[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":242},["ShallowReactive",2],{"site-config":3,"post-grassroots-football-goalkeeper-drills":129},{"success":4,"data":5},true,{"site":6,"features":10,"stripe":12,"bridalfile":13,"navigation":14,"branding":112,"footer":117},{"id":7,"name":8,"domain":9},"49f21346-cf36-4218-89c8-0b70f6252527","Trac","tracbac.club",{"products":11,"bookings":11,"event_capacity":11,"ugc":11},false,{"enabled":11,"test_mode":4},{"enabled":11},{"footer":15,"header":48},{"id":16,"name":17,"items":18},"fca9ef82-96bf-4a85-88c1-ed41a7402e9d","Footer Navigation",[19,24,28,32,36,40,44],{"id":20,"url":21,"label":22,"target":23},"trac-footer-features","/coaches","Features","_self",{"id":25,"url":26,"label":27,"target":23},"trac-footer-pricing","/pricing","Pricing",{"id":29,"url":30,"label":31,"target":23},"trac-footer-about","/about","About",{"id":33,"url":34,"label":35,"target":23},"trac-footer-help","https://app.tracbac.club/help-faqs","Help & FAQs",{"id":37,"url":38,"label":39,"target":23},"trac-footer-contact","/contact","Contact",{"id":41,"url":42,"label":43,"target":23},"trac-footer-privacy","/privacy-policy","Privacy Policy",{"id":45,"url":46,"label":47,"target":23},"trac-footer-terms","/terms","Terms",{"id":49,"name":50,"items":51},"418b3097-634e-4944-829d-24b59fa2c36a","Header Navigation",[52,83,99,103,105,107,110],{"id":53,"url":54,"label":22,"target":23,"children":55},"trac-nav-features","#",[56,59,63,67,71,75,79],{"id":57,"url":21,"label":58,"target":23},"trac-nav-coaches","For Coaches",{"id":60,"url":61,"label":62,"target":23},"trac-nav-ai","/ai","AI Features",{"id":64,"url":65,"label":66,"target":23},"trac-nav-training","/training","Training",{"id":68,"url":69,"label":70,"target":23},"trac-nav-parents","/parents","For Parents",{"id":72,"url":73,"label":74,"target":23},"trac-nav-season-archive","/season-archive","Season Archive",{"id":76,"url":77,"label":78,"target":23},"trac-nav-fa-import","/fa-full-time-import","FA Full-Time Import",{"id":80,"url":81,"label":82,"target":23},"trac-nav-club","/club","For Clubs",{"id":84,"url":54,"label":85,"target":23,"children":86},"trac-nav-compare","Compare",[87,91,95],{"id":88,"url":89,"label":90,"target":23},"trac-nav-vs-teamstats","/vs-teamstats","vs TeamStats",{"id":92,"url":93,"label":94,"target":23},"trac-nav-vs-spond","/vs-spond","vs Spond",{"id":96,"url":97,"label":98,"target":23},"trac-nav-vs-pitchero","/vs-pitchero","vs Pitchero",{"id":100,"url":101,"label":102,"target":23},"trac-nav-playbook","/playbook","Playbook",{"id":104,"url":26,"label":27,"target":23},"trac-nav-pricing",{"id":106,"url":30,"label":31,"target":23},"trac-nav-about",{"id":108,"url":34,"label":109,"target":23},"trac-nav-help","Help",{"id":111,"url":38,"label":39,"target":23},"trac-nav-contact",{"logo":113,"logoDark":114,"favicon":115,"tagline":116},"https://sktegczfmabucrnpgrvp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/media/49f21346-cf36-4218-89c8-0b70f6252527/2026/06/1781685688946-Trac-crop.webp",null,"https://sktegczfmabucrnpgrvp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/media/49f21346-cf36-4218-89c8-0b70f6252527/2026/06/1781685671484-favicon.ico","Football Coaching Software for Grassroots Teams",{"summary":118,"copyright":119,"address":120,"contact":122,"socialLinks":123,"openingHours":128,"logos":114},"Trac is football coaching software that helps grassroots coaches organise fixtures, track matches, and keep parents in the loop. No fuss, no jargon - just everything you need to run your team.","Trac Football. All rights reserved.",{"line1":114,"line2":114,"city":114,"state":114,"postalCode":114,"country":121},"United Kingdom",{"phone":114,"email":114},[124],{"url":125,"label":126,"platform":127},"https://x.com/tracbacapp","Twitter","twitter",[],{"success":4,"data":130},{"id":131,"slug":132,"title":133,"excerpt":134,"content":135,"content_format":236,"featured_image":237,"published":4,"published_at":238,"meta_title":239,"meta_description":240,"fields":241},"c764bd26-4ecb-4dbc-a21a-e50e03179ceb","grassroots-football-goalkeeper-drills","Grassroots football goalkeeper drills the rest of the squad forgets","The goalkeeper drills I run with my U12s: footwork before hands, high-rep handling, shot stopping with a real striker, crosses, and distribution that starts attacks.",{"type":136,"content":137},"doc",[138,144,148,155,159,163,168,172,176,181,185,189,194,198,214,219,223,228,232],{"type":139,"content":140},"paragraph",[141],{"text":142,"type":143},"Most grassroots teams do not coach the keeper. A kid volunteers, or gets put there because nobody else fancies it, and then spends every session standing on the edge of a drill that was built for the outfield ten. I have been guilty of it myself. We ran passing squares and shooting circuits while the lad in goal picked daisies until a shot came near him. Then we wondered why he flapped at a cross on Saturday.","text",{"type":139,"content":145},[146],{"text":147,"type":143},"I coach Springhead U12 Spartans in Hessle, and the season we finally gave the keeper twenty focused minutes a week was the season our goals against dropped off a cliff. You do not need gloves the size of dinner plates or a specialist coach. You need a handful of simple drills and a bit of patience. Here are the ones that earned their place.",{"type":149,"attrs":150,"content":152},"heading",{"level":151},2,[153],{"text":154,"type":143},"Start with the feet, not the hands",{"type":139,"content":156},[157],{"text":158,"type":143},"Every young keeper wants to make the diving save. Almost none of them are set when the shot comes, which is why they end up diving over the top of it. Before any handling, I spend five minutes on the ready position and the little shuffle across the goal.",{"type":139,"content":160},[161],{"text":162,"type":143},"Set two cones about four yards apart as a mini goal. The keeper starts in the middle, on the balls of their feet, hands out in front around waist height. Call left or right and they shuffle across without crossing their feet, then reset to the middle. Do it slow first so the shape is right, then quicken it up. Ten reps each way is plenty. Get this bit solid and half the goals you were conceding in the corners quietly disappear.",{"type":149,"attrs":164,"content":165},{"level":151},[166],{"text":167,"type":143},"Handling: high reps, low drama",{"type":139,"content":169},[170],{"text":171,"type":143},"The single best thing I did for our keeper was throw a lot of balls at him from close range. Not hard, just constant. Stand six yards out and roll, bounce and throw the ball at different heights so he has to get his hands behind it every time. The rule is simple. Get the body behind the ball, make a W with the thumbs for anything above the chest, and scoop the low ones with the little finger together.",{"type":139,"content":173},[174],{"text":175,"type":143},"Do thirty in a row, keep count of the clean catches out loud, and make the last five the ones that count. Kids concentrate far harder when there is a number on the line. If the ball keeps spilling out, move closer and slow down rather than pushing on. Confidence with the easy ones comes before anything flashy.",{"type":149,"attrs":177,"content":178},{"level":151},[179],{"text":180,"type":143},"Shot stopping with a real striker in front",{"type":139,"content":182},[183],{"text":184,"type":143},"A keeper facing a coach who telegraphs every shot learns nothing that carries into a match. Once the handling is warm, I put an actual player in front of the goal with a ball each and let them shoot on a whistle from twelve yards. The keeper cannot see it coming, has to stay set, and has to reset quickly for the next one because they arrive every few seconds.",{"type":139,"content":186},[187],{"text":188,"type":143},"Keep the goal small at first, maybe five yards, so the keeper wins more than they lose. Winning breeds the appetite to keep going. Widen it as they get sharper. Mix in a few shots that are meant to be saved and a few that are meant to beat them, so they learn the difference between a save they should make and one nobody makes.",{"type":149,"attrs":190,"content":191},{"level":151},[192],{"text":193,"type":143},"Crosses and the ball at their feet",{"type":139,"content":195},[196],{"text":197,"type":143},"Two things terrify young keepers more than shots. The first is a ball dropping into a crowd from a cross. The second is an opponent closing them down while the ball is at their feet. Both come up every single Saturday, so both deserve a slot.",{"type":199,"content":200},"bulletList",[201,208],{"type":202,"content":203},"listItem",[204],{"type":139,"content":205},[206],{"text":207,"type":143},"Crosses: serve gentle lofted balls into the six yard box and let the keeper decide catch or punch. The call matters as much as the catch. I want them shouting keeper loud and early, even when they get it wrong.",{"type":202,"content":209},[210],{"type":139,"content":211},[212],{"text":213,"type":143},"Ball at feet: pass into the keeper and have a player jog in to press. They get two touches to control and pass out to a side cone. This is where a lot of goals get gifted, so practise it until it is boring.",{"type":149,"attrs":215,"content":216},{"level":151},[217],{"text":218,"type":143},"Distribution starts your attacks",{"type":139,"content":220},[221],{"text":222,"type":143},"The modern grassroots keeper is the first attacker as much as the last defender. If your keeper can roll the ball out to a full back who has space, you have skipped a line of pressure without kicking it long and giving it straight back. Spend a few minutes each week on the underarm roll and a flat throw to a target. Kicking from hand can wait until they are a bit older and stronger. Accuracy over distance, every time.",{"type":149,"attrs":224,"content":225},{"level":151},[226],{"text":227,"type":143},"Fitting it into a normal session",{"type":139,"content":229},[230],{"text":231,"type":143},"You are not running a separate goalkeeping academy. The trick is to peel the keeper off for ten focused minutes while an assistant or a parent runs a passing drill for the rest, then bring them back into the small sided game at the end. Rotate outfield players through goal in training too, because the more of your squad who understand the position, the less it feels like a punishment when someone has to go in.",{"type":139,"content":233},[234],{"text":235,"type":143},"Keep a note of what you see. When we started tracking clean sheets and the saves our keeper made across a season, it turned a thankless job into something he was proud of. A kid who can point at his own record stays keen, and a keen keeper is worth ten drills.","tiptap","","2026-08-31T08:00:00+00:00","Grassroots Football Goalkeeper Drills","Grassroots football goalkeeper drills you can run in ten minutes: ready position, high-rep handling, shot stopping, crosses, dealing with the ball at feet.",{},1788163325097]