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Shot-stoppingGameCompetition

Integrated end-of-microcycle session

Keep contact with every competence of the position the day before a match, with deliberately low volume and intensity — research shows external load should be minimal at MD-1.

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Load

minutes
12
dives/set
6
Sets and reps
2 × 1
Intensity
Medium

dives per set, per goalkeeper

Microcycle days it fits

MD-2, MD-1

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

Setup

Goalkeepers
1
server
0
outfield player
6

Space: 34 × 36 m

Equipment: Balls, Bibs, Full goal, Mini goals

The coach serves and manages the breaks.

3 steps

Short 3-minute game covering all phases: the goalkeeper saves, distributes, organises and saves again. Few periods, controlled intensity. The aim is to touch everything without loading anything.

Exercise sequence

Coaching points

  • At MD-1 the aim is to activate and sharpen, not develop. If the goalkeeper finishes tired, the exercise went wrong.
  • Short periods with rest between them — load comes from density, not total duration.
  • Touch every competence: saving, positioning, distribution and communication, even in small amounts.
  • Finish successfully: the last action before a match stays in the memory.
  • Dive volume is low by design. If the session builder warns you are over the MD-1 ceiling, something is wrong with the day’s plan, not with this exercise.

Progressions

  1. Raise intensity and period length — it becomes an MD-2 or MD-3 exercise.

Regressions

  1. Reduce to a single 3-minute period.
  2. Remove the distribution phase, keeping saving and positioning only.

Sources · 3

  1. StudyComparison of the external load of professional goalkeepers in different weekly training sessions (2024)
  2. CurriculumRegulamento do Curso UEFA de Treinadores de Guarda-Redes «B», Federação Portuguesa de Futebol
  3. StudyAdvice from “pracademics” of how to apply ecological dynamics theory to practice design (2023)