Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today's edition will introduce a
couple of new drills as well as give you the opportunity to win a free pair of Goalkeeping
gloves from Absolute Soccer in Charleston West Virginia.
To find out about the pair of gloves being given away to one FineSoccer.com subscriber,
please go to
http://finesoccer.com/free.htm.
Now on to the new drills. I have received some emails asking for drills to do on
"down time" during a practice. This would be when the keepers are not
involved in their team practice at a given time but also don't have enough time for a
complete keeper
training session. Possibly it would be when the rest of the team is on a break and
the keepers feel the need to get some more work done.
This first "drill" can involve 2-5 keepers. I will explain it as if their
are only 2 keepers but you will see how easy it would be to expand it to more. The
keepers would sit facing each with their legs out in front of them, approximately 2 yards
apart.
They would begin by lifting their legs in the air 6 inches off the ground. As soon
as both players legs are off the ground (each keeper balancing on their butts) they would
begin to have a catch. They must have this catch for a minute while keeping their
feet, hands and backs off the ground. At any time that either of them drop a ball or
touch the ground with any part of their anatomy except for their butts, the minute starts
over. This will work on their abs. as well as their hands and level of
concentration. As soon as the minute is successfully completed they may lower their
legs. Younger keepers might have to have a relatively larger bend of the knees while
doing this but older, stronger keepers should be able to keep their legs almost completely
straight for the entire minute.
As soon as the minute is up, they should stand up and then have a catch from 2 yards apart
with their hands above their heads at all times. This should go on for one minute.
Any time the ball or their hands drop below the head, the minute starts over.
Again, this is working on their hands and concentration but now it's building up the arms
as well.
When this minute is over, they should get right down and start the sitting with their legs
in the air drill again. Each of these two drills should be done 3 times. This
short series will give their arms, abs, hands and minds a nice little workout while only
taking up 6 minutes total for two people. At this time, they should be ready to join
their team for the next session.
The interesting thing about this little series is that from the outside, it seems
extremely simple. Field players look at it and say "those keepers just sit
around throwing the ball all practice long while we have to do all of this running"
If you ever hear this, just invite the field players to join you for a couple of
these drills. They usually change their tune real quickly.
