A lot of the tips and ideas that I talk about on this page require a long-term training period that’s going to see you get better. As is the case with anything in life, the more you do it, the better you can get at it. Now, I know that when you’ve had a bad stretch of games or training sessions, you want to look for quick answers. Are there things that you could be doing that are going to allow you to become a better goalie in a short amount of time?
I happen to believe that there are, in fact, at least a few things that you can change about your game quickly that can help you get more saves. Now, it’s important to keep in mind that even these quick things that you can do may not provide an immediate fix. I do feel that you can start seeing at least a difference quickly. As you become more comfortable with doing these things, you’re going to start making more saves.
The key to all of this is something that I just mentioned! You have to be willing to start making these changes in your game. One of the things that I truly regret about my career is not looking for ways to make changes in my game and improve it. That’s why I like these topics a lot because I feel that they can help people not repeat my mistakes. Having said this, here are a couple of things that you can change about your game today to become a better goalie.
Putting More Power Behind Your Deflections
The ideal way to make more saves is to make more clean catches. That’s a process though that’s going to take more time. While you train your hands what you can do is be more mindful of where you’re deflecting the ball towards. This is especially a good idea when you’re playing on wet or turf fields that can give you really bad bounces. You need to put more power behind your deflection to the point where you’re attacking the ball, not just letting it hit you in the hands.
This idea can apply to punching away more crosses and other elements that allow you to impact the game. If you’re not ready to feel comfortable enough to make the clean catches, then put more power behind your deflections. Obviously what you want to do is make sure that these deflections are coming off to the side, not the middle. Be very mindful of that.
It’s not just the saves with your hands that you want to make sure you’re deflecting to the sides. When you have to play with your feet, you also want to make sure that you’re not taking unnecessary risks. That’s especially the case if you don’t have a powerful leg. I’d rather see a ball kicked off to the side for a throw-in than right up the middle, which gives away a free chance on goal. All the deflections or clearances that you make have to be off to the side at all times. Leave nothing in the middle if possible.
Not a Long Term Fix
I mentioned this already, but I want to reiterate it here to be extra clear. Ideally, you’ll be making more clean catches than deflections. Actually, it’s still a good idea, though, when you do decide that you’re not going to attempt to hold on to the ball, you attack the ball and force it off to the side. One of the biggest mistakes that we make as goalkeepers is just putting a hand on the shot and not really getting enough strength behind it to alter the ball’s course.
When you’re really young, it’s going to be harder to attack the ball, like I’m saying. Your hands and arms are naturally not going to be as strong to be able to put enough force behind the ball to deflect it like you want to. Doing a couple of exercises potentially even with light weights, to be able to strengthen that forearm area could go a long way towards helping you put more power behind your deflections.
If we’re talking about clearing the ball with your feet toward the sideline, that’s always something that’s going to work. Again, ideally, you’ll be able to develop your skills over time to put the ball wherever it is that you want to put it. Even when you’re at that point, though, understanding that you don’t need to take risks all of the time is going to lead to conceding fewer goals.
Standing Further Away From the Goal
This is one of those things that I wish I had listened to earlier. I get the sense that a lot of us shorter goalkeepers sometimes live in fear of getting chipped. You really need to put yourself in the right position to be able to make a save on a ball that’s in the crossbar range. As shorter goalkeepers, though, it’s in your best interest to be closer to the shooter when the shot comes in. You won’t need to cover a long distance to be able to make the save.
When you’re standing on the goal line, and a shot comes in from the edge of the box, you have to cover a lot of ground in many cases to be able to make the save precisely right on the line. There’s no good reason, though, to be standing on the goal line if the play is already at the edge of the box. It’s different if the shot came in off a deflection in a corner kick or something like that. In most cases, though, you’re going to benefit from playing further away from the goal.
Now, here’s the issue: how far is too far? As a base position, I like to be almost up on the edge of the small box. What that’s going to allow you to do is react back toward the goal if the shot is coming up high. It’s also going to allow you to sprint out and confront a shooter to make the situation more difficult for them. That actually leads very well into my next point!
Force 1v1 Situations
Are 1v1’s a strong suit for you? When that’s not the case, it can be a very scary situation. The thing is, when the shooter has less space to be able to operate, it’s always going to be harder on them to put the ball past you. What you want to do is really get up on the shooter and essentially cut their options in two. They can only take the shot and hit you in the chest or try to chip you. If you’re close enough to them, the chip won’t be possible.
To do this effectively, you need to have a ton of determination and, hopefully, some speed to be able to get up on the shooter as quickly as possible. What you never want to do is force the 1v1 situation when you’re still at a distance from the shooter. That’s going to have the opposite effect. If you keep coming up short when you’re trying to get up on the shooter, they are going to score a lot of goals on you.
When you’re in a situation, though, where your team is just really bad, and you don’t get a ton of help, I do feel taking these risks is going to be worth it. If you’re playing for a team that has a better defense and you’re competitive, then maybe taking this extra risk is not worth it. Still understanding when to pounce and get up on the shooter to limit their options is going to be essential to good goalkeeping. Prime Manuel Neuer was an artist at this, and actually, as the years have gone by, he’s had more trouble doing it.
Executing this idea properly requires a lot of leng strength with short bursts of speed. You may not have that right now, but you can start trying this technique to be able to build your timing. What you need to know is when the attacker with the ball is actually out of position to take the shot. You’re going to have those few seconds to get up on the attacker and force them to kick the ball into your body. Yes, it hurts, but it’s one of the best ways to limit the amount of goals you’re giving up.
Lose The Fear of Coming Out to Catch Crosses
I was a bit on the fence about including this idea. The truth is this tip is probably something that’s going to make you concede more goals in the short term. That could actually also be true about trying to force 1v1s. Once you’ve got the timing down though, you could be altering a lot more goal-scoring chances than you would be if you just sit back all of the time.
What do you need to do to get better at this? I would say that the first thing that you need to do is start training it a lot more. There’s an argument to be made that crosses are something that goalkeepers work on too little for the number of times that they’ll face these situations in a game. You want to work on high crosses, low crosses, crosses in an active game setting, and set pieces.
Each of these situations is going to require unique positioning. If you’ve been paying attention a lot of these tips all revolve around positioning. When you can put yourself in the right position consistently, you’re going to have a better chance to affect the play. What I would recommend for this tip is to start working on this idea in training. At one point, you need to dive into the deep end and try some of these things in a game setting. A lot of times, goalkeepers just don’t progress in this realm because they can’t get out of their own way to try new things. Yes, I’m looking at you, Memo Ochoa!
Lower Your Center of Gravity
Your position with regard to the goal on any given play is going to be half the battle. The next part of the battle is putting your body in a good position to be able to react when the ball is coming your way. I see a lot of goalkeepers coming into play standing straight up. That’s just not something that’s going to help you at all.
What you want to do is lower your center of gravity in your base position. This position is the one that you’re typically going to be using even as you move across the goal. When can you loosen up a bit and stand straight up? If the ball is further away from the goal, that’s when you’re going to have the opportunity to do just that. You can walk normally in those situations as well.
You have to have a bit of a spider sense, though, to play between the sticks. When you feel that the opponent could threaten the goal, you need to get ready. When the ball is in your third of the field, you better be on your toes as well. Being caught flat footed is one of the main reasons why goalkeepers give up goals. It’s the typical situation where you didn’t expect the shot to be coming in, and you saw it late. Those are going to end up in the back of the net more often than not.
Final Thoughts on How to Be a Better Soccer Goalie
Many of these ideas are actually going to be able to provide a quick fix to some of the shortcomings that you could be facing. It’s also true that if you are able to keep at it and implement these ideas even when it seems hard for you, the results will speak for themselves over time. The first time that you try and play a bit further off the line, you’re going to feel out of place. You may even find it harder to navigate your way across the goal.
When you try to come out and catch more crosses you could also be experiencing some of this uneasiness. That’s completely normal! In whatever you do in life, when you put yourself in unfamiliar territory the experience can be scary. That doesn’t mean that you have to run back to what you’ve always done just because that’s what is familiar. I really hope many of these tips help you become a better soccer goalie!
