GoalkeepingShot StoppingHandlingDecision Making

Parry to Safety

Not every shot can be held — this drill scores WHERE the keeper parries, rewarding deflections into wide safe zones and punishing central spills.

Open diagram

Theme

Goalkeeping

Difficulty

Intermediate

Duration

15 min

Players (min–rec–max)

3–5–8

Area

25 × 30 yards

Session phase

Main

Age groups

U13, U14, U15, U16, U18, Adult

Equipment

goal, cones to mark zones, balls

Objective

Teach keepers to direct unholdable shots into safe wide areas with strong wrists and open hands, instead of spilling rebounds back into the danger zone.

Set-up

Full goal with two coned 'safe zones' marked wide of each post, outside the width of the six-yard box. Two servers with balls stand 16–20 yards out, slightly staggered. Mark the central strip in front of goal as the no-spill zone.

How it runs

Server 1 hits a firm, driven shot the keeper realistically cannot hold — low into the corner or struck with pace at mid-height.
The keeper saves and deliberately steers the parry into one of the wide safe zones.
Score it: 2 points for a parry that settles in a safe zone, 1 point for over the bar or around the post, minus 2 for any rebound that dies in the central strip.
Server 2 follows up immediately with a second strike so the keeper recovers and repeats.
Sets of six shots, then rotate servers and compare keeper scores.

Coaching points

Strong wrist at contact — push the ball, don't just block it.
Open the hand and angle the palm towards the safe zone.
Low shots: parry with the outside hand, steering wide, not back where it came from.
Recover to your feet before the ball stops moving — the next shot is coming.

Common mistakes

Keepers try to catch everything and spill the hard ones centrally — name the decision early: hold it or steer it.
Soft wrists pat the ball straight back to the shooter — demand a firm push through the ball towards the zone.
The keeper admires the parry instead of recovering — feet reset the instant the ball leaves the hands.

Progressions

Add a poacher who attacks any central spill for a live rebound finish.
Servers alternate randomly so the keeper never knows where the next strike starts.
Demand the recovery save off the second ball within three seconds of the first.

Regressions

Slower, telegraphed services at a catchable height to groove the steering motion.
Coach throws the serves by hand from 10 yards.
Remove the scoring and just rehearse the parry shape both sides.

Constraints

Any rebound finishing in the central no-spill strip costs the keeper 2 points.