Coaching the goalkeeper: technique, positioning and playing with the feet

The goalkeeper is the only player who can win or lose a match with a single action. How to progress from the isolated movement to the match, where to stand in one-v-ones and at corners, and games for young keepers.

Linkalde · 2026-10-19

For years the goalkeeper was whoever stood between the posts because he did not run or because he was the tallest. Today we know it is a position with its own technique, its own decisions and a mental load nobody else on the pitch carries: a keeper's mistake almost always ends in a goal. That is why keepers deserve their share of the session, and not just taking shots while everyone else warms up.

One idea that helps take the pressure off a young keeper: even the best make mistakes. Alan Hodgkinson, a former Scotland goalkeeper, summed it up as how many matches go by on average between one mistake and the next, depending on level:

From simple to the match

The most common mistake is to fire hard shots at the keeper from the very first minute. If there is no time to make the movement, he only learns to throw himself however he can. FIFA's progression has five steps:

1. Pure technique: the isolated movement, from 5 or 7 metres and with balls that leave time.
2. One option only: the ball comes and the keeper knows what to do.
3. Two options: catch or clear, come out or stay.
4. Several options: he has to read the play and choose.
5. Real match situation: with teammates, opponents and the pace of a match.

Film the keeper on your phone during training. In slow motion you can see straight away whether the feet arrive late or whether he dives off the wrong leg, and it helps the keeper a lot to see himself.

Technical details that go wrong most

• Crossing the feet when moving. The keeper moves with short, quick side steps, low, never crossing his legs: that way he always has a base to dive from.
• Diving when a step would do. Many balls are caught by taking one or two steps forward instead of diving to the ground.
• Waiting for the ball. The keeper goes to the ball and does not let the ball decide for him.
• Hands when going down. The far hand goes behind the ball and the other on top. The typical fault is always covering with the strong hand, even when the ball goes to the weak side.
• The dive off the wrong leg. To stretch along the ground you push off the leg on the ball side; on the weak side many cross their legs to use the strong one.
• High shots, the far hand. The hand furthest from the post reaches more of the top corner.

With the youngest it is worth taking the gloves off every now and then: without them they feel the ball, notice what the fingers are doing and learn to catch properly.

Where to stand

It is not all technique. A well-positioned keeper makes saves easy that another would have to make impossible. To learn the angle, just tie a rope or tape from each post to a point in the box: the triangle it forms is the space he has to cover, with the shoulders always as the base of that triangle.

The one-v-one: do not come out too early

Keepers are told again and again to come out and narrow the angle, and many come out with no plan. The FIFA manual defends another idea: the striker usually shoots when he is 6 to 11 metres from the keeper. If the keeper comes 12 metres off his line while the striker is running alone from 40, he hands over two easy options: the lob or the take-on. If he waits about 5 metres off the line, the striker has to keep advancing, the defenders have time to get back and the striker ends up shooting in a hurry with fewer options.

Corners and crosses

• Inswinging corner, towards the goal: the hardest one. A metre in front of the line and in the centre of the goal. If there is a defender on each post, the one at the near post does not move.
• Outswinging corner, away from goal: these balls land between 3 and 9 metres from the line. If the keeper stays glued to the line, he is late. About 3 metres out also forces the taker to deliver it longer.
• Crosses from the wing: the winger usually dribbles, lifts his head and looks at the ball again. At that moment the keeper takes about 3 steps forward.
• Long ball with attackers in the way: better not to come out. The finisher has few options and coming out alone brings risks.

Before setting the wall for a free kick from the side, the first question is always the same: can they score direct? With the ball curling towards goal, the keeper stands level with the second man in the wall; with it curling away, he comes out as for an outswinging corner.

The goalkeeper plays with his feet too

Since the keeper can no longer pick up a teammate's back-pass with his hands, he is one more player in build-up. Two tips that avoid a lot of silly goals:

• Show for the ball properly. If the centre-back is 25 metres away, do not come out to ask for it 12 metres from goal: that shrinks the space and the striker gets there to press. Better to open towards the byline and receive without pressure.
• No rush. If there is time, control it and leave the ball 1.5 or 2 metres in front to see the whole pitch before playing. If they press, find a good base and strike it cleanly, not blast it away.
• Train with the team. A 5v2 rondo with the keeper in it, or matches with the keeper as an outfield player, are worth more than a lot of solo clearances.

Games for young goalkeepers

With the little ones the important thing is that they get lots of touches and also learn to start the play. These two-keeper games work very well and need almost no equipment:

The last step is the match: a 5v3 in which the keeper always starts with the ball. That way he learns who to pass to and how, just like in a real game.