As a keeper you need to have good balance and be in full control of your body movements. This drill is a nice warm up exercise that gets you moving whilst getting you to think about your movement, balance and control.
Layout
Place six round cones in a staggered formation to your left and right approximately one step apart. Place a tennis ball on top of each cone. The goalkeeper should stand at one end of the cones.
Instructions
The coach does not really need to do much for this exercise, simply call out when the goalkeeper should begin. For loop 1 the goalkeeper should move to each cone (making sure they have good foot movement) and use the corresponding hand (i.e. left cone left hand and right cone right hand) and pick up the ball from the cone and place it next to the cone. The ball must be places with precision and should not roll away. On loop two the goalkeeper should put the tennis balls back on top of the cones. Precise actions when moving the tennis ball is important.
Repetition
Repeat each loop 2 to 3 times.
Change It Up
You could introduce the following changes to increase the complexity and challenge of this drill:
- Add additional cones / tennis balls.
- At each cone the goalkeeper should throw the ball to the coach who should then throw it back, the goalkeeper can then place the ball in or next to the cone as required.
