GK Collapse Dive from the Knees
A keeper's first dive, learned from the knees up on soft ground: fall to the side, land on the hip and shoulder, never the elbow, and keep the ball.
Hear the coach on this drill
Every line the Audio Coach says in this drill, played back to back; the time beside each is when it comes in the 10-minute drill. No account needed.
Set-up
Soft grass or a thick mat only, with nothing hard within a body's length on either side. The keeper starts kneeling up tall; the parent kneels or crouches three steps away to roll the ball.
What you need
- 1 soccer ball
- Soft grass or a thick mat
The ground: 12 × 10 ft (about 4 × 3 m). One child can run it alone in a backyard. The space and equipment check lists every drill that fits the ground you have.
How to run it
- Set up. Soft grass or a thick mat, nothing hard nearby, and the keeper kneeling up tall.
- Placed ball. Put the ball an arm's length to one side. Fall onto it sideways, hands first, landing on the hip and shoulder. Five each side.
- Rolled ball. You roll the ball slowly to one side. They collapse onto it and hold it. Five each side.
- Top hand. The top hand goes on top of the ball, the bottom hand behind it, and the ball is pulled into the body.
- Low crouch. When the kneeling dives are clean, the same from a low crouch on the feet. Five each side.
- Count it. Ten rolled balls, sides mixed. Count the ones held with a clean side landing.
Coaching points
- Land on the side of the hip and shoulder, never an elbow or an outstretched hand.
- Hands to the ball first, top hand on top, bottom hand behind.
- Go down sideways, not backwards: the body ends up behind the ball.
What to watch: An elbow or a hand put down to break the fall. The landing is the side of the body; both hands go to the ball.
Common mistakes
- Putting an elbow or an open hand down to break the fall
- Falling backwards instead of sideways
- Landing on the stomach with the ball in front of the body
- Letting go of the ball on landing
- Moving on to standing dives before the kneeling ones are clean
What good looks like
A good target: 8 of 10 rolled balls held with a clean side landing and no elbow down.
Progressions and variations
Making it harder
- Level 1: A placed ball, kneeling, slowly
- Level 2: Slow rolled balls from the knees
- Level 3: Rolled balls with the side called late
- Level 4: From a low crouch on the feet
- Level 5: From a set position, a short step and collapse
- Level 6: Ten of ten held with a clean side landing
Alone, with a sibling, or in a group
- Solo: place the ball and collapse onto it, ten each side.
- Sibling: one rolls slowly to either side while the keeper kneels, calling the side only as the ball leaves the hand.
- Co-op: keepers in pairs on a mat, one rolling and one diving, swapping every ten.
Adjusting it by age
- U14: Kneeling only and placed balls, slow and repeated, until landing on the side is a habit.
- U18: From the crouch and from a set position with a short step, rolls a little quicker, still on soft ground.
For the parent running it
- Only on soft grass or a thick mat, never a hard floor. Roll the ball slowly a little to one side of the kneeling keeper. Watch that they fall sideways onto the hip and shoulder, hands to the ball, and do not put an elbow down to break the fall.
On their own: Kneel with the ball, place it a short arm's length to one side, then fall onto it, hands first, landing on the hip and shoulder. Ten each side.
Safety
- Never on a hard floor, concrete or a thin carpet
- Stop if a shoulder or hip is sore; this drill is about the landing, not the distance
- No diving onto a ball someone is about to kick
More on training safely at home: Safety at Home.
Related drills
GK Handling
Basic shot-stopping: set position, W-grip, collapse dive.
Catch and Throw in Four
Catch a ball and throw it out to a teammate breaking wide inside four seconds: the futsal goalkeeper's job of turning a save into a counter-attack before the other team can recover.
GK Footwork: Shuffle and Set
Side-step across a goal-width line of cones, stop in a set position, and catch a dropped ball cleanly before shuffling on.
GK Distribution: Roll and Throw
A keeper starts the attack with the hands: bowl the ball along the ground through a near gate, then throw overarm into a far target zone.
Run it with the Audio Coach
In Spatrian the Audio Coach talks your player through this drill while they play it, and each run goes on their own training record, which their coach or personal trainer can read and, for a homeschool family, counts as PE time. The beta is opening to a small first group of players and families.