Goalkeeping session: end lines

Session

England Football Learning

2 mins - Jul 6, 2023

Session overview

This session will help players:

scan the environment to take in their surroundings
work on their positioning to receive the ball
improve their communication and decision-making skills when passing.

If you like this idea, download the session plan and give it a go. And don’t forget to share your experience on the England Football Community. We’d love to know how you got on.

End lines

Put a goalkeeper on either side of your area. They can move along the end lines. Then have a 3v3 in the middle. Add an extra player to act as a ‘pivot’ – or a ‘floater’ – to play for the side that’s in possession.
The aim is to keep possession and work it from one keeper to the other. Then repeat. A goalkeeper starts the practice by passing to one of the teams in the middle. The pivot then joins the team in possession to create a 4v3. They work together to maintain possession for as long as possible.
If a side loses possession, they swap roles. They must now try and win it back. The pivot then joins the side that’s on the ball. Award a point each time a team successfully combines to get the ball from one keeper to the other. Play this for 90 seconds and have four rounds.

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Coaching session

Watch this video to see the session in action.

Coaching tips

Observe your outfield players’ positioning skills, particularly when the goalkeeper has the ball. Ultimately, to help their side keep possession, they must find space to be a good passing option. To work on this, challenge them to quickly support the keeper when they have the ball and think about how their positioning can help them do that.

And if you feel it’s right to progress the session, use the STEP framework (Youth Sports Trust, 2002) to help keep things fun, engaging and appropriate.