Training a Goalkeeper

[TunridgeFells]

Hello everyone,

My son is 6 and plays for the local football team as a defender and sometimes as keeper if needed. He has expressed an interest in being a Goalkeeper but would like to do some training and just get more experience of what being a keeper is like before deciding if he wants to commit to it.

His club can't offer him the opportunity to do Goalkeeper specific trading at the moment so I want to start doing small things with him myself in the park to try and give him a feel for it and work on basic technique. The problem is that I know very little about football and apart from shooting the ball at him and hoping he stops it, I have very little idea of what I should be doing with him.

Does anyone have any tips on drills or exercises to start off as a Goalkeeper that can be done with very little material.
We have found a local team who need a goalkeeper for a torment over Christmas and we are hoping they might ask him back sporadically. Unfortunately because of dates there are no more training sessions before the tournament so he won't get any benefit of coaching from this team, he will just turn up on the day to stand in goal.

Just asked DS what the goalkeepers do in his training for you:

Obviously you need to be shooting balls at him from different directions so he can get used to reaching and diving for the ball - both from distance and closer up
Short distance sprints (less than 20m)
Vertical jumping (with his arms up to help with reaching)

Ideally one on one duels too but appreciate this won’t be easy for you if you can’t play football! That can be done in normal training with his team :)

Thank you, I appreciate you asking your son. I can shoot a ball penalty style in to the goal so we should be fine practicing that. Cannot control a ball at my feet though so the one on one probably won't work out so well. I might have to enlist the help of some friends for that one.

My ds is a goalkeeper. There are companies that do run weekly training sessions for goalies (Like this one.) They'll focus on specific skills like positioning, getting up for the rebound, long kicks, diving to the side, etc. I mainly send ds because the guy that runs it is just really positive, and ds loves going.

Id enlist a couple of friends to join him in the park. They can have fun taking shots at him, playing a mini match, whatever.

I second friends in the park. Also just getting involved with all ages in the park. We had a recreation area next to school so spent many hours there after school - bring the cones for goalposts and he’ll be well away! I have very fond memories of “helping” my youngest son (even though his dad was a goalie, he didn’t have much time). Anything to do with quick reactions. I say I taught him all he knows 😂 (really he had the odd school holiday day with a coach). But I did teach him the staring out bit. If you’re Surrey or Hampshire speak to Kris at Complete Keepers. Your son will enjoy the tournament but it will obviously be different if small-sided and indoors. Most importantly, keep his confidence up. I had no experience of football and the best thing I learned is, if a mistake is made (by any team member) forget and move on. It’s a great life lesson too. Last thing - watch match highlights. I love watching a keeper watching the match. Honestly, as a non-sporty mum who really feels the cold, I’ve had some of my best times with my goalie son. He’s 24 now and I can’t put my finger on why, but he has such a flexible outlook on life - versatile, dependable and calm in a crisis. Not sure if that’s what made him a good goalie or whether the discipline of keeping influenced it. Good luck and enjoy!

So if this helps I have a son who is a goalkeeper at a Cat 1 academy.

Firstly it’s brilliant that he wants to try goalkeeping! Like others have said practise and playing are key.

So depending on how much he wants to do, here are a few things he may enjoy.

Have him turn his back to you the yell go as you shoot the ball. This will work on quick reflexes as he turns quickly and doesn’t know where the ball is going.

Set up three cones about five yards out. One center, one left and right. Call them 1,2,3. Yell that number so he runs to them the runs back to his goal and then shoot the ball. This is working quickly to get back and learning about angles.

Kick the ball (or throw) high in the air. Have your son meet the ball by jumping to catch. He should have one leg bent up for height. This is teaching first to the ball in the air.

Handpositioning. His hands when catching should make a diamond - palms out and index fingers touching. This allows for the ball to not slip through hands while he rings the ball into his chest.

Also quick feet are the mark of any keeper and amazing distribution. Grapevine feet exercises are good and also pick a spot and have him kick and throw to you. Most keepers grow out of drop kicks so keep it on the floor for now.

Howe this helps. Good luck and let me know if you need more. :)

Some good tips here. We are ready to get out in the park straight away but the weather is not on our side today. Hopefully tomorrow we can start trying some of these things out.

I can't understand the hand positioning though. Will try and look up some photos but sitting here playing with my hands I can't figure out how it should work.

We often go to watch the Adult team of the club he plays at but he is more interested in the strikers than the goalkeeper. Is it worth taking him to watch a higher level team play? Our team is in a pretty low level league but the top next is is has a team playing at a much higher level, not premier league. Wondering if it is worth seeing a higher level team play or if at this stage there is still a lot he can learn from lower league players.

Personally, lower-level but more often. Make sure you’re early to watch warm-ups and drills, also in half-time.

Does this help?