Goalkeeping Edition 72

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s subject is the footwork needed to get from cutting off one angle to cutting off another angle.

Too often, when a keeper has come out to cut off an angle on a shot and the ball gets switched to the other side of the goal, the keeper takes the wrong approach to trying to reset in the correct position for the next shot.  Frequently, the player takes the approach as shown in the diagram below:

As you can see, the player makes a circular path to cut off the next angle and this path does not allow the keeper to get their in time.  The recommended path to take is more of a U shape as can be seen in the diagram below.

The reason for this is that it takes less time to cover this distance plus it’s easier to adjust since the keeper doesn’t know where exactly she will have to step out to cut off the next angle.  Unfortunately, this is not an easy thing to accomplish because the tendency is to chase the ball instead of anticipate where the ball will be going next.

The best way to prepare for this is to have two servers stand even with the sides of the six yard box but 12 yards out.  The two servers pass the ball back and forth playing two touches each time and the keeper does the footwork necessary to cut off the angle on each pass.  Anytime a server sees the keeper out of position, she may shoot it (give the keeper a break as this is a very difficult thing to do.  The set up for this drill can be seen below.

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

Remember that all previous newsletters are archived at http://finesoccer.com

Have a great day.

Lawrence