Elite female goalkeepers, while often the tallest players on a team, lack the height of male goalkeepers. For example, U.S. men's team goalie Tim Howard stands 6 feet, 3 inches tall, while Hope Solo on the women's side is 5 feet, 9 inches tall. For this reason, an ability to cover the 192 square feet of the soccer goal with excellent footwork becomes crucial to the female goalkeeper, notes Debra LaPrath in "Coaching Girls Soccer Successfully." Training for a female goalkeeper must also cover the shot-stopping basics of the position.
Step 1
Teach your goalkeepers footwork essentials, beginning with the goalkeeper's stance: balance on the balls of both feet, with forearms up and palms facing down as if cupping the top of a ball. Proceed to the lateral shuffle, moving the feet side to side, and brushing the feet smoothly on the ground, LaPrath advises. Do the backpedal step, taking short light steps to move backwards to snag a shot lofted over the head.
Step 2
Proceed to more advanced footwork, including the collapse step, used to gather balls driven low and to the side and a component of the collapse save. Demonstrate rotating the ankle in, collapsing the knee to the ground. Show how to grab the ball while simultaneously having your thigh hit the ground, followed by your hips.
Step 3
Show how to stop a low ball by first taking a collapse step, moving toward the ground. Block the ball with your dominant hand and pin the ball on the ground with your other hand. Block the ball's path to the goal with your torso in case the ball squibs loose from your hands. Select a keeper to demonstrate with you repeated collapse dives, beginning in a kneeling position, followed by a collapse dive, rising to a kneel, followed by a dive, for 10 reps to her left and to her right. Kick the ball into her torso gently and with more force as she masters the diving save. Pair off your your remaining goalkeepers to practice collapse dives.
Step 4
Work on the "W" grip for catching the ball. Show how to hold the hands up with thumbs touching and fingers straight up, so that the hands together resemble the letter "W." Line up the goalies four feet from a wall and have them toss the ball overhand to a spot on the wall about a foot higher than their heads. Direct them to repeatedly toss the ball against the wall and collect it using the "W" grip, looking above the thumbs to sight the ball and align their gloved hands with the incoming ball.
Step 5
Pair up the goalkeepers and have them toss the ball in the air to each other to continue practice of the "W" grip. Ask the players to switch after a few minutes to the cradle catch, where the server tosses a ball at waist height and the receiver catches the ball with forearms extended and under the ball.
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