Learning Goalkeeper

[skamikazi]

Hey all. I've been playing Defense for about 5 or 6 years now, but I'm thinking of switiching to goal keeper. For the first time on Friday I decided to put on my friend's gloves and I did pretty well. The only thing I really didn't do was dive much, and my hand's were hurting so bad at first.

So I was curious. If I'm going to try to switch to goalie, what should I work on? What drills should I practice? What equipment should I invest in? Obviously I will need a pair of gloves, and there are different types of padding on them, and I don't understand their usages.

So if someone could just give me an outline of everything I need to buy and work on that would be great!

Thanks,
Steve
:)

[deVil_X]

Reflexes.

Stand about 5 feet away from a wall, and have a friend stand behind you with a tennis ball in their hands, and make them throw the ball at the wall with decent speed. And you try to catch it.

[blastoff]

I'm no goalie, but i am liking playing goalie when i have a kick around on fields and stuff at the moment and i'm playing rather well i think. Anyway, i hated diving when i first went in, but i just bit the bullet and went for a dive and when you make a great save, it's awsome and you'll just keep doing it - nothing quite like hurling yourself across the goal to make a save :D

Also, try to consiously (sp?) roll when you land, just sliding is extremely painful (learnt that from past experience haha)

I'm not trying to make out i'm some awsome keeper or anything- far from it - but just general tips that i used when i had a little go that seemed to work.

there's my two pence worth - hope it's somewhat useful :confused:

[SoccerLuva]

I'm not a goalie, but I learned a lot about that position because at the beginning of the season I was thinking about trying it (our goalie quit after our first game, so we were scrambling to find another). But I decided to stick to defense in the end. Anyway, here's what I know...

OK. Angles are really important as goalie. When you get out on the field, you'll probably want to mark in the ground with your cleat a point that's directly in the center of the goal. That way you can just look down at that mark when you want to know where you are in comparison to the goal posts instead of looking back. Then, imagine an invisible line going through the mark in the ground to the ball. You always want to be facing the opponent and you want to be on that invisible line. (I hope you followed that ;) )

There are some other things that are very basic for goal keeping.

1. When going for a ball rolling on the ground, put both knees on the ground (toutching) or just kneel with one knee, and NEVER have your legs apart. It could be really embarassing to have a ball go through your legs.

2. Use your body to get behind the ball. Sometimes if it's too far away, all you can do is jump and stick out your arms (...and pray). But whenever possible, try to get behind the ball so you cut down the chances of getting scored on.

3. Sometimes for upper 90's (balls in the upper right or left corneres) or balls just chipped over your head, you can't grab them. Then it's time for punches! Put both your fists together and jump as high as you can, and smack that ball to the sidelines. Upper 90's are very hard to get though, so don't worry about it if you can't get them. Once, a girl on an opposing team kicked the ball all the way from mid field and it went in our goal in the upper left corner. I think our goalie was day dreaming at the time...but anyway...

Best thing you can do right now is practice. People can give you all the advice in the world, but you won't ever get any better unless you get in the goal yourself. And remember, the pain will only last a little bit (and trust me, you will get beat up), but the feeling of blocking a shot will last forever. :D

[skamikazi]

Well thanks a lot, I've been practicing with a buddy of mine. Getting balls in the air is actually pretty easy, as catching and diving don't seem to be much of a problem. It took me a while to learn to dive though, but after watching some videos and such on the topic I'm a lot better. I'm still having problems though with up close shots. It seems that when some one is either on a break away, or shoots inside the goal box it's impossible for me to make low saves, I'm confused as to wether I should try to kick it out, which I almost always give it a way to a near-by player from the opposing team or grab it, in most cases I usually can't jump quick enough to get it. Anything I should practice to help with this?

[Mini Shay]

Go to www.jbgoalkeeping.com for lots of tips and hints about goalkeeping. Very good site indeed for GK training and stuff.

[JoseP]

I'm still having problems though with up close shots. It seems that when some one is either on a break away, or shoots inside the goal box it's impossible for me to make low saves, I'm confused as to wether I should try to kick it out, which I almost always give it a way to a near-by player from the opposing team or grab it, in most cases I usually can't jump quick enough to get it. Anything I should practice to help with this?

This is a problem with a lot of goalies. When somebody is in close and shooting you need to bent with your arms stretched closer to the ground. This will enable you cover more area lower to the ground. Balls kicked from here are quicker and closer to you, but don't give you reeaction time. So, better to cover areas closer to the ground than you normally would. Make yourself big.

[Kbulldog3]

as an all-county varsity goalkeeper i have learned that the best way to stop a breakaway is to come out as fast as you can, but not crazy. all the things the coaches tell you like come out faster when the player has touched the ball away dont really work. Also when you go down to save a breakaway go down so that the ball would be at your stomach, making it harder for the players to get around you. For diving for work on collapsing. This is not really a dive but a controlled fall. Once you get this down pat you can make the transition to diving fairly easily.

As for equipment, one thing definently necessary is a speed ladder. This improves footwork drasticaly. Also, if possible, try to attend a goalkeeper trainer, because you will find that if you find a good one, it will improve your game immediately and make you better in the future as well.

[supersoft]

Your hands shouldn't be hurting, if they are you're doing something wrong, and it's really not about the gloves. I can tell you more on catching technique if you need.

Sounds like you're figuring out diving. Landing on your stomach is obviously the big no-no, and lots of beginners screw that up and don't want to play in goal anymore. Here's a good warm-up and practice drill for you to get used to the movement - sit upright on your butt, with your knees in front at a 90 degree angle. Have someone else (coach, another goalie, whatever) sit or stand about 8 feet in front of you and toss the ball to your side, about three feet away from your body so you have to stretch, catch, control the ball as you hit the ground, and roll over on your hip to your side. Then you toss the ball back and pop back up in starting position. Do this 20-30 times, have the tosser alternate sides. Shouldn't be too fast of tosses, the idea isn't to ever get it past you. Next step up is to stretch out how far from your body the toss is - stretch you out further to near your limit. Or you could also have the tosser throw in either direction so you don't know which way is coming. Again, it shouldn't be hard to stop or force you to guess which side the toss will be to.


For the low shots - to put it in simple terms, a goalie should always be on their toes, except when a shot is coming from very close and there won't be time to get down or react much. In that situation you're on your heels, expecting that you'll have to make some sort of kick save, and hopefully don't have too much of an angle to guard against or cut down. If you can watch some clips of Brad Friedel you can see his technique is good here, easy to learn from. The issue here is that if you're back on your heels you can't generate any push to get sideways, either to dive or to get down low. You basically play like an ice hockey goalie when on your heels.

If you're finding the urge to kick save A LOT in goal (on medium or longer shots) you probably aren't used to a default goalkeeping position. Here's another drill/warm-up to help. Have someone else (preferably another goalie but really just anyone who can volley well) standing about 15 feet in front of you. Ideally you'll have a goal (with a net) and if so you'll want to be a couple feet from the goal line - you don't have to chase too many balls that get by you. Be on your toes, leaning slightly forward. You want your teammate to softly volley the ball to you from about a foot off the ground, not too hard, so that it comes at you somewhere between your knees and your head and within a foot of either side of your body. This is a reaction drill making sure you get your hands in front of every volley, unless it's right into your stomach. No diving or moving your feet at all, just a little bouncing on your toes. If the ball is getting past you it's the volleyer's fault, either hitting it too hard or not accurately (or both).

You'll be leaning forward, the key here is figuring out when to have your hands "high" (from about 9 to 12 to 3 o'clock positions) and when to have them "low" (everything else, from below your hip and down at your knees, plus right into your stomach). You'll have to turn your wrists over completely to switch between high and low. If your teammate is another goalie you can do a soft volley back to him.

How does this translate into game situations? When shots are low or on the ground near you you need to figure out if you are going to save it "high" (like in the first drill you come with your hands from above and roll onto your side) or "low" (leaning over, getting your hands and body in front of the shot, shuffling your feet if necessary to get in position before the shot arrives).

For really hard low shots close to the goalie watch the world-class keepers. They simultaneously push up with their feet and drive their shoulders down. They are pivoting around their pelvis, rotating their body to get one hand down to ground level as quickly as possible. Very difficult to do. This is the "high" save when you don't have time to roll your body onto the ground.

Also note a number of goals scored on pro goalies are just in this tough spot, hard on the ground and 2 feet from the goalie's feet. They can get caught between making the save with "low" or "high" technique. And what's funny is that if they had been back on their heels they could probably make the kick save pretty easliy. But you only know that after the fact. When someone is going to shoot you've got to figure how much reaction time you'll have and whether you'll be on your toes or on your heels. And then if the shot is taken and you are on your toes you've got to quickly figure if you're going low or high.


The technique is a bit more complicated but getting those two basic drills and movements down will get you ready for lots of different save situations.

[barthez4]

There are some other things that are very basic for goal keeping.

1. When going for a ball rolling on the ground, put both knees on the ground (toutching) or just kneel with one knee, and NEVER have your legs apart. It could be really embarassing to have a ball go through your legs.

Actually, that's not great advice for someone looking to play seriously as a keeper. Even on hard shots, a decent keeper should be able to get a wide, confident stance and scoop the ball. While there is the possibility of getting nutmegged, you should be able to keep it out. Obviously, if it's so fast of a shot that you can't get to a good stance in time, it's also likely that you can't get to your knees or one knee in time either, and (especially with the one-knee approach) you are probably going to be "approaching" the ball with your hands and arms at an angle because your body is generally off balance from one side.

For someone who's just messing around with friends, I don't really care about how they go down for a low shot, but at a serious level I cringe to see keepers who aren't confident enough in themself to "scoop and smother". That's the way I've always thought about it - you get a wide leg base if you have time (if you don't, you basically have to scoop and smother at the same time, and this is usually when people complain about getting winded because they land on or roll over the ball with their gut). You want to be leaning forward pretty far, but make sure that you still have control over your forward motion. From this position (wide stance with an athletic bend in your legs, and athletic lean), come through the ball with your hands and once its in your hands, hug it to your chest, and your momentum should carry you forward but your hands should keep the ball secure. Oh, and no matter how hard the shot is, don't look away. That's how I've always played and been reassured at national training center level academies, and I've never had a problem with it in training or matches. Within my memory, I don't remember spilling any shots drilled low towards me.

I think I'm going to come back to this thread and address some of the other questions later, I'm too tired to actually type out any more thoughts.

edit: Supersoft, great post.

[mak9]

I am no goalkeeper, but you may want to do a bit of ploymetric trainging

place the ball on the ground and stand next to it on the right then jump over it to the left than back to the right..and so on at a fast paste. Try to do it until you are tired.

This will help you to be more agile and jump higher.

[meganeliz]

From my experience as a goalkeeper, a key ingredient is confidence. If you approach shots with a pessimistic attitude, you're not going to have much success. In my days as goalkeeper I always felt like I could handle whatever the other team gave me, even if I couldn't; if you put in the hard work and training like you should, this confidence should come naturally because you know you are prepared. Also, if you seem confident, the other team will pick up on that- appearing weak just asks for the other team to try and slaughter you. haha. Hope that helped!

Megan
Total Soccer Fitness (http://www.total-soccer-fitness.com/?hop=meganeliz)

[barthez4]

From my experience as a goalkeeper, a key ingredient is confidence. If you approach shots with a pessimistic attitude, you're not going to have much success. In my days as goalkeeper I always felt like I could handle whatever the other team gave me, even if I couldn't; if you put in the hard work and training like you should, this confidence should come naturally because you know you are prepared. Also, if you seem confident, the other team will pick up on that- appearing weak just asks for the other team to try and slaughter you. haha. Hope that helped!

Megan
Total Soccer Fitness (http://www.total-soccer-fitness.com/?hop=meganeliz)
Definitely, confidence is key. Even if your team is dominating, you need to show your team, and the other team, that you are comfortable in dealing with the late corner when your team is up 1-0, or the free kick from 20 yards out, even if they are the only scoring opportunities that you face.

Be loud, but clear, with your communication, and keep it flowing. You can see the whole pitch, so you need to be the person telling your players if they're in the wrong spot, and where they need to get to fix it. One thing that has been a huge strength for me is my ability to pick out gaps before they even occur, just by looking at where the other team is. If Opponent A has the ball and our defense is in the right position, that's easy to see, but you need to be able to see what will happen when Opponent A passes to Opponent B, and what happens to your defense when 'A' makes a streaking run for a one touch through ball. As soon as you see 'A' make the pass, tell the appropriate defender "Scott watch the run", or something like that.

That brings me to my next point about communication. If there is an urgent defensive matter, don't just say the problem. Put a name on the player you are talking to, or if it is a group, maybe say "center backs stay with your men". Just from going to watch random matches at or around my level of play, I see a lot of keepers shout things like "Step to the ball!", and three players crowd him, leaving two players wide open, often in space for a through ball. Obviously, if the advice you give is obviously addressed to a certain person, such as telling the last man back to contain the forward dribbling at him (as opposed to lunging in for a tackle), or telling the defender who is on the ball to force to the outside, you don't need a name. But if it's something that you think the wrong people will do, take the .03 seconds and say their name.

My last point (I am tired) for today is to make sure that your players listen to you. Obviously, you don't want to come off sounding like an ass by screaming for no reason, but you also need to make sure that your players take the posts on corners, or certain people get in the wall on a free kick. I've seen keepers who will yell "4 in the wall", then say nothing while one or two players lines up for the wall. At that point, you need to say names, or go by position if you absolutely have to.

[wb wilson iv]

I've played goalie for many years now and i know a few tips to give.
1. if a shot is coming above your chest and right at you, you can make a W with your thumbs to make the ball easier to catch.
2. if the ball is coming more to your stomach flip the W upside down and make an M with your pinkys this time
3. when coming out on a 1v1 break away the farther you come out the lower you get. gradually begin to get lower and lower as you come closer to the attacker
4. when going up for crosses put your outside knee up to help protect yourself from the forwards.
5. when diving for a ball on the ground try to get one hand behind the ball and the other hand ontop so that the ball cannot skip over your hands it is trapped between your hands (one on top, one behind) and the ground.
6. Be loud and tell your defense what to do. If you see a winger making a run down the line make sure your defense does too
7. I highly recommend gloves with fingersaves in them. these help to eliminate your fingers from hyperextending when stopping high powered shots that you cant get your body behind.
8. when diving always try to land on your side. you don't want to get the wind knocked out of you on an amazing save.
9. keep practicing. after a while all these things will just become second nature to you and you won't even have to think about them