Coaching our U13 goalkeeper, we are currently focusing on positioning, handling and distributing.

Interesting points from that discussion were:

• the different types of distribution, rather than just the roll or boot up field
• being brave and handling under pressure
• receiving skills
• constant communication

At the U13 level, these are elements that I would love to incorporate in future sessions. I try and mix the repetitive exercises with new, just to keep the interest going. Repetitive is important to improve and focus, whilst variety is key to maintain focus and engagement - I think.

Sounds great Neil! What exercises do you include and find work well? You may have seen these but if not, take a look at this page - it has loads of sessions on it, including recent ones about goalkeeping - learn.englandfootball.com/sessions 

Sounds great Neil! What exercises do you include and find work well? You may have seen these but if not, take a look at this page - it has loads of sessions on it, including recent ones about goalkeeping - learn.englandfootball.com/sessions 

At the moment, we are working on:

• "starting hands" and stance enabling quick movement/reactions
• handling drills (low, medium, high shots) with quick feet to get the focus on catching (at all costs :))
• quick reactions (touch the cone(s) and up to meet a shot)
• and distribution
  • rolling the ball out into space for players to run onto
  • kicking from your hands up field
  • this is currently the hardest - dead ball kicks - I am constantly seeking good videos on how to coach the right technique for the goalkeeper to improve goal kicking distances - we are improving but through a lot of sessions

I completed the online Goalkeeping CPD courses (FA learning) by Simon Smith and have adopted a lot of those drills. And they seem to be working.

Thanks for sharing the link to the sessions. I like them and there are many keeper ones! But it would be even cooler to see mini videos to help explain the drills. 

Have a super weekend Tim!

All sounds great Neil, thanks for sharing. I am sure the keepers will benefit hugely from these. I will pass your point about mini videos on to the team. Certainly check out the sessions on the England Football Learning site and our Youtube channel. Some great stuff on there! Hope you had a good weekend!