The keeper keeps it
in Goalkeeping
Teach your goalkeeper to play the ball out with their feet and start attacks from the back. By GWYNNE WILLIAMS MORE
Back pass clearance
Goalkeepers should be as comfortable with the ball at their feet as they are with it in their hands, particularly when they receive and clear back passes from their defenders.
What this session is about
- Goalkeeping.
- Clearing the ball from the penalty box by getting height and distance.
What to think about
- Move into line with the ball.
- Eyes on the ball, head steady.
- Lean back slightly.
- Strike bottom half of ball and hit vertical line that bisects it.
- Strike with the laces.
- Ankle firm, extend kicking foot.
- Sweep through and across the ball.
Set-up
1 goalkeeper, 1 server.
| Warm up | Session | Developments | Game Situation | Warm Down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes | 10 minutes | 15 minutes | 15 minutes | 10 minutes |
What you get your players to do
A server moves around the outside of the penalty area, serving the ball toward the 6-yard box from a variety of positions. The keeper attempts to clear the ball towards two markers placed towards the half-way line (depending on the keeper’s age and ability) about 15 yards apart. (These can be, for example disc cones or players who also retrieve the ball.)
The goalkeeper must use the right foot if receiving the ball from the right, and the left if the ball arrives from the left, and can take a controlling touch.
To progress the keeper must clear the pass first time.
The defender can’t play the ball forward so passes back to the keeper.
Development
Introduce a forward who starts from in front and to one side of the server, and who puts pressure on the goalkeeper by attempting to block the clearance.
The back pass, however, must favour the keeper.
A forward applies pressure to the keeper.
Game situation
Set up a 30-40 yard square at one end of a pitch.
Play 5 defenders plus a goalkeeper versus 5 attackers plus two server/target players. The attackers get points for scoring, while the defenders and keeper get points for clearing the ball to the target players.
If the ball goes out behind the goal-line play restarts with the servers. One of the servers passes the ball to the attacking team to begin the game or once a team is successful.
The goalkeeper doesn’t have time to control the pass, so clears the ball first time to one of the target players.
What to call out
- “First touch out your feet”
- “Eyes on the ball”
- “Don’t try to hit the ball too hard”
