Injury preventionAnalyticMovement

Landing from varied heights

Consolidate landing technique on both sides and from different heights, with no goal and no context — just the action that protects the shoulder.

Choose a session and the exercise is added to today’s plan.

Load

minutes: 8
dives/set: 8
Sets and reps: 3 × 5
Intensity: Medium

dives per set, per goalkeeper

Microcycle days it fits

Each bar’s height is that day’s dive ceiling.

Setup

Goalkeepers: 1
server: 1
outfield player: 0

Space: 12 × 8 m

Equipment: Balls, Markers

The coach serves and manages the breaks.

1 steps

Hand services to each side, with the goalkeeper starting from the knees, crouched, or standing. No goal: the aim is the landing, not the save. Always alternate both sides.

Exercise sequence

Coaching points

The non-dominant side is where injuries happen: train it as much as, or more than, the dominant one.
Contact sequence: hip, then ribs, then shoulder. Never the elbow, never an open hand.
Elbow tucked throughout the landing — an extended arm is the classic injury mechanism.
The higher the start, the more force to absorb: progress only when technique is stable at the previous height.
This exercise has high dive volume for how short it is. Count it in the day’s load.

Progressions

Move from crouched to standing, increasing the fall height.
Alternate sides without warning, removing mental preparation.

Regressions

Work from the knees only, isolating the contact mechanics.
Work one side at a time, without alternating.