Goalkeeper catching drills

Teaching children how to catch a soccer ball seems like a very easy task from an adult perspective, see the ball coming, get your hands together and catch, that simple.... The fact is that it’s a bit more complicated than that. Many coaches teach the kids to catch the ball with hands using the W shape, other teach the triangle or diamond shape. These are very good ideas but the reality is that every goalkeeper has different hand shapes.  For example, if the keeper has small hands, the W shape will not allow the young goalkeeper to hold on to the ball. Furthermore, if you get a real hard shot, it is likely the W shape will collapse. For some kids, the diamond shape still a bit difficult to handle. One problem I often see with young children is that they tend to focus on

the shape rather than catching as result, they drop the ball all the time. J4K goalkeeper training in Colorado tries to stay away from those shapes, In our J4K goalkeeper academy  we teach the children to catch the ball as naturally as possible but the only thing I enforce is the HANDS TOGETHER or THUMBS TOGETHER (or as close as possible). This way kids don't focus on shape but simply work on catching.

 A drill that I use to help young keepers find a natural catch is bouncing the ball on to the ground and catch it on the way back with both hands without dropping it, hands must remain together. Once they repeat this exercise a few times and they consistently catch the ball without a dropping the ball, this will give them an idea about what their catch should feel like. You can also try to slam the ball on to the ground to generate some pace on the ball and on  the way back catch it with both hands, just don’t let the ball get to high.  Then you can move from bouncing the ball back to a simple front toss to help them catch the ball but still using similar technique as bouncing the ball drill.

These are simply drills that kids like but they really focus on catching instead of shaping and other confusing ideas. As long as their hands are together and thumbs are close together, they will always find a way to catch the ball. The J4K goalkeeper coach in Colorado will always be available to help on this technique.

If you have are interested in WEEKLY sessions or year round goalkeeper training we have venues in Denver, Lafayette/boulder, Highlands Ranch.  Call or email  303-907-9389 zurilozano@just4keepers.com

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Goalkeeper positioning drills

Just4keepers goalkeeper training in Colorado has all kinds of the different ways to train goalkeepers but also giving free advise to any goalkeeper or parents, is what we do best.  I would like to offer to you many different kinds of training programs and drill ideas for your personal use or if you are a Coach at a local club, feel free to use these exercises. We are happy to find out that several soccer clubs in Colorado are now using many of our drills and watching our videos. We are excited to share these drills with anyone.   PLEASE SEE ILLUSTRATION BELOW, 

80% of the saves a goalkeeper will make, comes from the correct POSITIONING and if the goalkeeper is constantly making big dives and is constantly far away from the shot, then few things may be happening:

When the keeper has to move around the goal into the large area, plus dealing with the traffic of players around the goal, then this causes some goalkeepers to be disoriented as result, they lose their POSITION. Knowing how to move around the goal and then finding the CORRECT POSITIONING to make a SAVE, is something that you MUST train frequently to master, but it takes time.   There are many variations on how yo should do a POSITIONING training.

I am offering this simple goalkeeper positioning drill that you should do at least twice a week....TRY THIS:  Start at one pole, the keeper comes out and executes a header or pass back (either foot) making sure that the ball clears the area out of trouble, then the keeper returns through the agility poles at a fast speed, BUT ALWAYS LOOKING AT THE FIELD,  then touch the goal post to come out for an ANGLE shot.  This goalkeeper positioning drill requires speed and several repetitions.

There are several variations but I am confident that this particular drill will give you a great start.   Our J4K Colorado student are making progress and making lots of saves due to the POSITIONING TRAINING SESSIONS we do weekly.

Please send me an email if you need MORE drills, I will be happy to design these drills for your FOR FREE... For Goalkeeper weekly sessions and J4K goalkeeper academies please call 303-907-9389  zurilozano@just4keepers.com