to replicate situations they might see in the game. One of these examples is when the goalkeeper is asked to swing the ball from side to side. Our defenders in front of us are under pressure, we want our team mates to be able to be comfortable playing the ball back to us so that we can get to the

0 Warm-Up for Mind and Body

By Patrick Kasperitis -

A warm-up is intended to be a wake-up exercise for the mind as well. We need to prepare our goalkeepers to be able to focus on a specific task with many different stimulants around them. This warm-up exercise will incorporate functional agility movements with handling and playing with the feet.

The exercise is set up as below. I generally look to do all footwork at least off to the side of the goal for two reasons: 1) preserve the integrity of the ground inside of the goal area, and 2) when doing work with our feet, I ask our goalkeepers to try and avoid taking touches inside of the frame of the

0 Claiming Balls Out of the Air

By Patrick Kasperitis -

Claiming balls out of the air is such a difficult skill. It involves so many different variables that the goalkeeper has little control over. We have to work with our goalkeepers to make sure that they are able to block out as many of those variables and distractions as possible and focus on:

• tracking the ball
• using good footwork to keep body in good position
• going for and jumping for the ball with strength and confidence
• Catch and hold onto the ball while coming out of the air

There are many exercises that can try to improve these individual aspects. This exercise will work to improve the

0 Reaction Save Exercise

By Patrick Kasperitis -

Whenever a goalkeeper is making a save there are equal parts anticipation as reaction. Sometimes though the reaction side becomes the most pivotal of these two. Reaction saves are about concentration, body quickness, and at times creativity. Here we have two exercises. One that is a warm-up involving shuffling/jumping and working to improve the quickness of the hand movements. The second exercise deals with the possibility of deflections.

The Warm-up is set up as illustrated below.
- Server 5 meters away
- one hurdle in front of goalkeeper

Goalkeeper will perform footwork and then will receive ball. Goalkeeper does not know when the ball will be served. The Server has complete control over when the ball is played. They can do it after on repetition of the footwork or after 10! (Should probably vary it up but go no more than 3-5 repetitions without

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 Dealing with High Crosses

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

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

Start with a server with a ball near the 18 and end line, 4 cones that are one yard apart starting at the near post a few keepers near the far post.

The first keeper starts by stepping between each cone, touching and

0 Quick Footwork and Diving

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on quick footwork, changes of directions and diving.

Start with the keeper in a proper stance between two cones. There are two more cones 3 yards in front of the keeper and 3 yards to the side and a server 10 yards away with a ball.

The server starts by pointing to one of the

0 Space to Deal with Free Kicks

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s topic deals with the keeper giving himself room on free kicks (when possible).

We will start using the example of a free kick from 35 yards out and near the sideline.

Too often a keeper will allow the attacking team to get

0 Short Keeper Distribution

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on short keeper distribution.

This activity requires one keeper and 5 field players. One field player starts behind the keeper and the others are 10 yards away with balls. There are 2 cones 15 yards to each side of the keeper.

The first player with the

0 Making the Second Save

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on punching and making the second save.

Start with a keeper in goal and 4 players spread around the 18 with balls.

One of the players out wide crosses the ball in and the

0 Reactions and Quick Dives

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on reactions and quick dives.

While keepers love the excitement of the extended dive to save the shot hit toward the upper corner, the reality is the tough save is the hard low shot just to the side of the keeper. That hard low shot to the side is difficult to get down in time for, difficult to get the legs out of the way and extremely difficult to hold onto the ball. This series of activities works to prepare the keeper for this situation.

Start with a goal that is 3 yards wide. A keeper is in goal and a server is 5 yards away with balls.

To start the keeper plays a hard ball just to the

2 Helping Struggling Goalkeepers

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s topic deals with when keepers are struggling.

Too often, when a keeper is struggling the coach thinks the proper response is...work harder.  Unfortunately, that isn’t always the right solution.

The alternative is when a keeper is struggling, go back to the basics.

This is the time to look at the most important parts of the body for catching.  One of the very first articles I wrote for FineSoccer.com was the three most important parts of the body for catching.  16 years later, they are still the

0 Shot Blocking from Different Angles

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on shotblocking from different angles.

Start with two servers with balls on the 18, each even with a goal post. There is a keeper in goal and another keeper waiting on the side of the goal.

The first server starts by

0 Diving Cone to Cone

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on technical training of diving and coming forward on the dive.

This can be used after the exercise from last week's post.

Start with 2 lines of staggered cones, 5 yards apart. There is one keeper who starts at one end between the two lines and a server 10 yards away, in between the cones.

The keeper starts by moving forward and the server

0 Coming Forward on Dives

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on coming forward on dives.

Start with a rectangle that us 8 yards wide and 4 yards deep. There is a keeper in the middle of the rectangle and a server, with a ball, on each end line, 10 yards away.

One server starts by playing a ball to a cone. The keeper must get out of the

0 Penalty Box Fitness - Part 1

By Jason Stockmann - Everyone knows fitness is key for a soccer player – very few sports exact the levels of endurance, stamina, speed and dexterity that the beautiful game demands. Though a goalkeeper may not need to reach the same level of endurance or stamina his or her field player counterparts hit, they definitely have

0 Reacting to Runs in the Box

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on reacting to runs in the box.

Start with a keeper in goal, a player on the end line at the corner of the 18 and two players ready to make runs.

The players start their runs and the player on the

0 Protecting the Posts on Corner Kicks

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s topic deals with protecting the posts on corner kicks.

When watching many professional teams defending corner kicks we see one, or both, posts left unprotected. Without looking at the data but rather using general observation, it also seems there are a lot more goals being scored on corner kicks. One might say this is because of better services, better attacking players etc. but I have a hard time believing this isn’t partly due to lack of players on the posts.

My suggestion, especially at the youth level, is to have a player on each post.

It’s not good enough to just have a player on each post, they also need to know how to position themselves.

Too often I see players on posts with their entire bodies facing the corner.

There are a couple of problems with the players lining up this way. The first one is the player at the near post tends to

0 Distribution with the Feet

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on distribution with the feet.

Start with a keeper in goal, a server 30 yards out (with balls), a line of players even with the server and a player out wide on each side.

The server plays a ball back to the

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