GK Distribution: Roll and Throw

Set-up

A gate of two cones about ten steps from the keeper and a target zone marked by two more cones about twenty steps away, a few steps wide. Open grass with nothing behind the zone that a thrown ball could hit, and the keeper starts with the ball in their hands.

What you need

• 1 soccer ball
• 4 cones or markers

The ground: 45 × 20 ft (about 14 × 6 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

1. Set up. Two cones as a gate about ten steps away. Two more cones about twenty steps away as a target zone a few steps wide.
2. The roll. Step forward, bend low and bowl the ball along the ground through the near gate, so it never bounces.
3. Follow through. The hand finishes pointing at the gate, palm up, low to the grass.
4. The throw. Side-on to the far zone, ball held in one hand behind the head, arm straight.
5. Over the top. Step with the opposite foot and bring the arm over the top, releasing toward the zone.
6. Count both. Ten rolls and ten throws. Count the rolls through the gate and the throws landing in the zone.

Coaching points

• Roll low. A bowled ball that bounces is a ball a teammate cannot control first time.
• Throw over the top with a straight arm and the opposite foot forward, like a javelin rather than a dart.
• Pick the target before the ball is released: distribution is a pass, and a pass has somewhere to go.

What to watch: The roll stays on the ground the whole way, released low like bowling. The throw comes over the top with the arm straight and the opposite foot forward.

Common mistakes

• Releasing the roll from too high so the ball bounces
• Throwing round the side instead of over the top
• Stepping with the same foot as the throwing arm
• Throwing without choosing a target first
• Rushing so the throws get wild as the set goes on

What good looks like

A good target: 8 of 10 rolls through the gate and 6 of 10 throws landing in the zone.

Progressions and variations

Making it harder

• Level 1: Rolls only, from closer to the gate
• Level 2: Eight of ten rolls through the gate
• Level 3: Overarm throws into the far zone, six of ten
• Level 4: Narrow the gate and shrink the zone
• Level 5: A partner moves around the zone so the throw has to find them
• Level 6: Catch a served ball, then distribute within three seconds

Alone, with a sibling, or in a group

• Solo: ten rolls through the gate and ten throws into the zone, fetching each one and counting both.
• Sibling: one stands in the zone as the teammate and moves around, so the keeper has to find them.
• Co-op: keepers take turns distributing to a line of players who must control it in one touch.

Adjusting it by age

• U14: Bring the zone in to about fifteen steps and widen it, and spend the first half of the session on the roll, which is the distribution a keeper uses most.
• U18: Push the zone back to thirty steps and make it a moving teammate, and add a quick catch-and-release so the keeper starts the attack fast.

For the parent running it

• Stand at the far zone and give them something to aim at. Roll first, throw second, and count what arrives where it was meant to.

On their own: Bowl ten through the near gate, then throw ten overarm into the far zone, fetching the ball each time. Count both.

Safety

• Nothing breakable or anyone standing behind the far zone, since a missed throw carries

More on training safely at home: Safety at Home.

Why it matters

None