The Soccer Goalie Guide
As the soccer goalie you will be the last one who can stop your opponent's from scoring. You must therefore make few mistakes as possible. You need also to keep yourself cool even when you fail. To maintain your calm in difficult situations you will need a great personality and also ability to infect your teammates with your own confidence. You will learn that and many other things by participating in following goalkeeper program. Your job as soccer goalie will not be easy. A single mistake may cost your team the victory. It is therefore crucial to always be on your guard because the opponent's will do everything they can to get the ball past you. Your teammates know that saving a penalty kick is a pretty difficult task but they are still hoping that you will make it. If you manage to save the ball against all odds you will be a hero, if not you will be no good. As a soccer goalie you also need to be in constant contact with the ball during your training in order to develop your agility, reflexes and reactions. You won’t become a successful soccer goalie overnight. Instead you will need to practice hard and always do your best, no matter what!
Knowing how to reinstate the attacks of your team is crucial. Simply, without this ability you will rarely perform well as goalkeeper. As a goalkeeper you must throw and kick the ball with precision. You can’t just kick or throw the ball away and hope for the best. A good goalkeeper should be able to kick and throw the ball with precision at least 40 yards. If you are not able to kick/throw the ball over 40 yards I recommend you to put more emphasize on this during your practice. As a goalkeeper you should: • Never throw or kick the ball back into play unless some of your teammates are completely unmarked • Never try to dribble your opponent, instead, play smart and kick the ball away • Always try to find a free standing teammate who can receive the ball without pressure. So, how to throw the ball? There are several techniques you can use in order to throw the ball properly. You may for example: • Throw the ball low • Roll it along the ground You should also study how to kick the ball with precision in following article. As I mentioned before, try always to have a plan behind your throws and kicks. I repeat, do not throw or kick the ball and hope for the best. Instead, analyze the current situations properly and try to find the best possible solution.
All right, enough about throws and kicks; let’s discuss how you should react when you are facing your opponent 1 vs. 1. I know by experience that this type of situations is a nightmare for a goalie. Simply, the opponent is the one that have advantage and you are the underdog. However, you can still win these situations by following some simple guidelines. Let’s take a look at these: - Once you leave the goal line there is no turning back. The worst thing you can do is to stand and wait for your opponent. Instead, you should try to attack him as fast as possible and stretch out your whole body to make yourself big. Believe me, if you do this, the chance for winning the duel will increase greatly. - Keep in mind that you only have one chance to clear the ball away from your opponent’s feet. Once the opponent pass you it will be impossible to stop him from scoring. I know by experience that many opponent's like to dribble the goalie instead of shooting directly. Try to keep this in mind when facing your opponent 1 vs 1. -You could also wait for the split second which simply means that your opponent has to first look at the ball before firing a shoot. While your opponent prepares to shoot the ball you should rush toward him and block the shot.
As soccer goalie you will also need to organize the position of your defenders. This is very important as you will often need to tell your defenders whether they should move up or stay.  As the last player you will be able to see the whole field and predict how the game is likely to develop. This is why you always need talk with your defense and coordinate them. As you can see, goalkeeping is not just about stopping your opponent's from scoring, it’s much more than that. My recommendation is to try all soccer positions (left midfield, striker, fullback etc.) whether you have recently started to study how to play soccer as goalie or have been standing in the goal for several years. By trying out all different soccer positions you will be able to understand the game better and you will also increase your ball handling skills as well.
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