Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Coaching Soccer Drills: Want To Learn Goalkeeping



Have you come across this statement “goalkeepers are born, not made?” Let me also tell you that it’s not correct. I’ll explain what makes me say this in context of coaching soccer drills. There are no definite requirements to qualify as a goalkeeper. Therefore, all players in the team must be trained to play in this position.

It’s just that some basic skills need to be practiced in the direction of great goalkeeping. Goalkeeper is the last line of defense in any team so he is in a tight spot where he can’t just make mistakes.

When you organize special sessions on goalkeeping involving the team during soccer practice, players having a lot of fun along with the necessary skills can be singled out. By way of this practice, team members learn to understand the out of ordinary skills as well as the added responsibility to play as a goalkeeper.

It is suggested that at least two or three players with requisite talents are short listed as a goalkeeper. After that, make use of particular coaching drills in goalkeeping to develop their skills. But, make sure that goalkeepers are not trained by segregating them from remaining team members. Allocate slots for them to play from the attacking positions too.

Some objective qualities that you should look for in a goalkeeper are given below. These include; ability to catch the ball appropriately i.e. perfect hands. It’s necessary that the player take no time to think before throwing himself in front of any shot on the goal. Similarly to go down at the feet of an oncoming forward. During coaching soccer drills, it’s important that players have the requisite strength and agility to be able to grab the ball.

More than all these traits, they need to be really convinced of their job of a goalkeeper. Along with confidence, concentration and composure are also required to help goalies perform to their full potential. They must be absolutely confident of their ability to save shots and to safeguard the area in front of the goal. While this talent will come naturally to a few players, it may have to be taught to some.

There is one rule with respect to teaching soccer that applies to all goalkeepers across borders. No matter how high, low, hard, or soft the ball is coming, get as much of the body behind the ball as possible to capture the ball. The goalkeeper should continue to keep his legs joined and straight with a view to stop the ball even if it quietly coming towards the goal.

In the event of the ball coming with a force, the goalkeeper must stop the ball with his knees after swiftly moving behind the ball. There should be no gap between the front knee and the foot so that the ball is captured in the chest.

In order to catch the ball where the shot is waist or chest high, goalkeepers can attempt to quickly get behind the ball using his elbows to catch hold of the ball in the chest.

So there you have it, the basic techniques to be used in coaching soccer drills for training the goalkeepers.

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Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in Coaching soccer drills and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. To explode your players' skills and make training fun, download your free Soccer Coaching ebook at: Youth Soccer Drills.


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