Edition 16

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  This edition will be dealing primarily with angle play.

Now on to the real subject of this newsletter that is angle play.  I did a clinic on angles this past Wednesday and what I told those keepers is so true.  If a keeper could only work on one thing in order to become a top keeper, I would recommend it be angle play (this is assuming the keeper knew how to catch and dive safely).    Considering the tremendous importance of angles, it’s amazing more time is not spent on the subject.  The most effective method of learning angles is what I will be dealing with today.

You will need a ball of string (kite string works fine) and a partner to do this efficiently.  It’s best if the string is approximately 60 yards long.  Tie an end of the string to each of the goalposts (one goal only).  Start with the ball centered and on the 18-yard line.  Pull the center of the string so that the ball is at the fulcrum of the angle (gosh I hope that is the correct term but if it’s not then it is now!).  It might be necessary to get rid of some of the string I order to pull the sides tight.  When you have done this you now can see the exact angle in which a field player can shoot and still have the ball be on target (for now I am going to disregard bending balls).  If the keeper stays on her line, then this angle will show how much space the field player has to shoot at in order to score.  Each step the keeper comes out off of her line, she will see how much less room there is to successfully shoot and score.  The further she comes out, the less of an angel the player has to shoot at.  The thing she will have to worry about is the further she comes off her line, the greater the probability of being chipped.  For this reason, the keeper wants to come out far enough so she can save any shot hit along the lines of the string but not any further exposing her unnecessarily to the chip.  Once a keeper has found the spot she is most comfortable with the ball should be moved slightly and then she will have to readjust her positioning.  Move the ball around the 18 re-adjusting for each location.  Realize each keeper will have a different spot they are comfortable in depending upon their height, range, quickness’ and many other variables.  The closer the ball gets toward the goal, the further out the keeper is going to have to come in order to cut off the angle.  Logic would tell you to cut the angle off by coming straight down the middle of the angle (imagine a straight line from the center of the goal to the ball) but realistically, you want to cheat slightly to the near post since the ball can get to that post quicker then it can to the far post.  As the ball gets further from the goal, the keeper can begin to back up since they will have time to get that extra step in before the dive.  At some point however, as the ball gets further and further from the goal, the keeper will eventually start coming away from the goal again in order to take on more of the role of the sweeper keeper.  Also, as the ball goes further toward the end line (near the corner flag) the keeper will notice that the angle in which the field player has to shoot is smaller and smaller so she can back up further toward the near post and still cover any ball within the angle.  By backing up, it allows her to cover the cross as well.   The only reason a keeper would have to worry about a ball played outside of these strings is when a ball is hit with a lot of bend, which might allow a ball that initially is struck outside the strings to curve inside the goal.   If you are playing against a team or individual capable of bending the ball, simply compensate by taking a small step out further so you can get slightly beyond each of the strings.

This way of working on angles is actually quite slow and boring but extremely invaluable.    The more often you do this the better you will get in this extremely important area of goalkeeping.  I would recommend working on angles in some way or the other on a regular basis if you want to raise your level of play

If you have any suggestions or questions, please feel free to send them
to me at comments@finesoccer.com

Have a great day.

Lawrence