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
Reactor!
Improving your goalkeeper’s reaction speed to different attacking situations such as rebounds and the fast, unexpected shot could stop your team leaking goals.
What this session is about
- Reactions.
- Speed of movement around the box.
- Shot stopping.
What to think about
- Goalkeepers must be ready at all times.
- In games, a rebound or deflection may force a goalkeeper to immediately change his position to stop a goal being scored.
- Any match can bring up unpredictable situations for goalkeepers so, in training, you must try to recreate these scenarios for goalkeepers to develop their speed and ability to react and make saves.
Set-up
| 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
Line up eight players along the edge of a penalty box, as shown in the top picture. Each player is given a number which is kept secret from the goalkeeper.
You call the number of a player who takes just one touch and then shoots at goal.
The goalkeeper must react to the first touch by moving towards the ball to narrow the angle and then try to make the save.
As soon as this shot is taken, call out the next number who touches and shoots and so on.
Strikers are numbered 1 to 8 and, when called, each takes a touch and then shoots at goal.
Development
Use the final third of a pitch and line up a team on each side of the goal and a shooter from each team 25 yards from goal.
These teams of players compete to score the most goals.
The goalkeeper throws the ball out to one team’s shooter and comes forward to narrow the angle. The shooter takes one touch and shoots at goal.
Immediately, the keeper and shooter react to a second ball passed back from a player at the side of the goal and try to score/save the shot.
This second ball is like a rebound and the server is free to make a grounded, bounced or aerial serve.
Once this ball is saved or scored or leaves the pitch, the keeper resets, the shooter joins the back of his team’s line and the server becomes the new shooter.
The next phase of play is the other team’s turn to go through the two shots as explained above.
The keeper rolls the ball out, runs to block the shot then reacts to a second pass in from a player at the side of the goal.
Game situation
Mark out a 30-yard diameter circle and set up a triangle goal in the centre (each flag is five yards apart), as in the bottom picture.
Use two teams and a goalkeeper. Team A and the goalkeeper defend the triangle goal.
Team B tries to keep possession of the ball and, when the opportunity arises, players try to score in the triangle goal.
The use of a triangle goal ensures the goalkeeper and defenders are constantly adjusting their positions to block the attackers’ shots.
If team A wins possession, it must dribble the ball out of the circle so the opposition can take up a defensive position, then attack.
A defending team (A) and goalkeeper constantly move to prevent goals being scored by attackers (B).
