Soccer coaching drill to get goalies clearing a back pass
When defenders are chasing a breakaway, they are running towards their own goal. Sometimes, if they can win the ball, their only option is to kick it back to their goalkeeper, which puts pressure on the goalie. This soccer coaching session will help your goalie practise handling a back pass clearance.
Back pass clearance
Faced with a back pass from their own defender, the goalkeeper can sometimes panic kick, which will result in the ball being played to the opposition, or it may be air kicked, so the ball rolls into the net as an own goal.
Goalkeepers need to be as comfortable with the ball at their feet as they are with it in their hands.
In this soccer (football) coaching session you want to see your goalkeeper clear the ball from the penalty area with height and distance.
What goalkeepers should do when faced with a back pass:
- Move into line with the ball.
- Keep their eyes on the ball and their head steady.
- Lean back slightly.
- Strike the bottom half of the ball.
- Strike with the laces.
- Keep their ankle firm and extend the kicking foot.
- Sweep through and across the ball.
Practise back pass clearance drill
- A server moves around the outside of the penalty area, serving the ball towards the six-yard box from a variety of positions.
- The goalkeeper attempts to clear the ball to two markers placed near the halfway line (depending on the goalkeeper's age and ability) about 15 yards apart. (These can be disc cones or players who also retrieve the ball.)
- The goalkeeper must use their right foot if receiving the ball from the right, and the left if the ball arrives from the left. They can take a controlling touch. To progress, the goalkeeper must clear the pass first time.
Develop the soccer drillIntroduce a forward who starts from in front and to one side of the server, and who puts pressure on the goalkeeper by attempting to block the clearance. The back pass, however, must favour the goalkeeper.
Turn the clearance drill into a game Set up a 30 yards by 40 yards square at one end of a pitch. Play five defenders plus a goalkeeper, versus five attackers. Include two server/target players. The attackers get points for scoring, while the defenders and goalkeeper get points for clearing the ball to the target players.
If the ball goes out behind the goal line, play re-starts with the servers. One of the servers passes the ball to the attacking team to begin the game.
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