Edition 62

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today's newsletter will introduce a new way to work on
the footwork needed to come forward and attack the ball.

In discussing getting ready to catch a ball, I talk about making sure you end with a step and a hop in order to get into a ready position. First, let me explain exactly what I mean by this. The ready position is, of course, the position a keeper is in when they are prepared for a shot or to have to move in any direction. This position involves having the two feet, shoulders length apart, knees bent and the weight on the balls of the feet with the hands in a position to be prepared to catch. Coaches spend a great deal of time making sure their keepers are in the ready position but a surprisingly small amount of time is spent teaching keepers how to get into the ready position.

Since we want keepers to be attacking the ball, it is necessary for the keeper to know how to come forward and then get into that position. The way I teach this is by having them get into the habit of taking a step and then a hop. The step represents the last step before the keeper must get into the ready position. It should be a small one because the keeper must always be prepared to get into the ready position in a hurry. The hop is a quick, short hop that takes them from a step into landing in the ready position. It's extremely important that this be a very small, low hop because the last thing you want to happen is for the ball to be shot while you are in the air. While I think this step and a hop are extremely important, very few keepers I meet have ever been taught how to do this. When they land from this hop, they must land in a proper ready position. There is a tendency to land with one foot slightly in front of the other and this is something that must be practiced at great length. For years, I had keepers practice this step and a hop by going all the way down the field and back a number of times simply taking a step and a hop. I haven't done this recently (and am not sure why not) but it's an excellent way to get them into a good habit (it's also kind of funny looking which is an added bonus as a coach).

A drill to get them used to the step hop and then step for a power step can be set up using 7 flat cones as set up below.

1       X     X
2         X
3       X     X
4   X             X

5          S
The top two X's (line 1) are where the keeper stands between. She takes a step to the X by itself (line 2) and then hops into the ready position between the next two cones (line 3). The server plays the ball toward either X in line 4 and the keeper takes a power step to get the body behind the ball. The cones should be set up so that these steps and hops are natural sized ones for these players.

The step and a hop are vitally important to becoming a  top keeper. Take the time to work on them and master them and you will find your game picking up considerably.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, either send them to comments@finesoccer.com or post them to http://finesoccer.com/forum.htm

Remember that all of the newsletters are online at http://finesoccer.com

Have a great day.

Lawrence