In a soccer scoreboards feature, I have looked briefly at the key skills of the all important goalkeeping position.

The goalkeeper is a key player who holds a very important position in the team. Unfortunately coaches do not always pay much attention to enhancng goal keeping skills, and this is because the coaches often lack goalkeeping experience themselves, so they are of-course unable to train their goalkeepers in the same way that they train their outfield players. Here are some soccer scoreboards tips for budding goalkeepers:

Footwork
First and foremost the coaches should try and improve the footwork of their goalkeepers. Good footwork is very important because if they don’t get their feet in the right position to start off then it everything else will be a mess. The goalkeeper should try to keep his weight forward on his toes. Goalkeepers should practice to get up quickly after they slide or dive and should always keep their hands free.

Positioning
The goalkeeper must constantly adjust his position. He should be able to anticipate when a player of the opponent team will attack, and how he will attack. During the game a goalkeeper may lose concentration, but he should always be focused on the action. He should make sure that he is covering both the goal posts. One important point to keep in mind is to be aware of the chips that can beat the goalkeeper over the head.

Catching
Catching is an important aspect of goalkeeping. The goalkeeper should get his hands to the balls first and they must be very safe hands i.e. they must use their arms, legs and back to cushion the ball. High balls should be caught at the highest possible point or else the goalkeeper can lose the control of the ball.

Penalties
During a penalty kick, most of the pressure is on the shooter and not the goalkeeper. Some smart goalkeepers are able to save penalties more often because they are good at reading where the shooter will place the ball.

A goalkeeper should also be trained to think positively. If he makes a mistake, he needs to learn to put it behind him quickly and recover. He should be trained to think positively at all times, as many a good goalkeeper has turned to dust as soon as his self-belief wavered.

For more information, go to:
en.wikipedia.org