Different diving saves.
1 = Collapsing save
2 = Extended save low
3 = Extended save high.
Different collection techniques.
1 = Catch
2 = Parry to self
3 = Parry
4 = Tip
4b = Tip with top hand ( With Extended save high only )
Examples of each.
Collapsing Saves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0LQFlsWHoo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j999SCAiDD0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWpe9gZs_tM
EXTENDED SAVES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-ZevlFt4vs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIg0MbZqkB4
Don’t get me wrong…. hard work gets you where you need to be.
With the winter we have just had, and indoor field time at a premium, you can be excused for not having the best preparation for the season ahead. With, for most, just a few weeks until the start of the season, please see my guide on what 20% of the work should get you 80% of the results needed to start the season off well.
TECHNICAL
1) Your body should have muscle memory….. Before the season starts, get yourself into three intense goalkeeping sessions to;
a) Get used to saving in and around the body ( eliminating obvious mistakes )
b) Get used to the ball coming at you at pace.
c) Get used to serving / kicking the ball.
2) Practice diving technique in a small area. Concentrate on;
a) Lead foot pointing forward
b) Hands leading
c) Bodyweight forward
Soft landings are important…….. start on your knees to begin with
3) Practice saving a ball at the earliest point when the ball is in the air. In a small area. Focus on;
a) Taking off with one foot getting as much lift as possible. Try a variety of landing on the same foot and landing on both feet.
b) Ensuring the ball is in front of your eye line
c) You use this exercise to help with fitness…… maybe adding a push up or mini shuffle in between each catch.
TACTICAL
1) Study at least one professional game. Both the Premier League and MLS games are on at the moment giving a feast of soccer on T.V. Even better, get to a game live.
Observe the following;
a) The starting position of the goalkeeper when the ball is in the other half
b) The starting position of the goalkeeper when the ball is being crossed
c) Communication with the team on set pieces and after a save or block by a defender is made.
2) Know what to say & when
a) See the chart when the opposition have the ball at their feet
b) See the article on what to say when the ball is behind the defense or in the air
3) Know how to set up when the opposition has a free kick. – See this article on dealing with free kicks.
One of the best tactical ways of learning is to see yourself play in a game and get professional advice. Goalkeeper HQ offers Video Match Analysis to help with tactical evaluations.
[Learn more about Video Match Analysis]
PHYSICAL
It’s not too late to get in shape for goalkeeping prior to the start of the season. Each of the following should be done 3 X every day. (Morning, after school & before bed)
a i ) Double your age push-ups. 1 set normal, 1 set wide, 1 set with dips
a ii) Double your age sit-ups, plank normal, plank left side, plank right side
a iii) Double your age lunges with a twist.
b) Ladders for quick feet. (You can use chalk, cones or rope to make a ladder ) 3 x 1 in each, 3 x 2 in each & 3 x icky shuffle. Add more variety once you are comfortable. The focus must be on quick feet so keep it simple.
c) Hamstring stretches. 30 secs hands level with knee, 30 secs hands level with ankle, 30 secs hold on to foot.
PHYCOLOGICAL
1) You should have new gloves prepared for the season. You can get great deals on L1 Goalkeeper Gloves.
2) Know your defenders. At the next practice, make a point of talking to them.
3) Ensure you have all the equipment you need to give you the confidence needed for the first game. See my guide to equipment
4) Know your warm-up routine if a) you have a fellow goalkeeper to warm up with you b) No other goalkeeper to warm up with you.
5) Have some motivational videos to get you up for games.
There was a story in the sports news in England the other week (March 2015 ) about a young professional goalkeeper who had given up the game to become a used car salesman. The article is here, . This article has been updated as I saw that Lee Butcher, the goalkeeper I used to coach and highlighted in the article [The importance of a good first touch from a back pass] has recently been talking about giving up the game to be a train driver. [See article here]
The L1 Goalkeeper Glove business I have created has also brings to my attention the many young, hopeful goalkeepers trying to make a go in the professional game. Our sponsored professional, Mason Stajduhar, who has been involved in the National Team, and made the MLS Home-Grown All Star game, has had to move from his home in Orlando to Tulsa in search of regular games. At times, even being fustrated there.
The articles hit home as I gave up playing at the age of 25. It takes a lot of energy to be on top of your game and although we love the game and the position of goalkeeper, it is not a nice place to be when you are not respected or wanted by your team. For the young man in the first article, the prospect of short term contracts and hunting around for a club was too much hassle. It is important to persue your dreams of playing the highest level possible, and it is ok to be out of your comfort zone until you become acclimatized to that level, but if you are constantly playing at a level in which you are doing your team more harm than good thus loosing the respect of your team mates, you get yelled at by your coach and you are not enjoying the experience then there is nothing wrong with stepping down a level so you can be enjoy the game and experience and be an important part of the team. Most importantly, the increased success will help you to love the game again.
Throughout my coaching years, I have seen tell tale signs of players that are falling out of love with the game. It breaks my heart that my passion for the game and the position of goalkeeper is not always shared, but players have many things going on in their life.
Here are some tell tale signs:
It is important that the player and their support system are aware of some of the reasons that you can fall out of love with the game. Here are some I have seen:
Players that love the game and have a passion to improve will be doing the many of the things labeled on the article “what will get me top marks from a psychological evaluation”. Namely,
Feel free to share any experiences or help me add to the above lists.
Goalkeepers are constantly being told to “Communicate” or “Talk” to the players but what do you say?
I have come to the conclusion that a goalkeeper does not talk for one of three reasons.
For the sake of this article, I will be concentrating on a small part of the third reason goalkeepers do not talk – Not knowing what to say and when to say it.
There are plenty of times in which a goalkeeper needs to communicate. They are;
See below for the four stages of communication when the defender is 1v1 with the striker.
I created this flowchart to help goalkeepers to have a systematic approach to their communication.
See also another post on communication and goalkeeping volcabluary
The power of good communication
Penalty saves are the goalkeeping equivilent to outfield players scoring goals. Unless, of course, you are a [Goalscoring Goalie]
As goalkeepers, we have to be excited at the prospect of saving a penalty and being a hero. There are no expectations or demands on us. We were so pleased this year when Sydney Schneider of the Jamaican national team saved the 2019 World Cup’s first penalty wearing L1 Goalkeeper Gloves. See below.
Goalkeepers should be aware there are two scenarios and methods of saving for penalties.
1 – One off penalty. Given in a game.
2 – Penalty Shoot-Outs.
Pre-penalty – Ensure the ball is kicked away by yourself or a teammate after the kick has been given. Plead ignorance if given a talking to by the referee, saying that you didn’t hear the whistle. By having the ball a long way away from the penalty taker, it delays the game thus providing extra time for the penalty taker to think about their kick and for you to get into their head.
Assess the type of player taking the kick – Generally speaking, defenders take fewer risks than forwards and tend to play safe by pushing the ball to the same side as their kicking foot. Tricky, skillful players may try to fool the goalkeeper with a clip down the middle. Left-footed players tend to put the ball in the opposite corner.
Watching the eyes of the kicker – If you can get the ball and hand it to the kicker. Watch them place the ball down. In many instances, the kicker looks to the side where they are going to kick. By being so far off your line, you are also getting a phycological advantage by covering so much of the goal until you are told to go back to your line.
Observe the approach of the kicker – The run-up of the kicker can give some idea of the body position of the kicker and therefore an indication of where the ball is intended to go. See picture ( below )
The above tips give the goalkeeper the best chance to anticipate where the ball is going to go and guess the save.
As goalkeepers, we must remember that at penalty shoot-outs, there will be players taking penalties that are not normal penalty takers. They will be nervous, play safe and easier to read.
You can pretty much bet that two of the five penalties will be within the diving envelope. The diving envelope is the area within the reach of the goalkeeper and shown below.
The goalkeeper in this scenario should concentrate on making saves in this area.
With this technique, the goalkeeper can pretty much react to the shot, rather than anticipate. Two saves out of five will make you a hero!
* Dummy the kicker – Make an exaggerated move to your weaker side as the kicker runs up, hoping that they put to your strong side or make them change their mind last minute.
* Stand, off center of the goal – This messes with their head. If the kicker always kicks to the side that you have made smaller, they may think about changing…… but what if you have left the other side open because that is where you are going to dive? Get in their head!
This was recently done by one of our students this year, and was done by my high school goalkeeper who helped win two penalty kick competitions.
* Loud, large movements across the goal – Ensure you are set before saving though.
* The delay. Point out that the ball isn’t on the penalty spot, have a coach tape your finger, do your laces up. Time will only make the opposition nervous. Hope Solo famously admitted to using this tactic in the 2015 Women’s World Semi-Final which helped them beat favorites Germany 2-0. ( ABC news report below)
Lastly, don’t celebrate too early!! There have been cases of the ball hitting a crossbar or even a goalkeeper’s save, and with the goalkeeper still celebrating at a victorious penalty shoot-out, the ball has spun into the goal.
Mind games play a big part in getting into the opponents head. This takes confidence. You saw above, how Hope Solo used the stalling or delay method as part of the mind games.
In one of the most famous displays of goalkeeper mind games, Tim Krul of the Netherlands came on as a last minute substitute in the 2014 World Cup against Costa Rica. The video below shows his audacious attitude that got the Netherlands into the next round.
You see how Krul was communicating with the opposition.
I was recently notified of this great penalty save by Claire MacKenzie. Claire is one of the original GKHQ students and a fan of our L1 gloves.
Legend has it she gave these orders to her defenders before the PK was taken
“Get ready to clear this ball after I save it”.
Confidence, determination and being prepared puts doubt in the penalty makers mind.
Lastly, be aware of the new rules put in place in June 2019 in which the goalkeeper will get a yellow card for stepping off the line prior to the kick. See the article of [Goalkeepers being aware that they could get sent off whilst saving a penalty]
Sydney Schneider, after saving the second penalty in a row, ended up getting a yellow card at the 2019 World Cup after VAR showed that she stepped off her line.
https://youtu.be/PJM1ifVai14
Good luck to all the penalty savers.
Continuing from the last post on dealing with getting dropped and very similar to th
e tips provided in the post ” Dealing with two goalkeepers on a team” I thought I would give some advice on getting yourself back on the team if you have been dropped.
This original post was written after Hope Solo’s suspension from the USWNT squad but seems most relevant after yesterday’s ( May 16th, 2018 ) announcement of the England squad in which Joe Hart, England’s undisputed first-choice goalkeeper in the past three major tournaments was left out of the squad to go to the World Cup in Russia this summer. For Joe Hart, this is a double blow as he returns from his second loan spell with an alternative club as his Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola elected not to use him and brought in alternative goalkeepers.
This article addresses som
e lessons learned from being dropped from the team in general and in more realistic terms in youth soccer, the recognition that you may no longer be in favor, and finding that playing time is being reduced or that another goalkeeper seems to be the favorite.
I have written an article on dealing with being one of two goalkeepers on the team which is linked to here. [DEALING WITH BEING ONE OF TWO GOALKEEPERS ON THE TEAM]
Fraiser Forster got caught up in a comical goal for Newcastle. What should have been a routine slide out to claim resulted in Newcastle’s equalizing goal.
See my tips on claiming balls behind the defense which may have avoided this mistake.
See highlights of the game here.
http://vplayer.nbcsports.com/p/BxmELC/nbcsports_share/select/TtACtHNjOkJk?parentUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcsports.com%2Fsoccer%2Fpremier-league%2Fsouthampton-newcastle-united-highlights
Allan McGregor of Hull City made the mistake of not clearing his original good save which led to the floodgates opening for West Ham. The mistake lead to another 2 goals going in.
See the video here.
See my notes on goalkeepers deciding to catch, tip or parry.
Also on recovery saves
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