PATRICK MORRISON: Steps to becoming a two footed goalkeeper

By Patrick Morrison

WATCHING the provincial games over the weekend, I cannot help but notice how many kick-out options goalkeepers would have if they were truly able to kick with both feet comfortably.

Those goalkeepers who can kick equally with both feet are at a definitive advantage as they are extremely hard to read and to press on kick-outs.

The more I pondered about the possibility of having a truly ambidextrous goalkeeper, the more I thought about how much of an advantage that goalkeeper would have over the opposing team’s players whenever it came to their own restarts.

Being able to line up a goal kick and run completely straight up to the ball and then strike it left or right without having to check your run around the kicking tee would be an exceptional skill for any goalkeeper to have.

It would be especially special if they could kick accurately with both feet over the same distance.

My advice for any goalkeepers or even any goalkeeping coaches reading this article would be to have yourself or the goalkeepers you are working with, regardless of age, dedicate a good portion of their time towards developing their untrained kicking foot. I say untrained because using jargon like ‘good foot’ and ‘bad foot’ should be outlawed. There is only ever trained and untrained. To turn untrained into trained the answer is very simple and very obvious. Train it.

Most goalkeepers, or indeed players, who are not as strong on their untrained kicking foot compared to their trained kicking foot, usually lack the discipline or the patience to be able to put in the hours required to develop a competent trained kicking foot. For me, there are four phases that any goalkeeper will need to conquer in order to turn their untrained kicking foot into a trained kicking foot.

STORMING

In this initial phase the untrained kicking foot will be very raw and erratic in nature.

Whenever the goalkeeper begins to practice kicking with their untrained foot it will involve a lot of very frustrating hours of long and arduous kicking drills and
exercises.

The main purpose of this stage is to ensure the volume of kicks taken with the untrained foot is very high, it may even be more than the
trained foot.

Without this high kick volume, it will be very difficult for the goalkeeper to develop any form of kicking style with that foot.

FORMING

Now moving from the storming phase where the focus is on ensuring that the volume of kicks taken with the untrained foot is very high, to the second ‘forming’ phase where the focus will now move towards the quality of the kicking technique being used by the goalkeeper.

By following the four kicking stages, the goalkeeper or coach can focus their attentions more on how exactly the goalkeeper is kicking the ball with their untrained foot and specifically their lead into the ball, their ball strike, the position of their head and shoulders and then finally the nature of their follow through.

During this stage, the goalkeeper’s kicking technique will begin to develop.

NORMING

Once the goalkeeper completes the first two stages, they will then enter a period that will make their kicking technique their usual technique when kicking with the untrained foot. I say ‘untrained’ because at this stage it will begin to become a trained kicking foot.

In this normalising stage, kicking with the untrained foot becomes far more comfortable and the goalkeeper becomes more confident kicking the ball in training or even training games consistently.

PERFORMING

The final performing stage becomes prevalent whenever the goalkeeper becomes confident enough in the ability of the now trained foot (previously untrained foot) to consistently kick with it in test matches or actual competitive games.

It is at this stage that the kicking skill evolves from a textbook skill into a performance skill especially whenever it is being used underneath the stresses of competitive action.

Some important points to remember whenever you are trying to learn new skills or learning to perform better with your untrained limbs is to understand why they
are not as good as your trained
limbs.

Once you realise that it is simply down to neglect you will quickly understand that putting more efforts into that limb expecting to better it. You will also need to understand that the amount of time you may need to turn your untrained limb into a trained limb can take a very long in order to reach the final performing stage.

Remember the four stages and keep a detailed record of the progress you are making as well as recording any drills or exercises you have completed into your training diary.

This is how you can change your kicking from ‘storming to performing.’

If you would like more information on anything discussed or if you have any queries in regard to goalkeeping, please feel free to contact me: Email: paddymorrison@msog11.com.