Scientific Approaches to Goalkeeping in Football: Goalkeeping Basics

By Andy Elleray

Have you ever wanted to take up goalkeeping? Would you like to understand the position better? Do you want to support a goalkeeper on their football journey? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then this fantastic new publication from goalkeeping specialist Andy Elleray is for you.

Like any sport, the basic foundations of any physical or technical action in goalkeeping are fundamental to performance. Without the basics, it's impossible to expand a player's game in terms of more advanced techniques. This book investigates the common types of saves, movements, and actions that the goalkeeper can - and is expected - to perform.

Goalkeeping in football is made up of many techniques, both with and without the ball. In "Goalkeeping Basics", author Andy Elleray goes through a wide selection of common techniques and strips them right back to their fundamentals, what they look like, and how they can be properly learned and enhanced

Accompanied by photo examples, plus a series of practices designed to work specifically on certain saves and situations, this colour book will illustrate and consolidate the key aspects behind goalkeeping in football.

Important note: This book contains a large number of colour diagrams and photographs and is designed to be read on a colour eReader. Whilst the content can still be enjoyed on a grayscale eReader, some of the images will appear dark and prove more challenging to distinguish. As such, if possible, please use a colour eReader for this format of the book.

About the Author. Andy Elleray is a goalkeeping specialist and holds the UEFA A Goalkeeping License, as well as the Advanced Youth Award Goalkeeping License. He is also the author of Scientific Approaches to Goalkeeping in Football (1st and 2nd editions), Scientific Approaches to Goalkeeping in Football: Age-Specific Goalkeeper Development, 101 Goalkeeper Training Practices, 65 Goalkeeper Training Exercises, and 50 More Goalkeeping Training Exercises. This is Andy's seventh goalkeeping book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bennion Kearny
• Release date: Dec 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781910773819

Book preview

Scientific Approaches to Goalkeeping in Football: Goalkeeping Basics

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Andy Elleray

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An imprint of Bennion Kearny

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

About The Author

About The Book

Foreword

NHS Defiance Goalkeeping Gloves

Introduction

Technical & Physical Foundations

Set Positions

Hand Saves: Catching

Hand Saves: Scoop Save

Hand Saves: Cup/Basket Save

Hand Saves: ‘W’ Save

Not catching the ball

Hand Saves: Repel Save

Hand Saves: Get Away Save

Hand Saves: One-Step Dive

Hand Saves: Negative Step Dive

Hand Saves: Shift and Dive

Hand Saves: Top Hand Save/Dive

Hand Saves: Bottom Hand Save/Dive

Hand Saves: Tip-Over

Hand Saves: Deflect Away

Hand Saves: Low/Mid/High Dive

1v1 Saves

1v1: Smother

1v1: Close Block

1v1: Spread Save

1v1: Star Spread

Leg Saves

Leg Saves: Standard

Leg Saves: Kick-Through

Leg Saves: Splits Save

Crossing & Aerial Play

Crossing & Aerial Play: The Claim

Crossing & Aerial Play: The Cut Back

Crossing & Aerial Play: One-Handed Punch

Crossing & Aerial Play: Two-Handed Punch

Crossing & Aerial Play: Push Away

Crossing & Aerial Play: Flying Punch

Super Strength Sessions

Tactical Foundations

In Possession

Factors to Consider

Coaching Approaches

Goalkeeping Ball Mastery

Out of Possession/In Transition

Psychological Foundations

The Life of a Goalkeeper…

Confidence

Decision-Making

Communication

Dealing with Mistakes

Summary

Copyright

ISBN: 978-1-910773-81-9

Published in 2021 by Oakamoor Publishing, an imprint of Bennion Kearny Limited.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that it which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Oakamoor Publishing has endeavoured to provide trademark information about all the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Oakamoor Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Published by Oakamoor Publishing, an imprint of Bennion Kearny Limited, 6 Woodside, Churnet View Road, Oakamoor, Staffordshire, ST10 3AE

www.BennionKearny.com

About The Author

Andy Elleray has been working in the goalkeeping world since the age of 16 and playing since the age of seven. His playing career has taken the form of playing at youth academy level and semi-professional level – as well as playing as the sighted goalkeeper for the England and Great Britain blind football teams.

He has obtained numerous football, academic and general sporting accolades over the years, including the UEFA A Goalkeeping License as well as the Advanced Youth Award Goalkeeping License. He also holds a Masters degree in Sports Coaching. All of which have helped shape and evolve goalkeeping practice.

Andy has worked at professional football clubs such as Cheltenham Town, Birmingham City, Liverpool and Chelsea within different departments in the male game – but with goalkeeping always being at the forefront of his work.

Since 2013 and his initial publication, Andy has focused his attention on the female game working for Birmingham City Women and within the Football Association’s England Talent Pathway as a youth goalkeeping coach. Within this time, he has helped shape some of the brightest goalkeeping talents in the country – helping them to be seen on a national and international stage.

During his time at Birmingham, Andy has played a major hand in bringing through the ranks four professional goalkeepers and 11 goalkeepers representing the home nations at youth international level.

This will be Andy’s seventh goalkeeping book, all of which will be referenced within this publication, and which have been read all over the World.

Andy is keen to pass on his knowledge and expertise to the next generation of budding goalkeeper coaches and goalkeepers. Constantly looking for new and exciting ways in which to evolve the position and cement the position as the most crucial within a football team.

Andy is also the author of:

Scientific Approaches to Goalkeeping in Football: Age-Specific Goalkeeper Development

Scientific Approaches to Goalkeeping in Football: Games-Based Goalkeeper Training

Scientific Approaches to Goalkeeping in Football: A Practical Perspective on the Most Unique Position in Sport [Second Edition]

101 Goalkeeper Training Practices

50 More Goalkeeper Training Exercises

Check out Andy’s books and more than 25 other books aimed at soccer coaches at:

www.BennionKearny.com/football

About The Book

Like any sport, the basic foundations of any physical or technical action is fundamental to performance. Without the basics, it’s impossible to expand a player’s game in terms of more advanced techniques. This book investigates the common types of saves, movements, and actions that the goalkeeper can and is expected to perform. Effectively, the book is a starting point for learning about goalkeeping and how to be a goalkeeper – with the goalkeeper developing their own unique style rather than copying techniques point-to-point.

Goalkeeping in football is made up of many techniques. Both with and without the ball. The idea that every single goalkeeper should be labelled as being able to do this type of save, and that type of save is misplaced. Everyone is different, and the actions the goalkeeper performs must be natural, not mechanical or robotic. They must move and act with a purpose.

The idea of this book is to go through a large selection of different types of common techniques and strip them right back to the core of how they are executed, what they look like, and how they can be enhanced and learnt.

The content of the book will be heavily weighted towards the technical side of the position – with doses of the physical, psychological, and tactical components of goalkeeping also included.

The content will be based around the following:

Visual examples of the save from different angles and situations.

What the save is, and how it is made up.

When and where to execute the save and how this is done.

A practice that specifically targets the development of this type of save along with how to coach.

From the outset, it is essential to acknowledge that each goalkeeper might perform a save slightly differently (depending on physical and biomechanical characteristics), each coach might call (e.g., label) a save with their own particular terminology, or indeed instruct/coach a particular type of save slightly differently. What the book is looking to achieve is an awareness and appreciation of the details that encompass each save – and a ‘set the scene’ approach.

Hopefully, the book will consolidate some of the saves you already know about, possibly clarify some of the key points for some of the saves, and finally create some new thinking around some of these goalkeeping actions. As people who specialise or take a keen interest in goalkeeping, the people occupying this role need