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
https://www.just4keepers.com
