Newsletter #6 Set Position 

One of our earlier newsletters caught the attention of one of our readers named Patrick Oliver. Patrick emailed me the following question:  

“The newsletter today talked about the correct set position.  Can you explain that a bit more for me?” 

A very good question if you ask me, because it appears that many goalkeepers are never taught the proper way to ‘get set’. I asked Patrick to share a little bit of information about himself so I could feature his question in our newsletter and this is what he sent me: 

Originally played soccer as a really short teenager.  Even though I enjoyed the necessary speed of being a keeper, in my last season we lost every game.  At that time I couldn't understand enjoying the game if we didn't win.  My teammates were always supportive but my mind set was the cause of taking a twenty-five year break.  Somehow I grew to be 6'2" and played other sports which I could win more often!  Even so the joy of the win was very necessary.  My own maturity has brought about the very important lesson of playing the game with a winning attitude.  Also translates into playing the game of life with a better attitude for all.  I really like Erik's newsletters and websites.  The information readily moves into my game on the field.  We won our first game of the season!  But I know the whole season will be a blast.  The only time I think I won't enjoy playing is if I'm the keeper for USA and we lose every game.  Till then steady improvements and a winning attitude, in the long run, will keep bringing me back! 

He sure seems to have the right attitude, now let’s answer his question and see if we can get the set position straightened out for him!

In order for the goalkeeper to be able to react to whatever unfolds in front of him/her, the goalkeeper needs to be in a solid athletic position, ready to move to whatever direction is needed as quickly as possible. Personally I call this the ‘set position’. I would like to quote world renowned goalkeeper coach Tony Waiters on the shape of the goalkeeper: “The posture of the true goalkeeper would alienate any drill sergeant anywhere in the world. The best looking goalkeepers are always round shouldered, and look more like a gorilla than US marine. This ‘concaving’ of the body assists in every facet of the actions of the goalkeeper.” So we want the body to be leaning forward, shoulders rounded, feet about shoulder width apart, knees bent and palms out.

To illustrate the things to look for I took some pictures of 12 year old (future WNT keeper) Ashley this past weekend who was kind enough to model for this newsletter. In picture 1 we see Ashley in a good, well balanced set position. Her shoulders are nice and round, body weight forward, knees nicely bent and a good arm and hand position. Picture 2 shows us a similar good set position from a different angle. 

pic1                                                         pic2

Now when we look at picture 3 we see her back is too straight, the shoulders are too square and the arms are just kinda hanging to her side with the palms inward. Too often we see this around the fields though! She is not is a very good position to react to a shot now. 

Let’s take a look at picture 4. In this picture Ashley’s hands are up, rather than in a low position. Is there anything wrong with this? Personally I don’t think so, I will usually leave this up to the goalkeeper’s personal preference. However, I do always tell them that I believe having the arms low is better simple because having the hands high almost forces the goalie’s back to be straight and the shoulders to square (as we can clearly see in the picture) which makes it hard to react, especially to the low balls. Having said that, if they can get comfortably set with their hands high I usually let them, providing their body weight stays forward and they concave as much as they can. It’s usually the younger keepers that do this and mostly they grow out of it. 

The next common mistake is illustrated in picture 5. We can clearly see that Ashley’s legs are too straight, where the knees should be bent and she appears to be flatfooted. She has put herself at a great disadvantage should a shot be taken and it will be nearly impossible for her to react in time. 

Pictures 6 and 7 show us another common view when looking at goalkeepers; the fingers touching rather than having the arms and hands to the side. I normally discourage any goalkeeper from doing this before it becomes a habit for the simple reason that having the hands to the sides puts them in a better position for great range and quicker reaction. We might be talking only a split second here but that is usually the difference between a save and a goal! 

The last picture is probably the most common mistake we see goalkeepers make when it comes to assuming the set position and I am not talking about the awkward position of Ashley’s hands. Look down and check out her feet and use the touchline as your guide. Her feet are not parallel which makes her body weight shift forward and if we don’t have our body weight evenly distributed over both feet we are in big trouble. If the body is moving forward at the time of a shot, it will become almost impossible to react and dive sideways. If we transfer too much weight onto one foot then it will become almost impossible to dive to the other side. So once the striker gives you that clue that he/she is going to take that shot, get set properly and give yourself the best change to make a save! 

 Well Patrick and all other goalkeepers and fans; I hope I have answered this question sufficiently for you. If any of you have any other questions then please feel free to email me at ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and you might be featured in our next newsletter! Thank you all for visiting this site....keep your nets empty!

Erik.