Goalkeeping skills and exercises

1Why this matters

A handball goalkeeper faces shots thrown from 6 to 9 m away at high speed, many times each game. Nobody can react to every shot by chance: good goalkeepers rely on a ready stance, fast footwork and practised saving movements. And each save is the start of a counter-attack. In this lesson you learn the technique; the next lesson covers the tactics.

2The ready stance

• Feet a little wider than your hips, knees slightly bent, weight on the balls of your feet.
• Hands up at about head height, palms facing the shooter, elbows bent.
• Body square to the ball, eyes on the ball, not on the shooter's face.

From this stance you can move up, down or sideways equally fast. Inside the goal area the goalkeeper may stop the ball with any part of the body, including the legs and feet.

3Saving by height

4Footwork

Move with short side steps, never crossing your feet. Stay low. After each save, get back into the ready stance before anything else, because a rebound may come straight back.

Worked example: a 10-minute goalkeeper warm-up

1. 2 minutes: jog, side steps and skips.
2. 2 minutes: dynamic mobility for hips and groin (leg swings, hip circles, deep lunges) and for shoulders (arm circles).
3. 2 minutes: catching tennis balls thrown to each side at head height, then at knee height.
4. 4 minutes: a partner throws a soft ball from 7 m, slowly at first, to each of the four corners in turn, then in random order and a little harder.

The order matters: the body is warmed before it is asked to split or stretch, and the ball speed rises only as the reactions sharpen.

Exercises with little equipment

• Wall reaction. Stand 2 m from a wall. A partner behind you throws a tennis ball against the wall; you catch the rebound. Ten catches, then swap.
• Call the corner. Put a marker (a stone, a bottle, a shoe) at each of the four corners of the goal. The partner calls a corner or points; you touch it with the correct hand or foot and return to the stance. 3 sets of 20 seconds.
• Arc steps. Chalk a semicircle about 1 m in front of the goal line. Side-step along it from post to post and back, staying low, 5 times.
• Low-save repeats. From the stance, shoot the leg out to one corner, recover, then the other. 2 sets of 8 each side.

5Safety

• Warm up the hips, groin and shoulders thoroughly; low saves and high reaches load them most.
• Begin with soft balls and slow throws; raise the speed gradually.
• Wear long sleeves and padded trousers on a hard floor; boys should wear a protective cup.
• Shooters in practice must never aim at the goalkeeper's head. In matches, hitting a goalkeeper who is standing still in the head at a 7-metre throw is punished with a red card.

Practice

Solution. Feet slightly wider than hips with knees bent; weight on the balls of the feet; hands up at head height, palms towards the shooter.

Solution. The right leg shoots out along the floor towards the corner, with the right arm following down.

Solution. With crossed feet you cannot push off in either direction until you uncross, so a shot to the other side goes in. Side steps keep you balanced and ready.

Solution. Injury to cold muscles, especially groin and hamstrings in low saves, and being hit hard because his reactions are not yet sharp. He should warm up first and increase ball speed gradually.