Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Drills for Soccer: The Truth About Goalkeeping



Ever imagined how difficult would it be for a goalkeeper to perform his job effectively and this is the reason why a goalkeeper’s drills should be broadly covered in the drills for soccer? Let’s talk about some soccer drills that are designed for the sole purpose of building a goalkeeper’s skills.

Single-handed catch: In this, call for one of your team members to get the ball. Position yourself on the goal-line and instruct him or her to toss the ball to you. He or she should do it on both sides; right and left. The shoots should be to both the sides randomly.

This drill has a dual benefit of improving the goalie’s ability to grab hold of the ball single-handedly and concentrate on the shot. Before a shot is taken, the goalie should be concentrating on making a contact with the ball early on and keep his feet straight on the ground.

Two-hands catch: These are the soccer exercises wherein the associate players must leave the ball on the ground. Walk about 5 yards away from where the ball is placed. Your fellow player should now knock the ball hard and you must try to catch hold of it by making use of your stomach as a barrier.

While attempting to grab the ball, bring your hands together in a W shape to facilitate easy capturing of the ball.

Catching Low Shots; in these drills for soccer, you have to be on the mid-point of the goal line and keep yourself away from the ball at a distance of no less than 6 yards. Your focus should be on saving goals from the low lying shots towards left and right both. Such shots take place very frequently in real matches and as such analyze a goalie’s aptitude and skills completely.

Afterwards the shooting player should toss the ball hard, although, low on each side with no clue to the goalkeeper. This drill sharpens the goalie's ability to save low shots, increase focus, and anticipate well in advance.

Tackling High Shots; as is clear for the name, the goalkeeper is taught the art of capturing the ball in the air. This drill is performed more or less in the same way as the earlier drill other than that one of the team member’s of goalie should kick the ball high up in air. Here, the goalie should jump high up to catch the ball without waiting for the ball.

These drills are the backbone of a goalie's training. Also, always remember that the more you practice, the better you’ll be. All of these should be integrated into a soccer practice regimen for the goalie.

Let’s accept it that no sole training program is whole in itself. When you continue to innovate with the drills, the players will be in a better position to tackle unanticipated situations. Therefore being a coach, pay attention to the technique and encourage players to perform well.

So get to the field and utilize everything that you’ve learnt to include in the goalkeeper drills for soccer. You’ll observe a sea change in their ability to deal with the unexpected situations and grow as a player.

If you would like more information on drills for goalies, join our youth soccer coaching community that has a ton of information, news and articles on youth soccer.



Andre Botelho is known online as "The Expert Youth Soccer Coach" and his free Drills for soccer ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. To skyrocket your players' skills and make practice fun in record time, download your free Soccer Drills ebook at: Fun Soccer Drills.


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Youth Soccer Drills