Injury preventionRepresentativeTechnique
Safe landing after a real dive
Consolidate landing mechanics on real shot-stopping dives, not in isolation from the ball — the fall is absorbed with the same quality the technical dive demands, or the exercise misses the point.
Choose a session and the exercise is added to today’s plan.
Load
- minutes
- 8
- dives/set
- 6
- Sets and reps
- 2 × 6
- Intensity
- Medium
dives per set, per goalkeeper
Microcycle days it fits
MD-3, MD-2
Each bar’s height is that day’s dive ceiling.
Setup
- Goalkeepers
- 1
- server
- 1
- outfield player
- 0
Space: 12 × 8 m
Equipment: Balls, Full goal
The coach serves and manages the breaks.
1 steps
A server shoots for the goalkeeper to make a real dive, with explicit focus on how the body absorbs the ground impact, not only on stopping the shot.
Exercise sequence
Coaching points
- The ground-contact sequence is shoulder, then hip, then legs — never hip or elbow first.
- Absorb the impact along the full side of the body, not by bracing the fall at one isolated point.
- Recover to the base position right after landing, even when the catch is fumbled — recovery is part of the action, not an extra.
- If landing mechanics degrade with fatigue, stop the set — the goal isn’t accumulating dives at any cost.
Progressions
- Introduce a slightly uneven landing zone, closer to a real pitch’s reality.
- Remove the warning about dive direction.
Regressions
- Reduce shot speed, giving more time to organise the landing.
- Always announce the dive direction.