Goalkeeping Edition 134

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today's subject deals with moving backwards.

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Many keepers understand the importance of being able to move quickly forward for relatively short periods of time BUT few seem to realize that it is equally important to be adept at moving backwards as well.

There is this great emphasis (for good reason) on keepers playing off of their line and being able to come out 30-40 yards to cut off through balls but what does the keeper do once she is out that far? If she comes out 35 yards and clears a ball, should she then just stand there? Or, does she quickly retreat into a better position? If the answer is she should retreat back to a different position, how does she do this? Most people would agree that the answer, in most cases, is NOT to turn and run back towards her 18 with her back to the goal so the obvious answer is that she must run backwards in some way to get back to position.

There are a couple of ways to move backwards and each must be practiced on a regular basis. The first method is simply to walk backwards. There are numerous occasions during the game when the keeper will simply walk backwards (and sideways) to readjust her position and this is the one method I don't really train for. The reason I don't work on this with keepers is simply that they do it so much during any type of training session that it becomes somewhat automatic.

The next method is running backwards. This is done more often than you might think over the course of a game. One of the easiest ways to work on this is to incorporate it into your warm up. When I have players warm up, I have them go through the same basic movements every time. For their initial run they go sideline-to-sideline and start by jogging from one side to the other and then jogging back. The second time they jog there and then jog backwards back (this is working on the coordination of running backwards). Next, they skip from sideline to sideline and then skip BACKWARDS BACK. Skipping backwards is yet another way to move back quickly and if you watch good keepers over the course of a few games you will see they do it quite often. However, how many practice this? Next, they slide sideways facing one direction and then slide back facing the same direction. This is another way to move backwards.

The last method of moving backwards quickly I am going to discuss is with a drop step and turn of the lower body while keeping the upper body facing forward. This is often used on balls chipped over the keepers head and is explained in good detail at http://finesoccer.com/edition19.htm.

In conclusion, keepers spend a great deal of time moving backwards and if you don't train them for this, they are destined to fail

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Have a great day!

Lawrence