DistributionGameCompetition
Game with all restarts through the goalkeeper
Integrate distribution into the game, with every restart going through the goalkeeper and the short-or-long decision made under real pressure.
Choose a session and the exercise is added to today’s plan.
Load
- minutes
- 18
- dives/set
- 4
- Sets and reps
- 3 × 1
- Intensity
- Medium
dives per set, per goalkeeper
Microcycle days it fits
MD-4, MD-3, MD-2
Each bar’s height is that day’s dive ceiling.
Setup
- Goalkeepers
- 2
- server
- 0
- outfield player
- 10
Space: 40 × 50 m
Equipment: Balls, Bibs, Full goal
One goalkeeper works while the other serves or observes. Swap after each set.
3 steps
Half-pitch game with full teams. Every restart — goal kick, ball out, after conceding — is taken by the goalkeeper. The restart rule and pressing intensity vary through the constraints.
Exercise sequence
Coaching points
- The short-or-long decision is made before the ball is at your feet, not after — scan while it is still travelling.
- Under high pressure, going long is not a defeat: it is the correct read when short lines are shut.
- Vary the side of restarts through the game — always the same side makes the team predictable.
- After restarting, reposition immediately to receive the ball back: the play did not end at the restart.
Progressions
- Move to high man-marking pressure, sharply reducing short options.
- Alternate the restart rule on the coach’s call, without warning.
Regressions
- Opponents drop off at restarts, giving time and space.
- Allow free restarts, with no short-or-long rule.
Sources · 3
- CurriculumRegulamento do Curso UEFA de Treinadores de Guarda-Redes «B», Federação Portuguesa de Futebol
- Book«Scientific Approaches to Goalkeeping in Football», Bennion Kearny
- StudyAdvice from “pracademics” of how to apply ecological dynamics theory to practice design (2023)