Evening all, The girls season is upon us, and so is the problem we face most seasons; a lack of girls goalies. The problem is so bad this year, that we may only have 1. The kicker is, the goalie in question has never played soccer at any competitive level, let alone goalie. She's a basketball player that's going to be converted to play the position. Obviously this lends some strengths, such as footwork, reflexes, and hand-eye, but that in no way shape of form equals a good keeper. The first competitive game is a little under a month from now. I've got about a solid weeks worth of time to instill some fundamentals before things really get into the swing of things. Do you have any suggestions for drills, warm-up routines, or tips that might help make these mighty task possible. Day 1 is going to be trapping a ball and basic rules a goalie needs, I can tell you that now.
How much time do you have to accomplish this. Benji is the right guy to ask. But he rarely posts on here any more. But his site is very good. I am better with field players then I am with keepers. I always had a keeper coach with my teams. He was a keeper who also was a current player. He was not at games because he was playing at his own teams games on Sundays. Got any bread to pay him? Maybe an old alumni from the school might do it for free. However, she should be practicing her foot skills at your regular practices. I once took a track player at Brooklyn College and turned him into a pretty good winger. He had played the game. He was an islander played but not at a high level. But he had bullet speed and a very high verticle leap so we worked on his movement without the ball, and his heading. He became a score just by doing that on attack. On your girl since she is tall. Her problem will be going for the low shots close to her body to the sides. Have her always start low. It is much easier to come up for a ball then to start high and go low. Remember that fact. On free kicks for your team might want her to be up for those since she has height. Teach her how to head or use her as a decoy. But after she gets back in a hurry. Have the girls not dangerous on free kicks drop back on defense. You have to have some courage to do that. But it will make the game more fun for everybody if you do.
I'll give you my 10-second goalkeeper training session: 1. Stay between the ball and the goal. 2. At least wave at it as it goes past you. Okay, in all seriousness, her basketball background will be very helpful. Catching likely won't be a problem, although the pace of the balls might be--teammates usually don't toss you the rock at 50mph. I'd say areas to focus on would be: 1. Positioning. Angles will be key, assuming she's athletic and can handle the ball. She needs to learn to check her goalposts constantly (glance near post first, then far), find the center of the angle, and be far enough out off her line. 2. Diving technique. It's not a natural thing to do, but extremely important both for shot stopping and safety. Start with a simple collapsed dive, making sure she stays square and lands on shoulder/hip. Move on to some extension if there's time. 3. Breakaway technique. Again, not obvious and something only us crazy goalkeepers would attempt. Like diving, good technique will not only help make more saves, but keep her safer. Maybe spend a little time on cushioning (and getting her used to gloves!) to handle the pace of the ball, but if she's a decent basketball player hopefully that won't take too much time. I don't think I'd worry about high balls either, especially if she's a good rebounder. The last thing would be communication. I wouldn't expect her to be vocal on the field, never having played. Your center backs will have to handle defensive organization. But she does need to know at least "Keeper!" and "Away!" and when to use them. My site that rca2 mentions has descriptions/demos/drills you can use for 1, 2 & 3 above. Site's a bit dated-looking but the info is still good. You might even pass the link to your keeper... some athletes love to study and will take stuff like that and run with it.