Michael Varn
BRONZE
How many times has anyone seen a cross or corner kick simply fly near and right past the goalkeeper near and sometimes inside the six yard box?
The arm chair goalkeeper like myself could not figure out why the goalkeeper wasn't able to catch or at least punch or deflect the ball away that passed so closely by him or her.
Well, the answer is that it is much harder to do than it looks, probably because of the overall game and ball speed at advanced levels seen on TV.
So the idea here is for the goalkeeper to position oneself closer to the top of the six yard box, or a little further before the cross or the corner kick.
Chances are, that is where these kicks are going to end up, so it would be easier for the goalkeeper to intercept these kicks if they are already prepositioned there ahead of time.
If they have to advance from their line after the kick, the ball will simply be harder to intercept, and any deflection on goal near the six yard box will be virtually unstopable.
This illustrates the difference between positioning and pre positioning.
The ability to predict where the ball is going to be several seconds before the ball is struck is more advantagious than having to rely on split second anticipation and reaction time the instant the ball is struck.
The only risk here is if that cross does end up very close to the goal. Then the keeper will have to quicky retreat back to his line to deal with it. The good news for keepers here it is highly unlikely, but not impossible, that the ball will go directly into the goal before the keeper can get back. Also, a good number of crosses and corners are kicked high and well out danger and end up out of bounds on the other side of the feild.
Like I have said before, if you are an active goalkeeper, and want to experiment with this idea, don't try this in a game first. There is plenty of time at practice or on your own time with team mates to do this.
If anyone can find a You Tube video with a goalkeeper trying this, succesfully or not, please post.
The arm chair goalkeeper like myself could not figure out why the goalkeeper wasn't able to catch or at least punch or deflect the ball away that passed so closely by him or her.
Well, the answer is that it is much harder to do than it looks, probably because of the overall game and ball speed at advanced levels seen on TV.
So the idea here is for the goalkeeper to position oneself closer to the top of the six yard box, or a little further before the cross or the corner kick.
Chances are, that is where these kicks are going to end up, so it would be easier for the goalkeeper to intercept these kicks if they are already prepositioned there ahead of time.
If they have to advance from their line after the kick, the ball will simply be harder to intercept, and any deflection on goal near the six yard box will be virtually unstopable.
This illustrates the difference between positioning and pre positioning.
The ability to predict where the ball is going to be several seconds before the ball is struck is more advantagious than having to rely on split second anticipation and reaction time the instant the ball is struck.
The only risk here is if that cross does end up very close to the goal. Then the keeper will have to quicky retreat back to his line to deal with it. The good news for keepers here it is highly unlikely, but not impossible, that the ball will go directly into the goal before the keeper can get back. Also, a good number of crosses and corners are kicked high and well out danger and end up out of bounds on the other side of the feild.
Like I have said before, if you are an active goalkeeper, and want to experiment with this idea, don't try this in a game first. There is plenty of time at practice or on your own time with team mates to do this.
If anyone can find a You Tube video with a goalkeeper trying this, succesfully or not, please post.