Quick feet warm up

Long gone are the days of throwing down school jumpers or using a tree and your younger sister as a goal post (which was me). There’s so much resources on the market nowadays it’s like shopping for shoes.

You can purchase basic goals, cones, poles etc to feeding machines that will save coaches from hip replacements in years to come.

Obviously, not everyone can afford thousands of pounds worth of equipment and you don’t need it. You can work on every aspect of the game with just the basics. But I’d like to share some professional goalkeeping sessions with you, so hopefully you can pick up some tips and perhaps help you prepare for some training sessions.

So…..might as well start with the warm up! Here’s a simple way to get the blood flowing and the brain switched on.

Starting with basic quick feet and a small two footed jump over the hurdle. Good for speed/power and all goalkeeper related movement

Try to motivate quick, small steps
Keep head up and looking at the ball
When working around the cones, don’t cross over feet and keep bodyweight forward. This means the goalie is always ready and able to adapt if ball is struck early or gets deflection.

A simple but very affective drill. Why try to change something that works?

Make sure that they are keeping their weight on the balls of their feet, which allows them to be agile.
Another good point is to try keep the feet in contact with the ground as much as possible. If the ball takes a deflection or if playing with those nightmare Adidas Jabulani footballs, the goalie will need to change direction quickly.
Glide shoulder width apart with knees slightly bent and bodyweight forward. You can encourage them to ensure their bodyweight is forward by telling them to keep their head forward.
Always ‘get set’ where possible.

The set position is:

Feet shoulder width apart
On the balls of your feet
Knees slightly bent
Elbows flexed and hands ball width apart
Head steady and slightly forward

Sometimes it’s impossible to get set and the higher the level you play at the less time you have to get set. But it is an advantage as you can move in either direction and react better to any sort of shot.

Quick feet over the cones with a small straight leg jump over the hurdle.

Body weight is always forward, small quick steps –never crossing feet and then a sprint at the end to work on speed and power.

They then move on to calls (left or right), which works on powering off one foot and also reaction speed.

It all looks fairly simple but vital for fundamental footwork

Realistic game related training

Training sessions need to have realistic objectives depending on the age and ability of the goalkeepers. A seven year old might need work more on ‘1 v 1 situations’ rather than deep crosses to the back post.

It’s important to know the different approach you should have when coaching different age groups. I found this article quite interesting. Even though it’s regarding American Football, I believe the key points are fundamentally the same.

You should consider the following when preparing your session:

Warm Up

Try to incorporate the main theme into your warm up. For example, if you’re planning on working on shot stopping, make sure your warm up includes all of the hand shapes.

Technical theme

Every session needs to have a technical theme. What exactly do you want your goalkeeper to learn today? The development of technique is dependant upon correct practice. Even the best goalkeepers in the world need to polish their technique every day.

Tactical application 

Good coaching is about rehearsing situations that might occur in a game so that the goalkeeper can deal with anything. It’s always the mistakes that are remembered so we try to reduce the number of errors. Mistakes are usually due to a technical error, a poor starting position or making the wrong decision. We as coaches stimulate match situations in training so the goalkeeper can consistently respond correctly.

Fitness

Players start to lose their flexibility from the age of 10. Longer stretching regimes are recommended so they can remain supple. It’s very easy to tailor your sessions with emphasis on agility, power, speed or endurance.

Cool down

Don’t forget the cool down! I hated to cool down – I still do. Getting older and…..not so subtle, I realise the benefits of getting rid of lactic acids.

As a good coach you should always evaluate yourself. Did my players enjoy the session? Did they learn anything new? Did they improve? How can I be a better coach?