NEWSLETTER #12

Hello Everyone,

Last week I received this very interesting email: 

Hey Erik

I Have recently started reading the newsletters on your website and i thought i would ask you a question that has been on my mind for a while:

In a situation where an attacker gets away from the defender and has an open sight at goal, lets say 10-18 yards out from the goal, is it better to have a spread 'intimidating' stance with wide arms or have a technical stance with the feet shoulder width apart and your arms by your side?

This bothers me because i have been taught by goalkeeping coaches that the latter stance is correct but i always see the professionals using the spread stance in situations like these and one on one's.

Thankyou

James Gorrie

Age 17

Australia

  Hey John, 

I am glad you emailed me because your topic poses an interesting question; should you do what you believe the pro’s do or should you do what your coaches have taught you? Well let’s go back to your question first. You start off by painting a one-on-one situation, striker versus goalkeeper.

From how I read it this would be a breakaway situation where your defender is clearly beat. So it will be logical to assume that the striker is at full speed, and about to enter the penalty area. Now you asked me what to do when the striker is 10-18 yards out. Obviously there is a huge difference between 10 and 18 yards out so let’s rewind a little. As soon as you, the goalkeeper, see that your defender is beat you start to come off your line, hard! Now look at the forward and see if he/she gives away any clues as to when he/she is going to shoot. What you want to look for is the forward looking down and then bringing his/her shooting leg up. The lifting of the foot is your cue to stop moving immediately, and get into a set position, no matter where you are on the field. It is better to stop and be slightly out of position than it is to be caught moving!

Now to get back to your question; what stance should you take? I strongly agree with your coaches to take a proper set position where your legs are not too far apart which will enable you to react properly to a shot to either side of you. Now remember, the closer you are to the striker, the lower your stance. So if you were only a few yards out and see that the forward is ready to shoot then your knees would be bent far enough where your hands would almost be touching the ground. In this stance there is no possible way to get ‘megged’ and being so close you couldn’t get chipped either. So all you really need to worry about is being able to dive to the left or right.

If you are back a little farther you would be up right some more, taking away the chip yet still in a good enough stance to get to the ground quickly should you have to. So why are some pro’s using a wide stance? To be honest I think it’s pure human nature to take a wider stance in that situation but that doesn’t mean it’s the smart thing to do. Here’s a good example of how it can be costly: http://youtube.com/watch?v=w65rWKWTIVc&feature=related. A wider stance makes you susceptible to being playing between the legs and also of getting chipped. It will make you fall backwards which obviously never helps saving the ball.

Sometimes a goalie might get lucky and save the ball with his/her feet but I am pretty confident that having the proper stance results in more saves. My advice to you would be gets lots and lots of repetition on these 1v1 situations so it becomes second nature to get in the right position, as if building muscle memory. I truly believe even the pro’s make mistakes simply because they do not get enough repetition in these situations. I hope this helps you John, and our other members. Please keepers, keep the emails coming and we will try and pick another question for the next newsletter.

Thank you, and God Bless, 

Erik.

Newsletter #11

Happy New Year to all of you Goalkeepers, Fans, Family and Coaches! I want to start the New Year off by touching on a subject that comes back over and over again. I was just reminded again last month when a friend of mine (he trains the goalkeepers at a local HS) asked me how he could increase his goalie’s vertical leap, and he needed fast results. Don’t we all wish our keepers could jump higher? Well I have dug up this old article I used before and have changed the language slightly but it is still mostly in it’s original format. Over the next few weeks I will add several physical work-outs to the site on how to increase your vertical leap but this program will generate immediate results for those that follow it precisely.  

Erik. 

4” OVERNIGHT INCHES MENTAL WORKOUT

Newsletter #10 

Hello everyone! This past week I received the following email: 

Hello Erik,
 
   I have used and read your tips and goalkeeper forum and its great. I have
learned a lot from all the hard work you and others have done to put this
info out for us to use. Especially a new comer like myself.  Great Job!!!!
 
   I have had about 10 goals scored on me with a cross kick to the back side
post in many games. I believe my defense should be a big part of this type
of play and my coach says I have a lot to do with it. I dont know what to
think and would like your feed back. Heres the play by play:
 
  Striker comes down the left side of field solo or with 1 defender
trailing. Striker enters left side 18 yard box driving towards goal line. As
this is occuring I am shifting/sliding to my left goal post (near post) to
protect & eliminte any angle shot from there. I post up about 1 yard in
front of near post & about 2-3 yards in from goal line. Heres what
happens....
Striker send a high cross in front of goal maybe 6 yard line and some where
near the back side post (far post / right goal post) another player squeezes
in and heads the shoot in or just scores. By the time I start heading that
way the player is already striking the ball and I get there late just in
time to see the ball go in. Sometimes I see one of my defenders there
positioned on the outside of player who just scored.
 
So my concern is how can I or am I supposed to play this out. My coach
(field coach) says I should play the middle of goal and that way I can cover
entire area between the 2 post. I find that kinda of odd but it makes sense.
It will be harder to cover a hard fast shot to near post if striker is good.
Can you help me with this type of scenario??? Any feed back will be great
and appreciated.
 
Thanks
 
Jose
 
Age 28
Fox League (LA) 

Hey Jose, 

Thanks so much for your kind words, and I am happy to see that the hard work is appreciated! The issue you raised was extra interesting to me because this past weekend it was the one thing I had to tell almost every single keeper I had at the ODP training center.  Every time an opponent would dribble the ball up the flank and manage to cross the ball there would be another opponent wide open near the far post for an easy score. This raises several questions: 

• Where should the keeper position him/herself?
• What exactly is the goalkeeper’s responsibility here?
• So was the goal given up the goalkeeper’s fault?

 I can be pretty short about the goalkeeper’s position: ALWAYS cover the near post first. To put that more into perspective, let’s look at the pictures below.  

Player A is dribbling the ball up the field and in each picture I have adjusted the goalkeeper’s (1)position in relation to the position of the player with the ball. Note how the keeper always covers the near post, and the closer the player with the ball gets, the more we will step out in front of this near post.

When the player with the ball comes close enough to shoot the goalie even steps out in front of it! We do this in case a hard shot is taken and cannot be caught but only deflected. If the shot gets deflected, it will be for a corner kick and not for a goal. Too often we see goalkeepers giving up goals near post, on balls that deflect off their own body! So to prevent this, we step out in front (pic 1c).

Now when the player with the ball gets all the way to the end line as illustrated in picture 1d, the goalkeeper can do a crossover step and get back to the middle of the goal, almost as if it were a corner kick. There is no chance of giving up a goal near post from that angle so it would be safe for the keeper to resume a position closer to the middle of the goal, of course depending on where the other attackers and his defenders would be.

1d

Now please bear in mind that in our example we have been using a left footed player, dribbling up the left flank. If that player were to be right footed, we would need to adjust our position accordingly. This reminds us how important it is to educate ourselves on our opponents and at a very minimum at least study the starters during their warm-ups.

Also, I learned from Jose’s email that he is 28 years old meaning he plays in an adult league. At that age, a good striker can surprise you and score near post from 30 yards out whereas a 12 year old player is not very likely to do that so please adjust the keeper’s position according to their age.

The above should answer the first question we raised. Let’s move on to the next one; What exactly is the goalkeeper’s responsibility here? The short answer here would be obviously not to give up any goals, but it’s not quite that simple. What if the goalkeeper does everything right, but player A sends in a cross to his forward that is left wide open at the far post? And here is where I see many goalkeepers forget something. Many will start yelling at their defenders for leaving someone wide open; but is that really only the defender’s fault? Who is really in charge of organizing the defense? Exactly, us, the goalkeepers.

So I try install this habit into my young goalkeepers where as soon as the ball is dribbled up the flank, I tell them to look over their shoulder to the opposite side of the field real quick and assess the situation. NOW the keeper can yell instructions  to the defenders as his or her attention focuses back on the ball. Should the cross come and a forward is still left unmarked near the far post THEN the goalkeeper might have a reason to be upset with his/her defender(s). But let’s never forget that WE have to organize our defense, and continuously assess the situation on the field. So again, keepers, look over your shoulder as the ball is moved up the flank. Now you know exactly what is developing behind your back and you can instruct accordingly.

This brings us straight into the 3^rd question:

So was the goal given up the goalkeeper’s fault? I think the answer here would be yes, partly. If the keeper fails to look over his/her shoulder and instruct the defense then the keeper is certainly partly to blame. I cannot stress enough how important it is for a goalkeeper to be able to read the plays as they develop and instruct the defense where needed.

Thanks Jose, for emailing me your very good question. As always, I encourage anyone who has a question to simply email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . You might even make it into the Newsletter, as Jose did. Have a blessed weekend everyone! 

Erik.

Newsletter #9

A little while ago I received this email with an issue that I am sure lots of you will recognize: 

Erik, I was hoping to get your thoughts on something I see every weekend.  We have a U12 Girls team, and one of the issues that seems to muck up the works is punting.  90% of the time when a goalkeeper gets their hands on the ball (both on our team and opponents) they opt to punt it away.  The problem is that now the ball is high in the air and there is a fight for control.  Maybe our team ends up winning it, but it’s probably no better than 50-50.  Which means we lose possession half of the time and the ball is coming right back towards the goalkeeper that just punted it away.   

In talking with our two goalkeepers, I have the impression that they do this for three reasons.  First, they lack confidence in rolling, throwing, or passing the ball out to their teammates.  Second, they are worried that someone will intercept a ball they roll, throw, or pass to a teammate and thus they are trying to get the ball as far away as possible.  And third, they think punting the ball is cool.  Who doesn’t like kicking the ball far down the field? 

You gave a statistic during the NSCAA Goalkeeping course that the goalkeeper for Manchester United only puts the ball 1 ½ times a game.  How do we work with our keepers to help them realize that punting the ball isn’t always the best option and to give them the confidence to distribute the ball in a way that we keep possession? Thanks for any input on this, Erik.  

Here’s what I answered him:  

I like your question a lot, especially because it is such a common occurrence at the youth level. I am very pleased to see that you picked up on that; you’d be surprised to find out how many coaches never notice this. I believe your question is two fold: 

1)       How do we work with our keepers to help them realize that punting the ball isn’t always the best option?

2)       How do we give them the confidence to distribute the ball in a way that we keep possession? 

The answer to question number one is pretty simple. Sit them down and watch any other youth game with them time next time you are out on the fields. Make them count the number of punts, and the number of possessions as a result of that punt. The next step would be to ask them (not tell them, let them come to the conclusion) if they can think of better ways to distribute the ball with a higher percentage of keeping possession. This should take care of the first part of your question. 

The second part of your question is partly easy, the answer is: through practice. But the harder part is; how do we practice this? 

I invited the coach, his 2 keepers and two other goalkeepers over and we did a session on distribution. Now I don’t want this newsletter to be too long so I will not get into detail on the techniques but I will mention some coaching points when I outline the session we did for you. 

I did tell the goalkeepers that rolling/bowling the ball has the advantage of being the most accurate, but that they would get the least amount of distance with it. Next would be the baseball throw for a little more distance, but a little less accuracy. The overhand throw will make the ball travel even farther, but will be even less accurate. Our feet we will mostly use when the ball is played back to us, and when it needs redistributing.

Start off with any warm-up you feel appropriate. After the girls were warmed up I paired them up and we went over all the distribution techniques (except punting); feet, rolling/bowling the ball, baseball throw and overhand throw. (If anyone wants to go more into detail on these techniques 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 ). So in pairs they passed the ball back and forth, then rolled the ball back and forth and so on.

After another stretch they spread out into a square shape and they played the fun game of ‘same/switch’. So forming a square with the keepers being the corners at about 20 yards apart (adjust to age/ability) you have one keeper start with the ball and she will serve the ball using whatever technique she wants, to any one of the other 3 goalkeepers. As soon as she serves the ball, the keeper diagonally of the one that’s about to receive the ball will yell SAME or SWITCH. If she yells SAME, then the keeper that is receiving the ball has to distribute it to any other goalie using the same technique as the last keeper. If SWITCH is yelled, then the keeper receiving the ball will have to re-distribute the ball to any of the other keepers using a different technique from the one that sent her the ball. Play this for about 10-15 minutes and make sure that if the keepers use the roll for distribution, that they take a few steps first because they will not be able to roll the ball as far as they can throw it.

Next we moved on to the game field and set the goalies up as in the picture below(the two U11 goalies are yellow). If you don’t have four goalkeepers then simply use two field players for the positions in red. If you have four keepers, then rotate them every 5-10 plays or so, so that every keeper plays every position once. The keeper with the ball starts the activity by running up to the edge of her box and bowl the ball to the keeper/field player on the right. Make sure that this player is close enough, and you can even make them check to the ball. Watch for good pace on the ball and accuracy of the bowl, e.g. was the ball played to the right foot etc.

The player then dribbles the ball past the halfway line and plays it into the next goalkeeper. If you are working with four goalkeepers, then the keeper can dribble past the halfway line, pick up the ball and bowl it to the next keeper.

Next the keeper in the other goal will come to the ball and properly handle the ball and then quickly reset and run to the edge on the other side of the box to distribute the ball to the field player on the other side, who will come and check to the ball since we are bowling the ball.

This player will then dribble past the halfway line and play the ball to the first keeper, or, if you are using four goalkeepers; she will dribble, pick the ball up and bowl it to the keeper in the box.

 The keeper will scoop the ball up, reset and start the sequence all over again.

 Have them work this square until you feel that they are comfortable using this technique and then have them work the same activity but reverse the direction. So if you were going counter clockwise as per my example, then make them go clockwise next.

 After this move onto using the baseball throw where this time the field player will be a little farther away. Same thing here, have them work in reversed order as well until you feel they do well and then make them repeat the above with the overhand throw. Now the field player can start farther away again but keep watching for proper technique and make sure the ball bounces 8-10 yards before it gets to the field player for easier reception.

Last part of this activity make the goalkeepers use their feet for distribution where once again the field player starts from farther away, this time from the halfway line. Make sure that you go in reversed direction again so that the keepers use both feet to receive the ball as well as distribute the ball. In my opinion it is vital for every goalkeeper to be able to distribute the ball with both feet! Also remind the goalkeepers that when receiving the ball, their first touch has to be a positive touch (meaning play the ball forward at an angle)! Disasters are waiting to happen if the first touch is square or even worse, backwards. And believe it or not, the most common mistakes made by the pro’s is that they take their eye off the ball when they receive it and an unsuspected hop has been the cause of many embarrassing goals. Check out YouTube for tons of examples So make sure their focus remains on the ball and that the first touch is a positive one. Not only does the above activity work on their distribution skills, it also makes the goalkeepers almost automatically switch the play. How often have we seen a keeper make a great save on interception only the play the ball right back into pressure? This activity will make them get used to looking at the other side of the field first which is huge!

We ended the session with a fun game of ‘hit-the-crossbar’ which is excellent to work on goal kicks. What I usually do is have when someone hits the crossbar, they can pick one of the other players to do crunches. Be careful when you jump in on this fun activity, because I can guarantee you that they will pick the coach to do crunches every time they hit it I hope the above activity will help many of you to practice distribution skills, as always email me your thoughts, comments and questions at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Thanks! Erik.

Hello Everyone, 

This week I want to discuss an email I got from one of our readers, Ashlee, from Texas. Ashlee is a 16 year high school goalkeeper, and describes herself as a total ‘goalkeeping-addict’. She made First Team in all district last year and she made every All Tournament Team in every tournament she has participated in. Ashlee had a serious concern which I know lots of you will recognize. She sent me the following email:

Last year my high school soccer season was horrible. Myself and a few others were the only ones who even seemed to put any effort out! I would go home after every game mentally drained thinking what could I do better? I knew it wasn't my fault considering my team scored maybe 10 district goals. Then when they would announce scores in the morning everyone would say who's y’alls goalie? She must suck! Even though our forwards scored ZERO goals! I felt individually I had an amazing season. But in the end, it didn’t matter. I mean forwards get all the glory. They're EXPECTED to score goals, and when they do, everyone celebrates. I am EXPECTED to stop goals, and when I do, I am just doing my job. And when someone on the field makes a mistake, its ok. They can make a hundred mistakes. But i make ONE mistake, and it could change the entire game. Heck, it could change the entire season! It’s almost as if my coach says: "If you win, it’s cause the forwards scored goals. If you lose, it’s cause you didn’t block enough shots."

Dealing with the mental aspect of goalkeeping is the hard part. This is what I wrote back to Ashlee: 

Once a goalkeeper becomes technically sound at what he or she does, playing the position becomes more of a mental game. Especially when it comes to dealing with adversity. Once we chose to become goalkeepers, we know that our mistakes will be magnified simply because when we make a mistake the consequences are far greater; it's usually a goal for the opponent. As you mentioned; when a striker makes a mistake it's usually no big deal. We subject ourselves to criticism simply by playing the position and because of it's uniqueness.

We all will face criticism, and we will all make mistakes, and we will all get scored upon. It is how we handle these situations that will set the good keepers aside from the average keepers. Mental toughness is an extremely underrated part of goalkeeping and should be trained as well as all physical aspects. Prepare yourself for every practice and every game mentally and try to prepare for any event that can occur. Shake off mistakes and focus on the task at hand; the next ball to block or catch.

Also remember that only a very small percentage of the spectators know anything about soccer, and only a miniscule percentage of them will have knowledge about the goalkeeping position, so the criticism we face is almost always from a non-educated source.

Focus on your strengths and weaknesses and keep working hard; these are things you CAN control. Try not to worry about what other people think or do or say; these are things you CANNOT control and will only distract you from doing what you are good at:) 

So as I wrote to Ashlee, not only do we always put ourselves in the spotlight simply by playing the position of goalkeeper; we also put ourselves under a magnifying glass. I always tell every goalie that I train: “You will concede goals. You will even make mistakes that cost your team goals. How you deal with these goals and mistakes will determine whether you set yourself aside from the average goalkeeper”. Every game the goalkeeper needs to prepare him/herself mentally in a very thorough manner, which should be part of the warm-up routine.

Seeing every goalkeeper will come with their own unique personality, it is impossible to prescribe a certain pre-game mental warm-up. We have actually just added an article on that subject in out Tips and Drills section from renowned writer Joe Luxbacher. In short, through trial and error the keeper will have to learn how to prepare for a game and how to handle adversity during the game. But it is evident that goalkeepers DO need to train their mental toughness continuously. What always worked for me was visualization. Usually starting the night before a game, I pictured myself playing the game, and pictured myself making certain saves and organizing the defense etc. But I also envisioned mistakes, and went over and over the mistake until I could immediately shake it off and put if behind me for the rest of the game. Visualizing your performance is still an underrated part of sports if you ask me, and the athletes that use it swear by it and it works well for them. Also check out our Training Tips and Drills section and then specifically the Pshycology-Mental Category (http://goalkeepersetc.com/remository/Download/Psychology_-_Mental/). I hope Ahslee’s email, my reply and the tips on our website will contribute to greater awareness of the mental/psychological aspect of goalkeeping. Thank you Ashlee, for your email. Readers and members please keep emailing me your questions at ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )! 

Erik.

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.

Properly Catching the Ball (NEWSLETTER #6) 

A friend of mine told me about his daughter’s team losing a big game this weekend, and apparently their ‘coach’ had made a remark after the game that they ‘could have tied the game if the goalkeepers knew how to properly catch a ball’. Even if this were true, which I am sure it isn’t, the coach should never have made these comments in front of other players. Also, being the coach,  isn’t he the one responsible of teaching his goalies how to catch a ball? I’m sorry, it just always aggravates me when people attack the goalkeepers, especially if they don’t know what they are talking about.....

Now this particular game was an U13 game, which makes it extra interesting. Most people (including many coaches) don’t even realize why it’s harder for a 13 year old to catch a ball than most any other age. Think about it. Most 12/13 year olds have small hands that are still growing, but at the same time they are expected to catch the same size ball that grown men catch! Remember that this is the first year that they play with a size 5 ball. Of course they are going to struggle, and of course they are going to drop some balls! Since we cannot speed up nature and make their hands grow we will have to stick to at least teach them how to properly catch a ball, and keep on repeating this in every single goalkeeper training session until it becomes automatic.

How do we teach them to properly catch and hang on to a ball? Many might argue that first they need to be taught proper footwork, because the feet need to get the hands in the right position to catch the ball. Although I fully agree with that statement, I am going to assume that the goalie’s footwork is good and that we can move on to catching the ball, even if it were just for the sake of the topic of this newsletter. A simple goalkeeper training exercise to improve catching that I use a lot (as a warm-up) with my younger keepers (U9-U16) goes as follows:

1) If needed, show the proper hand positioning for catching a ball. Personal preference dictates whether they want to use the Diamond (pic1) or the 'W' (pic2) positioning. As long as the hands are nicely rounded (pic3) and behind the ball, and not flat (pic4) or on the side of the ball (pic5).

                               pic 1                                                   pic 2

2) Next show the proper arm and wrist positioning. Make sure the arms are bent at the elbows (pic6), and the wrists are an extension of the arms (in a straight line) and never bent backwards (pic4).

3) Now have your goalkeeper sit down in athletic position with her hands out front, palms facing the field (pic8). Make sure their back is straight and now serve the ball to her with your hands, and aim for the face (man I love my job!). Now watch for the goalkeeper to keep her eye on the ball the whole time, before, during and after the catch. For optimal catching practice use the SuperGoalie training ball (pic9) which will significantly improve their focus on the ball. Also watch for their backs being straight (pic10). The whole reason we have them sit down is to watch their hands, arms and their back. Make sure they do not lean back when they catch the ball (pic11). We want our keepers to create good habits, one of them being not leaning back when catching a ball.

4) Now stand a few yards away from the keeper and volley the ball to her, gently, don’t try to kill her. As her catches continue to be good then slightly increase the pace on the ball. Again, watch the hands, arms and back.

5) Next have the goalkeeper sit on her knees, back straight, and face you/the server (pic12). Repeat the above (first throw, then volley) with the same coaching points.

6) Now have the keeper stand up (pic13) and repeat the above. So start with throwing the ball towards her face, and progress to volleying the ball. From there move onto whatever catching activity you had planned. 

The above fundamental catching progression is perfect to work on proper hand and arm positioning, as well as the goalkeeper’s posture. It works well in all youth age groups, and I recommend a lot of repetition of this particular goalkeeper training activity.

A special thanks to Meghan, for being my model for this newsletter, and helping me illustrate my points to our members. As always, God bless you and please feel free to email me ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) should you have any questions or comments, or if you would like your question published in a future newsletter.

Erik.

 Hello Fellow Goalkeepers and Fans!

This week one of our members sent me an email which I reallly wanted to share with you:

Erik,

My daughter Amanda plays U-13 premier soccer.She is a goalkeeper and was taught to push a player who is screening her out of the way. Her last game her coach put her in as a mid to spark the team.On a free kick she was doing the screening, her team shot the ball and the keeper didn't see and they scored what seemed to be the winning goal.The assistant refereee called her offside, although there was a defender on the post and the ball didn't touch my daughter. The ref said he was going to call keeper interference. My question is..what can a keeper do to move a screener?

This is a very good question, especially seeing this is a situation that commonly occurs. So what do we do as goalkeepers and coaches? How can we prepare our keepers during training on screening and contact? I believe that first we should look closely at what FIFA has to say in their Laws of the Game. FIFA law literally reads:

“It is an offence to restrict the movement of the goalkeeper by unfairly impeding him (yeah these old men in Zurich are a little sexist), e.g. at the taking of a corner kick.” 

What does impeding mean exactly in this situation? The way I read it is to obstruct or to hinder. So it comes down to this, in plain English; the goalkeeper cannot be unfairly hindered or obstructed. But who decides whether the hindering or obstruction is fair or unfair? Exactly.....the Almighty referee. Now I want to make sure that everyone realizes that I have the highest respect for referees and most certainly appreciate their time and efforts that they put into the game because I could never do what they do and deal with the parents at today’s games. But having coached and watched 1000’s of youth games we don’t always seem to get the top notch refs at every game which obviously is understandable. My point being, the referee might not always pay attention to what’s going on close to the keeper.

I would certainly not recommend a youth goalkeeper to push opponents out of the way, no matter what is being done to them. I would try and teach them:

A) how to get the referee’s attention and

B) how to deal with contact on crosses and corner kicks.

So how do we get the referee’s attention in those situations? The first thing I would teach my goalkeeper is to have his or her hands raised high above everyone and everything at every corner kick when someone is trying to screen him/her. This will call attention to the center and the assistant referee but let’s not discard the intimidation factor of doing this, especially since we’re talking youth soccer! Having arms raised will make the goalie look that much bigger and can certainly be very intimidating. If that doesn’t work then please tell your goalkeeper (and your captain) that it is ok to ask the referee to pay close attention during corner kicks because you were hindered at an earlier one. Just make sure that the players are respectful when they address the ref and that they don’t sound as if they are complaining. Instead have them phrase it as a polite question: “Sir/Ma’am, I was being pushed and couldn’t come out during the last corner kick. Could you please ask your assistant to keep on eye on that one player?” By incorporating the assistant referee into the question the referee will not feel attacked and will reassure you that he or she will make sure it won’t happen again.

Nevertheless, contact on crosses and high balls is unavoidable so we should train our goalkeepers so that they are prepared to handle these situations properly. In Jay’s case, his daughter being 12 years old I would suggest some of the following goalkeeper training activities:

One of the perks of running this website is that I get to know all these great people and make new friends. One of them is Dan Davies, an 18 year old goalkeeper and goalkeeper trainer at Castle Vale.  Dan was greatly influenced and mentored by Alex Penny from the Bristol City Academy. Dan and I exchanged quite a few emails and he asked me what he could do to help his 16 year old goalkeeper to improve his footwork, especially across the goal before a shot is taken. Well Dan, I have come up with the following training activities for your goalkeeper:

I would start working with the goalkeepers in a controlled environment, and assuming there is at least one back-up keeper I have set this up for 2 keepers. Create a grid of about 6 x 6 yards with 4 coaching sticks or cones and line up 10 yards or so away and have the keepers start at the far corner, as illustrated in picture 1.

 

Have the goalies start at 50% of their speed, shuffling to just outside the next cone and get in a set position (email me on the correct set position if you would like to learn more) for a second or 2 and then have them move forward to the next corner and get set for a second or two and then shuffle to the next corner and get set for 2 seconds and then backpedaling to the corner where he started and get set which is also the cue for goalkeeper number 2 to start the same sequence. Have them repeat this 5-10 times depending on age and ability. So now with 4 cones we have created forward movement, backward movement and sideway shuffling to both sides. So watch for correct footwork on the different movements and make sure that the keepers keep their hands in front. We would progress to having them do this at 75% and after 5-10 reps have them go at game speed.

Picture 1

Now as they get somewhat tired you will have to watch closely for any breakdowns in their technique. As they shuffle, make sure their feet (heels) don’t touch; there should be no sound other than them starting to breath heavy :) The goalkeepers need to move well balanced on the balls of their feet focused on the (imaginary) ball. As soon as you are confident that the goalkeepers are performing their footwork correctly then move onto the next phase where we will ask the goalies to go around the cones again, but this time tell them not to stop at the corners. Now the coach will have a ball at his feet, instructing the goalkeepers to carefully watch the ball and now the keepers have to get into a set position every time the coach lifts his leg, pretending to shoot. The coach can do this at any given moment which adds a whole new dimension to this activity where the goalkeepers have to really focus on the ball and the ‘striker’, just as they would in the game. Make sure the keepers do not “round” the corners but make nice, sharp cuts.

Next we would give the coach (server) a couple of balls and have one keeper start on the outside of the grid and the other behind the grid (picture2).

Goalkeeper 1 will shuffle into the center of the grid, get set and make a save off the serve of the coach. He will then exit through the open side (the left in picture 2) and immediately goalkeeper number 2 will come forward to the center of the grid, get set, make a save and exit through the open side (now being the right side, picture 3).

Then goalkeeper number one will enter the grid, get set, make a save and exit through the open side (now the back) and so on. Simply instruct your keepers to exit through the open side other than the front. You can do this for a good 20 minutes or so, making sure to keep mixing up the serves. The above activities are perfect to work on the goalkeepers’ footwork for the shorter distances, especially across the goal. Should the keeper have to cover more ground than 5 yards or so then I recommend the cross-over run or even a regular run after a partial cross over step which are faster.

After the above activities we can now get into a goalkeeper training activity where we make the goalie cover more ground. We need 3 field players, positioned as in picture 4. Ball starts with player 1 and the goalkeeper positions himself accordingly. Player 1 will pass the ball to player 2 and then onto player 3, back to player 2 and then back to player one. The keeper will have to move in relation to the ball continuously.

Do this for as long you deem necessary and then have the field players pass to each other in no particular order. This changes a lot for the keeper especially where at first he might have been able to get away with shuffling to adjust his position; now the keeper will have to use the cross-over or regular run (after the partial cross-over step) to adjust his position when player 1 passes to player 3 or vice versa. The last phase in this activity is to have the field players take a shot at goal every once in a while, in no particular order.

Dan my friend I hope this helps you, please let me know how these activities worked for your goalies ok? As always, all of our readers/members are invited to email me with their comments/questions or suggestions at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , even if they are totally unrelated to this topic. I look forward to hearing from you all!