The goalie is one of the most important positions in soccer.  After all, it is up to the goalkeeper to thwart the attempts of the opposing team at scoring a point for their players. As such, the goalie has special powers, if you will, in that he is the only soccer player on the field who is allowed to use his hands to touch the soccer ball during play. What is interesting to note is the fact that rules of soccer do not require a goalkeeper to remain in his goal area the entire time.  As a matter of fact, goalkeepers have been known to score their own goals against the opposing team!

Seeing how diverse the role of goalie can be, the right training programs for goalkeepers make all the difference.

Learn how to warm up and stay warm.  It is not enough to go through the initial warm up routine with your team, especially if you will be experiencing some lag time during the game.  You will need to remain flexible, warm, and ready to move at a second’s notice without wanting to run the risk of injury, muscle spasm, or sprain.  To this end know some little exercises that you can do in between the goal attempts of the other team.  Running in place works wonders, as do a quick number of jumping jacks here and there.

Learn how to fall.  Yes, this does sound simple, but keep in mind that an incorrect fall with result in injury and your inability to continue the game.  Instead, you will need to learn how to fall so as to deflect the impact from your shoulder, wrist, and also elbow. It is important that you can fall to the left just as well as you can fall to the right.  If you do not, your opponents will soon find out that you have a weak side, and the odds are pretty good that they will exploit this knowledge at every game. To this end, you might want to start while on your knees and have a team mate throw the ball at you from a few feet away.  Practice going from side to side, and then later do it at random shots.  Once you are doing pretty well from a kneeling position, try doing it from the standing position where you actually dive for the ball.  Yes, it is much harder, but again you need to be proficient to the left as well as to the right.

Learn to read your opponent.  This becomes especially important during penalty kicks where you know without a doubt that the ball is coming, and none of your teammates can run interference for you. You will need to learn your opponent’s body language very well.  Look for the little tick that betrays his or her intention with respect to where the kicks will most likely land.  Some goalies swear by the idea of watching the weight bearing leg, while others believe that the tell tale sign of where the ball will go depends on which leg is used to kick the ball.  Either way, a keen eye and strong nerves are a must.

Learn the little tricks of the trade.  Some goalies have perfected the art of offering an apparent opening to a kicker taking a penalty shot.  By being mere inches closer to one goal post than the other, the perceived opening – especially when combined with the pre-knowledge of the kicker’s foot preference – is an inviting aim for the kicker to take.  Yet the wise goalie is factoring this in by already planning a defense of that very corner.  It takes a lot of finesse to pull off this trick without alerting the opposing player.  Similarly, some goalies have mastered the art of distracting the kicker by little things, such as winking or shimmying left and right. This kind of psychological warfare needs to be learned.

As you can see, there are so many aspects to being a goalkeeper that a majority of non-players simply do not understand.  Similarly, it is important to note that the goalkeeper – more so than any other position – will need to be constantly alert, ready to play, and also ready to win a close encounter with nerves of steel.

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