GK Save and Reset
Make a low save, get up fast and get set again for the second ball, because a rebound is where most goals against a keeper come from.
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, two balls, and two markers (cones or shoes) about three steps apart for the keeper to stand between. The parent serves from four or five steps in front.
What you need
- 2 soccer balls
- Soft grass or a thick mat
The ground: 15 × 12 ft (about 5 × 4 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, two balls, and the keeper in a low set position between two cones about three steps apart, or two shoes.
- First save. Roll one ball to the left. The keeper collapses onto it and holds it.
- Up fast. They drop the ball behind them, push up off the ground and get set again, facing you.
- Second ball. Roll the second to the right. Collapse, hold, and finish set. That is one pair.
- Swap sides. Start the next pair to the right. Eight pairs in all.
- Count it. Count the pairs where both balls were held and the keeper was set before the second roll.
Coaching points
- Up off the ground at once: push with the bottom hand and get the feet under you.
- Set before the second ball, still and facing it.
- Both saves held with the body behind the ball.
What to watch: Lying on the ground admiring the first save. The keeper gets up straight away, feet set before the second ball arrives.
Common mistakes
- Staying on the ground after the first save
- Getting up facing the wrong way
- Still moving when the second ball is rolled
- Diving too far for the first ball so the second is out of reach
- Landing on an elbow, as in the collapse dive
What good looks like
A good target: 6 of 8 pairs with both balls held and the keeper set before the second roll.
Progressions and variations
Making it harder
- Level 1: Placed balls, solo, slowly
- Level 2: Rolled pairs with a pause between
- Level 3: The second ball rolled as soon as the first is held
- Level 4: The side of the second ball called late
- Level 5: The second ball a gentle low shot instead of a roll
- Level 6: Eight of eight pairs held and set
Alone, with a sibling, or in a group
- Solo: place the two balls and collapse, get up, shuffle and collapse, out of eight pairs.
- Sibling: one rolls both balls and decides when the second comes, sometimes quickly.
- Co-op: a parent serves pairs to a line of keepers, one pair each, rotating.
Adjusting it by age
- U14: A long pause between the two balls, and only once the collapse dive is clean from the knees.
- U18: The second ball straight away and sometimes a gentle low shot, with the side called late.
For the parent running it
- On soft grass. Roll the first ball to one side, and as soon as the keeper has it, roll a second to the other side. Watch how quickly they are back on their feet and set, not how far they dive.
On their own: Collapse onto a ball placed to one side, get up, take two shuffles to a second ball placed on the other side and collapse onto that. Count clean pairs out of eight.
Safety
- Soft ground only, as for the collapse dive
- The server rolls or side-foots gently; no full shots at a keeper getting up
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.