Goalkeeping Training Progressions

with James Crowder,
West Texas A&M University Associate Head Coach;
2018 United Soccer Coaches South Central Coaching Staff of the Year;
former Goalkeeping Director of the Lonestar Soccer Club;
USSF 'B' License, NSCAA Premier Diploma, NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, NSCAA Advanced National Goalkeeping Diploma

One of Butch Lauffer’s highly valued assistant coaches at West Texas A&M University, is his right-hand man when it comes to all-things goalkeeping, James Crowder. In this information-packed instructional video on goalkeeping, Crowder reveals his time-tested, best-practices for training and coaching the goalkeeper position.

Loaded with teaching strategy and skill developments drills to improve a goalkeeper’s skill-set, Crowder guides viewers through a detailed training progression that provides technical and tactical coaching points for goalkeepers through repetition.

Crowder has a reputation for being thorough when it comes to his approach to coaching the goalkeeping position. Throughout this video, he stresses positive communication and creating an environment that allows his goalkeepers to develop and improve – all while simultaneously having fun and working hard.

Goalkeeping Essentials

In this video, Crowder uses a detailed, organized progression that starts with goalkeepers working on fundamentals like foot skills and concludes with the keys to making diving saves. Viewers will notice that Crowder is constantly asking questions of his players, encouraging them to think about their technique.

You’ll receive essential information and a guide to improving critically important goaltender traits such as: foot skills, proper-hand placement, contour catches, basket catches, smothers and collapse-dives through a variety of drills.  

Goalkeeping Drill Progressions, Step-In Sessions

Crowder offers coaching points that are simple for coaches and players alike to understand, while being easy to teach on the field. For drills that are demonstrated, viewers receive several variations of each drill, which are designed to expose keepers to different situations around the goal. Best of all, the drill progressions increase in both the level of difficulty and in the demands that are put on goalkeepers.

In the Step-In Drill, Crowder offers six variations of movement patterns and handling which nicely ties the handling activities together. These movement patterns focus on: a) clean handling, b) approach and recovery steps, c) turning into the set position, and d) diving out of various movements.

Crowder provides you with effective and easy to implement activities which work on key fundamentals for goalies at any level. Whether run weekly, or incorporated into warmups, these activities are sure to benefit your goalkeepers.

Goalkeeping is the most-specialized position on the field, and many coaches lack the technical ability to train goalkeepers. All too often, the only training goalkeepers receive is when there is a shooting drill, and that drill is for the benefit of the shooters, not the keepers.

Coach Crowder changes the approach to training goalkeepers in this video. He provides an easy-to-follow, easy-to-implement training session for goalkeepers. Watching this video will give coaches at all levels of competition the confidence to work with keepers! 

54 minutes. 2022.