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Home/Training Drills/Goalkeeping Drills/Goalkeeper: Saving Penalties
GoalkeepingIntermediate

Goalkeeper: Saving Penalties

Save penalties as the keeper. Stay big and balanced, read the taker, delay the dive so you do not commit early, and spring low and strong to keep it out.

Create your own drill
Live animationGOA
Duration
10 min
Total drill time
Players
2
Recommended
Pitch
44 × 36 m
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U9-U10
Any format

Setup & instructions

Takers strike penalties and the keeper works on saving them. Stay big on the line, read the run-up and body shape, delay the dive, then spring low and strong to the corner. Vary the placement. Emphasise not committing early and a powerful, low dive. Rotate takers to vary the picture.

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

Roughly three penalties in four are scored, which means a keeper walks to his line with nothing to lose and everything to gain. That framing matters, because a keeper who feels he ought to save it guesses early, and guessing early is the one thing that converts a difficult save into an impossible one.

Delay is the whole technique. Every fraction of a second a keeper stays balanced and central is a fraction in which the taker might reveal something, and revealing something is what most takers do. Diving before contact turns the penalty into a coin flip in which the taker holds the coin. Staying up until the strike means a lower chance of reaching the corner but a real chance on anything struck at a saveable height.

The reliable cue is the plant foot, not the eyes and not the shoulders, both of which good takers use to deceive. The standing foot has to point somewhere close to where the ball is going, and it lands a fraction before contact. A keeper trained to watch that one thing has a genuine read rather than a guess.

The spring itself should be low and long rather than high and pretty. Most penalties are struck below waist height, so a keeper who launches upwards travels over the ball he was trying to reach.

Saving a penalty is a bonus, not a duty, and coaching it that way produces keepers who stay big rather than keepers who dive early to look committed.

How to run this drill

  1. Set big and central on the line. Feet on the line, tall and balanced, arms wide. Occupying the frame makes the taker aware of you, which is where the pressure on him comes from.
  2. Watch the run-up, not the eyes. Angle, length and speed of approach narrow the options. Good takers deceive with their eyes and shoulders, so those are not worth reading.
  3. Read the plant foot. The standing foot points close to where the ball is going and lands a fraction before contact. That is the one reliable cue available.
  4. Delay the dive until contact. Staying balanced longer costs reach on the corners and gains everything on anything struck at a saveable height. Diving early hands the taker the decision.
  5. Spring low and long. Most penalties are hit below waist height. A keeper who launches upwards travels over the ball rather than towards it, however athletic it looks.
  6. Coach it as a bonus, not a duty. Three in four are scored. A keeper who believes he must save it will guess early, which is the only way to make a hard save impossible.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Stay big and balanced, set on the line
  • Read the run-up and the taker's body shape
  • Delay the dive: do not commit too early
  • Spring low and strong to the corner
  • Strong hands, gather or push it wide and clear

Common mistakes

  • Committing to a dive too early
  • Going down small, not spreading to the corner
  • Weak hands, parrying back into danger
  • Off balance on the line, slow to spring

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • React to the strike only, no early read
  • Sudden-death shootout pressure
  • Save then distribute to start a counter

Regressions

  • Takers call the side to groove the dive
  • Slower penalties to build the technique
  • Start from a set position to time the spring
Equipment
Cones×1
Full Goals×1
Tactical principles
saving penaltiesgoalkeeper penaltypenalty save techniquereading the takergoalkeeper drillpenalty shootoutkeeper penalty drilldelaying the divegoalkeeper trainingu10 goalkeeper drill
Audience
U9-U10

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All Goalkeeping drillsAll drill collectionsGoalkeeping for U9-U10

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