There is a keeper in goal, a server with balls at the top of the 18 and four target players throughout their half of the field. Each of the target players is assigned a number.
The server shoots the ball and the keeper makes the save.


As soon as the keeper has possession, the server calls out a number and the keeper has 2 seconds to distribute the ball to the appropriate player. For example, if the server calls number 3, the keeper would make the save and throw the ball to player number 3.

Once the keeper is accustomed to this activity, the next step is when the server calls a number, that target player makes a run. The run could be back toward the ball, diagonal or away from the ball. Now the keeper must distribute to a moving player and be able to factor this into the equation.

The key to this activity is to do it at full speed, force the keeper to distribute within 2 seconds but also, to only do this for a 10-12 times maximum. If we want the keeper to throw the ball hard, we don't want to put undue pressure on his arm so put a big emphasis on quality instead of quantity.
CP1: WHEN THROWING BALL IT IS OVER HEAD SLING SO BALL DOES NOT HANG UP OR BOUNCE HIGH.
CP2 CAN KICK OUT USING OPPOSITE HAND TO FOOT TECHNIQUE. THIS IS A SIDE KICK FOR KEEPR FOR LESS HEIGHT AND BOUNCE.

A keeper is in a goal made up of two corner flags. There are four servers, each 15 yards from a post and each with balls.

Server 4 starts by tossing a high ball toward the keeper. The keeper must judge the ball, call for the ball(KEEPER) and then go up and catch it.

The ball is then quickly returned to server 4 and the keeper turns and goes forward to meet a shot by server 1. This would be a driven ball and the keeper has to really concentrate on coming forward to attack the ball, otherwise, the save will be made in the goal.

Server 2 then tosses a high ball and the keeper goes and catches it and then turns to make the save from server 3.

The keeper does a set of 3 of these and then changes directions. This means Servers 4 and 2 are the shooters and 1 and 3 are the tossers.

This is a great activity for working on judging and technique of high balls and attacking the ball and coming forward in shot blocking.
CP1 COMMANDS FOR BALL IN AIR ARE KEEPER IF PLAYER HAS THE SAVE OR AWAY IF THEY CANNOT GET TO IT.
CP2 FOR BALLS IN AIR IT IS THE INSIDE, OR CLOSEST TO CENTER OF GOAL, KNEE UP AND BENT FOR PROTECTION, HANDS UP ANS BEHIND BALL TO CATCH AT HIGHEST POINT POSSIBLE.

Frequently, we work on the technique in breakaways but forget to work on the decision making. This activity works on both.

Start with a keeper in goal, a server is 30 yards from goal and an attacking player is just in front of the server, facing the goal, with their legs spread.

The server plays the ball through the attacking players legs and the attacking player sprints to catch up to the ball and go in on a breakaway.

The keeper has to time his approach depending on the pace of the pass, the speed of the runner etc.

The server varies the pass and can change the angle of the pass, the pace etc.

The attacking player must go at full speed both to get to the ball before the keeper but also to make it game related.

Another option is to add a defending player coming from behind the server. This will force the attacker to go at speed and also add a new variable for the keeper to factor in (if the defender can catch the attacking player, the keeper might choose to stay back further).

This would be done from different angles in the attacking half of the field.

This activity forces the keeper to make various decisions including whether to come out, when to come out, should he attack the ball or stay on his feet, should he stay in the box or come out of the box etc.
CP1 THE KEEPER CLOSES DOWN A BREAK AWAY UNTIL THE ATTACKER IS ABOUT TO SHOOT THEN THE KEEPER READIES FOR SHOT SAVE. NEVER HAVE A KEEPER JUST SPEED OUT AND DIVE IN WITHOUT READING THE SITUSATION.

By Tony Carr
Getting your goalkeeper to practice his footspeed is vital to their ability to get in position to block shots. Goalkeepers that are quick off the mark will save your team time after time if they can get it right. Mistakes by goalkeepers are the ones that get punished the most - there is often no chance of righting the wrong.

One of the mistakes that goalkeepers often make is to stand rooted to the spot when faced by advancing attackers. In this exercise you can get your goalkeepers used to moving around and anticipating where the ball will go.

When you are coaching this look out for good positions the goalkeeper gets in to using quick-reaction footwork. Point them out and praise your goalkeeper, they need encouragement so they do it more often.

This coaching session gives them a good work out and should make the goalkeeper work hard. Depending on the amount of space you have and the age of your players you should give your goalkeeper more time to start with so the shooting players should be further away then move them closer as the session continues.

Do not continually point out how poor their position or handling of the ball is. Use more positive instructions like "not a bad move but it would be even better if you used your feet more or were quicker" rather than "that's wrong do this" - they will soon get fed up of the criticism and lose confidence.



Arrange the drill using three attackers to fire in shots. Make three goals, red, white and blue using cones. When you call out a colour the goalkeeper runs through the white goal to the red or blue goal, depending on the colour you have shouted out. The player opposite those goals can only shoot once the goalkeeper has gone through the white goal.

If you shout "WHITE" the player can shoot straight away and the goalkeeper must try to get to the goal before it goes in.

Award a point for each goal or save and see if the goalkeeper can beat the attackers. You can also add in some one on ones so the player runs at the goalkeeper rather than just shoots.

You will need a couple of helpers behind this exercise because there will be a lot of balls to retrieve!

Tony Carr is the Academy Director of West Ham United in the English Premier League.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today's topic deals with punching flighted balls.

Keepers will frequently work on catching lofted balls by having balls served in from distance. As an example, you could have server start 25-40 yards from goal with balls, spread out in a semi circle.

A server plays a ball in the air and the keeper comes out and catches it.

Typically, these servers play high lofted balls and the primary challenge is by extending the range.

The next step in this process would be to add an opponent in the box.

However, the aspect that is rarely addressed is the low driven ball that the keeper probably can't catch but has to get to and make some type of contact with. In most cases, the keeper will have to dive (in this case, it's more a matter of throwing their body in that direction as frequently there are opponents and teammates in the way) and punch the ball away from danger.

To work on this, the balls would be driven hard, on a direct line, toward a point where the keeper will really be challenged to get to the ball. An example can be seen below. The keeper will have to dive, make contact and then get back up quickly.

Having the ball driven in from different angles and to different locations will allow the keeper to work on judging what is within his range. This is something that needs to be done regularly but too often because it takes a toll on a keepers body.

It takes timing, practice and courage to be able to successfully get to the balls and make contact. It's important that the servers start with easy balls and gradually make them more difficult.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today's topic deals with footwork on crosses over the receivers head.

When a high lofted ball is played in from the side and the attacking player has to back up to get to it, if you choose not to try to win the ball, you should back up to your goal line.

The reason for this is when the player backs up, this will cause him to lose any power he might get on the header and most likely he will end up making contact on the bottom of the ball which will result in it going up as opposed to down.

When the person heading the ball is able to come forward that that they are most likely to be able to get over the ball and head the ball down.

So, the general rule is when the player heading the ball backs up to try to get to the ball, the keeper should retreat to his goal line since if this player makes contact with the ball, it will most likely go up instead of down.

CP: FOOTWORK DRILLS SHOULD INCLUDE SIDE SHUFFLE WITH INTIIAL CROSSOVER STEP, RUNNING BACK TO GOAL LINE SHOULD BE WITH FORWARD STEPS LOOKING BACK NEVER RUNNING BACKWARDS.