Foundations of Goalkeeping: Skills & Concepts

with Brooke Eubanks,
University of California-Berkeley Head Women's Lacrosse Coach from 2014 to 2022;
former Stanford University Assistant Women's Lacrosse Coach;
3x member of the Canadian National Team;
scored 12 goals for the 3rd place 2009 World Cup Tournament team

Paige Soenksen,
University of California-Berkeley Assistant Coach;
2017 All-American at the University of Colorado as a player

and Denise Wescott,
University of California-Berkeley Assistant Coach;
2018 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee;
Director of Lacrosse for the Capital Lacrosse Club (Alexandria, VA);
over 30 years of Division I college coaching experience;
former German National and World Cup Team Head Coach (1996-2005);
New Jersey Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee (2006)
IWLCA Diane Geppi-Aikens Lifetime Achievement College Coaching Award

Where should you start when you want to train a beginner goalkeeper? In this video, University of California-Berkeley assistant coaches - Hall of Famer Denise Wescott and Paige Soenksen - provide the answer by walking you through a number of progressive topics that help develop goalkeeping fundamentals. From equipment selection to on-field communication, you'll learn to train and strengthen the basic skills your goalkeeper needs to be successful come game time.

Vision and Hand-Eye Coordination

Learn three drills that will improve the vision tracking of your goalkeeper through the use of numbered balls, playing cards, and colored balls. You'll see two drills that develop hand-eye coordination while working on the goalie's "hand-to-ball" motion.

Wescott and Soenksen show you how a deck of cards can be used to develop a number of fundamental skills in their "Call Em" drill. You will watch them train proper hand/head-to-ball, low-save technique, and footwork in this simple drill.

Save Mechanics and Clearing

Starting with the foundation of the goalie stance and how to grip the stick, learn to train save mechanics for all shot locations. Wescott and Soenksen show you save motions for both stick and off-stick shot locations of high, waist, low, and bounce. You'll learn to recognize and correct when your goalie isn't leading with their hands, getting the head to the ball, and "getting around" the ball. Additionally, you'll come to understand the importance of "following" wide shots.

Next, watch Wescott and Soenksen detail proper clearing technique, as well as what to look for when starting your team's offense. Learn a technique to increase your goalkeeper's power on the clear, and what techniques to avoid using.

Communication

Effective communication is a key skill required for the goalkeeper position. You will learn the key communication aspects to start teaching your beginner keepers, or to revisit with your veteran keepers. Keeping the ball out of the net is the primary focus of a goalkeeper, and learning to be a good communicator will assist them in achieving that goal.

The fundamentals, from seeing and reacting to the ball better, to efficiently and effectively making the save, are what goalkeepers at every level need to work on constantly. This video featuring coaches Wescott and Soenksen will provide you with a great resource to address this need. Whether you're working with novice or experienced goalkeepers, or are a new or seasoned goalkeeper coach, you'll be sure to find value in this video.

63 minutes. 2020.