Goalkeepers are in a position all on their own. The skill set they need is different from field players. Good goalkeepers need to be able to create a variety of different saves through their physicality but also need strong mental skills to read and understand the game.
In this article, we have Blayze pro soccer goalkeeper coach, Cassie Miller laying out her 15 tips to help you become an amazing goalkeeper. Cassie currently plays for the amazing NWSL club Kansas City Current.
1. Maintain Your Focus & Concentration
Goalkeepers need to stay alert 100% of the time they are on the field. They have no backup behind them. Goalies must stay focused on the game and be ready to jump into action at a moment’s notice.
Losing focus or attention for a moment can cause a loss for the team. The best keepers are prepared for anything. They wait patiently and are ready when the ball comes their way. They are alert throughout the entire game.
2. Develop Your Speed & Agility
To be an amazing goalkeeper, you will want to have speed. You will need to sprint off the lines to clear the ball or rush to block a corner. Goalkeepers need to develop quick response times for making diving saves, and rapid changes of direction to deflect shots.
You also need strong agility skills. This is the ability to move and react your body quickly. Quality keepers can throw themselves onto the ground to block a shot and jump back up quickly to get back into action.
3. Increase Your Fitness
Good keepers are in great shape physically. This correlates to their speed and agility abilities as well. Having a proper fitness routine helps goalkeepers maintain their speed and agility. They need to be able to beat attackers and be agile in front of the goal. This is why a good goalkeeper needs high fitness levels.
4. Build Your Strength
With proper fitness comes strength. A quality goalie needs to work on their upper body strength. The best goalies might have a slim physique, but they tend to be deceptively strong. It is important to maintain strength for diving at the ground and gathering high balls in crowded areas.
Strength is also needed to be able to absorb the power of a close-range shot on goal. They need a strong grip on the ball to prevent it from being knocked out by an opponent.
5. Improve Your Ball Handling Technique
No matter the level, any good goalkeeper needs to be comfortable handling the ball. To separate yourself from other goalies, you will want to master the art of keeping the ball safe in all types of situations. Keep spillages and drops to a minimum. Work on perfecting your ball-handling skills to the point where your team knows the ball is safe in your hands.
6. Be Brave
Diving at an opponent’s feet or flying across the air to stop a cross requires a lot of bravery. Taking on a striker at close range is no easy task. Only keepers dive toward an opponent’s feet! Goalkeepers also are collided into often and need to know how to protect their bodies while not shying away from the ball.
7. Work on Positional Awareness
A good goalkeeper needs to be in the right place at the right time in every single game. When you maintain good positioning, you can create strong saves, clear the ball easily, and catch any shots aimed at your goal. Quality keepers instinctively know when the game is about to shift and can feel out a potential scenario.
8. Increase Your Anticipation Skills
You can be a strong and fast keeper, but without proper anticipation skills or foresight, you will not be successful. You must be able to anticipate when an opponent is going to take a shot on goal. This skill comes from game time. Playing as many games as possible and focusing on what the players are doing. Learn to read your opponent. This skill also develops through concentration on the games.
9. Distribute the Ball Accurately
One skill that sets goalkeepers apar is their ability to accurately pick out a teammate by distributing the ball. A strong keeper needs to be able to distribute the ball with dropkicks, overarm throws, underarm rolls, and dead ball kicks. You need to be able to maintain possession of the ball while under pressure from the attacking opponent when it comes to back passes.
10. Develop Your Decision Making
To be a good goalkeeper you cannot be indecisive. You must be able to make quick decisions and smart decisions. Of course, not every decision is the best decision, but you need to try and get most of them right. If you make a wrong choice, you need to react and adapt quickly.
11. Be Confident!
As a goalkeeper, you will encounter many situations that will, unfortunately, lead to goals and losses. Being able to maintain your confidence in your skills is one of the biggest hurdles you will need to conquer. A good goalkeeper knows their ability and can remain positive and confident in their skills. Even if they hit a rough patch or make an error. A good keeper pushes out negative thoughts and keeps focused on the game at hand. If you reveal nerves or weakness, your opponent can take advantage of it. Stay confident!
12. Maintain Strong Communication With Your Team
Not everyone is a talker and it can be hard to speak up at times on the field. But, a strong keeper organizes their defenders and helps to get players marked up properly. Goalkeepers see the field from a different angle and can help their teammates find holes that could lead to problems. You need to be assertive and talk to your players. Tell them what you need to help defend the goal. Get used to yelling loud to your teammates.
13. Learn to Ignore the Negative
Being the last man on the field, players and the crowd expect a goalkeeper to play perfectly at every moment. Because of this, goalies tend to be criticized more harshly for mistakes than say a striker. If an error leads to a goal, the goalkeeper needs to be prepared for criticism, but a good goalkeeper can ignore it. One negative moment does not define who you are as a goalie. Remember, stay confident in your abilities and learn to tune out the negative talk.
14. Work on Your Footwork Skills
Goalkeepers may be the only ones who are allowed to use their hands, but they still need to have quick footwork. Quick, fast footsteps allow keepers to stop fast crosses or shots at close range. Top goalkeepers adjust their footing to find optimal positioning. You can work on your footwork skills in your fitness and agility training.
15. Stay Positive!
Finally, a good goalkeeper stays positive. As we mentioned, goalies can receive a lot of harsh treatment when a goal occurs. And it can be hard for a goalie to hide their frustrations when they miss a shot. But when you block out the negative and maintain a positive and enthusiastic energy on the field, you will help carry your team through difficult situations.
Want some additional help on blocking any shot? Check out Soccer Goalkeeper Training – 6 Drills to Block Any Shot.
Become a Better Goalkeeper with Cassie!
Cassie can personally help goalkeepers develop the 15 traits above.
You need not spend hours searching for a private coach to help improve your game performance. Or spend weeks asking your coach to provide in-depth feedback about your performance in a certain game.
From live calls to game film coaching sessions to training analysis to chat messaging. Cassie can be your full-time private coach starting for just $29 for a 30-day trial.
Find out more with one easy tap!
