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Home/Training Drills/Goalkeeping Drills/GK Reflex Reaction Saves
GoalkeepingAdvanced

GK Reflex Reaction Saves

React and save under rapid fire. Make the first save, recover the set position instantly, and get something behind the follow-up, staying big and reacting late off the shot.

Create your own drill
Live animationGOA
Duration
9 min
Total drill time
Players
2
Recommended
Pitch
44 × 36 m
Setup space
Level
Advanced
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U13-U14
Any format

Setup & instructions

A server fires quick, close-range shots at the keeper in rapid succession, the keeper saves, recovers the set position, and reacts to the follow-up. Keep the shots firm and close so the keeper reacts rather than reads. Reset fast after each save and never give up on the second ball. Rotate keepers frequently, it is high intensity.

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

Inside about eight yards, a struck ball reaches the goal faster than a keeper can complete a dive, which changes what the save actually is. At that range there is no travelling, only reacting: hands moving to the ball from wherever they already were. That is why hand position before the shot matters more here than anywhere else in goalkeeping.

Anticipation, which serves a keeper well from distance, becomes a liability at close range. A keeper who guesses and moves early has committed his hands to one side of a ball that has not been struck yet, and at eight yards he cannot bring them back. Reacting late feels passive and is correct. The instruction worth giving is to stay still longer than feels comfortable.

Hands high and in front of the body is the ready shape, because most close-range shots arrive between knee and shoulder height, and hands starting low have further to travel to the ones that hurt. A keeper set with his hands by his hips is defending only the bottom of the goal.

Holding a close-range shot is unrealistic and should not be the standard. Getting something behind it, a forearm, a shoulder, a spread palm, and steering it away from the middle is a successful outcome. Coaches who demand clean catches from rapid fire are training keepers to reach rather than block, which is the wrong instinct at that distance.

Build the tempo deliberately. Fired too fast, the drill trains flailing rather than reacting.

How to run this drill

  1. Serve from inside eight yards. Close enough that a full dive is impossible. Outside that range the exercise stops being about reaction and turns back into ordinary shot stopping.
  2. Set with the hands high and in front. Most close-range shots arrive between knee and shoulder. A keeper set with his hands at his hips is only defending the bottom of the goal.
  3. Stay still longer than feels comfortable. Guessing commits the hands to one side of a ball that has not been struck. At this distance they cannot be brought back, so reacting late is correct.
  4. Get something behind it. Forearm, shoulder or spread palm. Demanding a clean catch from rapid fire trains keepers to reach when they should be blocking.
  5. Steer it away from the middle. Anything blocked should be pushed wide rather than dropped in front. At close range the follow-up arrives almost immediately.
  6. Recover the set position between shots. The value is in the second and third saves, not the first. Feed the next shot only once the keeper has re-set, or the drill trains flailing.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Set, react, save: fast hands off a close shot
  • Recover the set position instantly after the first save
  • Stay big and get something behind the follow-up
  • Parry to safety when you cannot hold it, away from danger
  • Never give up on the second ball

Common mistakes

  • Staying down after the first save, beaten by the rebound
  • Reaching instead of getting the body behind it
  • Parrying into danger instead of to safety
  • A slow reset of the feet and hands

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Add a second server for shots from different angles
  • Deflect the first shot so the rebound is unpredictable
  • Shorten the distance to speed up the reactions

Regressions

  • Slow the tempo between shots to groove the recovery
  • Serve to a set side so the keeper reads the save
  • Reduce to a single save before adding the follow-up
Equipment
Cones×1
Full Goals×1
Tactical principles
goalkeeper reflex savesreaction savesclose range savesfast hands drillgoalkeeper drillrapid fire shootingkeeper reaction drilladvanced goalkeeper drillgoalkeeper trainingu14 goalkeeper drill
Audience
U13-U14

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All Goalkeeping drillsAll drill collectionsGoalkeeping for U13-U14

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