How to develop goalkeeper skills through specific training. The role of coordination and technique to maximize their performance through practical examples. Article available in the October 2024 issue of Il Nuovo Calcio.
Sporting ability
It can be described as the combination of physical, motor, and mental skills that enable an athlete to perform a sporting activity effectively. This includes aspects such as coordination and the ability to learn new skills, which are developed through training and experience. Sporting ability is, therefore, the result of a combination of genetic predispositions and skills that can be improved and refined with practice. Consequently, the coach should develop personalized strategies to enhance and maintain abilities, adapting training to the needs and context in which they operate. The session should be versatile and customizable to optimize results and maximize the individual performance of goalkeepers.
Scientific research and practice
Skills are primarily developed through practice, which includes targeted repetitions of specific tasks and error correction. These exercises increase individual participation, encouraging task repetition and ball interaction, thus promoting skill development and retention over time. The activities must be led by the coach, and the exercises should be both mentally and physically challenging, with the goal of refining specific skills, adjusting the difficulty to the goalkeeper’s talent level.
In football, both elite players and coaches have personalized training to enhance specific skills. For example, Pirlo and Zola perfected their free-kick technique, drawing inspiration from Baggio and Maradona, while Capello and Lippi worked individually with Ibrahimovic and Zambrotta to refine techniques such as shooting and crossing with the weaker foot, underscoring the importance of targeted training for the development of specific skills.
“We worked a lot on serving and receiving, both in terms of quantity and quality, individually, etc.”
(Julio Velasco after the Olympic final, Paris 2024)
Training
The role of the goalkeeper requires specific technical and tactical skills, which distinguish them from other players and necessitate targeted training. Within the team, their involvement varies depending on the exercises, which are often adapted to develop their teammates’ abilities or to meet the coach’s specific tactical needs.
For example, in a 5v5 drill with two goalkeepers (Figure 1), the opportunities for decision-making are numerous due to the frequent interaction between players and the ball. However, a goalkeeper at the beginning of their specialization might struggle to handle the ball under pressure, due to the limited space and time constraints, as their ball control and passing skills may not yet be fully developed. Similarly, a goalkeeper skilled only with their right foot may make decisions based on already acquired abilities, limiting themselves to using their stronger foot. In fact, in this type of exercise, it is more likely that the focus will be on decision-making, outcomes, physical aspects, or enjoyment, rather than on acquiring new technical skills.
Learning
Based on the objective (technical, tactical, or coordinative), the coach designs exercises by acting as a ‘learning facilitator’ and plans the training session so that it progressively approaches match conditions, adjusting the level of challenge without overloading the goalkeeper but allowing them to work at the limit of their capabilities.
For the reasons outlined above, the training methodology involves a progression in three phases. In the technical realm, training begins by focusing on mechanical precision (analytical phase), then moves on to integrating skills into coordinated patterns (applied technique). Finally, the tactical aspects are practiced through situational training, where the skills are tested in game-like contexts. Additionally, there is an emphasis on the importance of training coordinative abilities and their involvement with the team, which is crucial for learning to play with teammates.
By practicing applied technique and situational training, the goalkeeper has the opportunity to reflect on their actions and mistakes, facilitating the emergence of desired behaviors and the transfer of technical and decision-making skills from specific training to team play.
The analytical training
It can be helpful during the initial stages of specialization, for the coach’s specific needs or to optimize the workload. In these cases, the goal is to manage the goalkeeper’s energy so they can maintain a high level of performance without becoming overly fatigued, both in preparation for the next match and to ready them for more intense exercises within the same training session.
Beyond the physical aspects, it allows a focus on the mechanical details of movement, such as the orientation and alignment of different body parts, the timing of actions, and their trajectory. In this way, those unfamiliar with the dynamics of the movements can progressively master them.
For example, to teach chest catch technique, the exercise begins by throwing the ball to the same spot, maintaining a constant trajectory and speed. The drill is repeated many times until the goalkeeper becomes familiar with the motion.
Learning technical gestures through the analytical method is undoubtedly important, but it should be balanced with exercises that encourage adaptability to the motor challenges of the game environment, typical of sports classified as “open skills.”
The applied technique
To adapt technical gestures to the variables of the game, perceptive and cognitive skills should be trained to recognize these variables. These skills allow the goalkeeper to quickly interpret changes and use coordination abilities to adjust basic techniques into coordinated movement patterns, aligning with the game’s dynamics, such as ball behavior and the actions of opponents or teammates. This involves engaging different body parts fluidly to gain a performance advantage. Young or amateur players tend to execute jerky and accelerated movements due to unfamiliarity with these patterns. In contrast, more skilled goalkeepers perform them with fluidity and natural ease, showing a greater ability to simplify complex tasks and manage difficult situations more efficiently.
For example, in gameplay activities where the technical gesture of the collapse dive (or leg removal dive technique) is required, the simplest variation to interpret could be the behavior of the ball. Therefore, in the exercise, varying the intensity, angle, speed, and trajectory of the shots forces the goalkeeper to constantly adapt their basic technique by making small adjustments, such as positioning the leg forward or backward to accurately intercept balls of different speeds.
This method is often confused with the analytical one, but the primary goal is to promote movement adaptability, which is crucial in a match, rather than perfecting the mechanics of the gesture.
Tactical skills – situational training
The individual tactics of the goalkeeper involve the actions and decisions taken to achieve specific objectives within a team strategy. This requires the ability to assess the context in real-time, identify opportunities or threats, and adjust their behavior to optimize performance. In the goalkeeper’s role, this tactical awareness includes movements, positioning, timing decisions, coordination with other players, and the execution of specific techniques, all aimed at gaining a tactical advantage and contributing to the team’s success.
Just like technical skills, individual tactical abilities are developed through theory, practice, and feedback. Therefore, it is important to conduct specific drills in pre-defined scenarios, giving the goalkeeper the opportunity to quickly analyze the context and make effective decisions. In team drills, opportunities to make key decisions might be limited, as in exercises with attackers intercepting crosses, where the goalkeeper rarely has to decide whether to come off the line or stay in goal.
Given this, situational exercises can be designed to stimulate the goalkeeper’s ability to choose the right moment to act, but in a more specific context. For this purpose, drills with crosses are performed, varying difficulty through shot distance, the introduction of inflatable dummies, and an assistant handling an additional inflatable dummy to simulate the presence of other players (figure 3).
This setup recreates a scenario where the ball moves at a speed similar to that in a real match, training the goalkeeper to make decisions based on the trajectory of the ball and the movement of the assistant, with timing closer to real game conditions. At the same time, it sharpens already acquired technical skills and improves the ability to predict the ball’s trajectory. Through repetition, in addition to gaining the mentioned benefits, the goalkeeper has the opportunity to reflect on their responsibility in case of errors, promoting the emergence of desired behaviors.
