Top 8 Individual Goalkeeper Drills to Improve Reaction Time

As a former professional goalkeeper, I did a ton of individual training and was always looking for effective ways to improve reaction time, agility, and split-second decision-making by myself. The ability to react quickly and efficiently is essential for goalkeepers who often have to make saves in a fraction of a second. Research by Piechota et al., 2023 found that experienced goalkeepers have significantly faster reaction times (250–260 ms) than novices (300–320 ms). Unfortunately, traditional individual training with pre-planned movements ignores cognitive abilities like reaction time and decision-making.

8 SOLO REACTION DRILLS FOR GOALKEEPERS

Here are my 8 best drills to train reaction time and decision-making with goalkeeper-specific movements by yourself so you can react faster during games (plus drills you can do if you have a partner).

Press the “TAP TO TRY IN APP” button below any of these drills while on your mobile device to go directly to the drill in the SwitchedOn app.

1) REACTIVE KICK SAVES

  • Benefits: Improve hip strength/mobility, reaction time, and technique when making various kick saves

  • Execution: React to the randomized color by extending your leg to the associated cone.

  • Coaching Tips: When extending your leg, ensure your ankle is flexed and your toe is pointed up. Make sure you extend your arms to make yourself as big as possible.

  • Sets, Reps, & Rest: 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps, 20-30 seconds rest between sets.

2) QUICK LOW DIVES

  • Benefits: Improve reaction time and technique for short-range, low shots.

  • Execution: Quickly drop to your side in the OPPOSITE direction of the randomized arrow.

  • Coaching Tips: Toss your feet out and get your hands to the ball as quickly as possible.

  • Sets, Reps, & Rest: 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps, 30-40 seconds rest between sets.

3) ATTACKING THROUGH BALLS

  • Benefits: Improve first-step quickness, speed, and reaction time coming off your line for through balls.

  • Execution: React to the number that appears by diving to the associated ball.

  • Coaching Tips: Take a big first step and attack the ball with your hands.

  • Sets, Reps, & Rest: 3-4 sets, 8-10 reps, 30-40 seconds rest between sets.

4) GOALKEEPER COGNITIVE AGILITY

  • Benefits: Improve multi-directional agility, reaction time, decision-making, concentration, and set-position technique.

  • Execution: If the arrow is green, move in that direction and get set. If the arrow is RED, move in the OPPOSITE direction and get set.

  • Coaching Tips: Stay in a low athletic position and light on the balls of your feet.

  • Sets, Reps, & Rest: 3-4 sets, 8-10 reps, 30-40 seconds rest between sets.

5) CROSS DECISION-MAKING

  • Benefits: Improve agility, diving technique, reaction time, and decision-making in cross situation

  • Execution: Set the phone up near the end line. React to the random color or arrow by coming out as if you were catching the cross, or drop back to your goal line and make a diving save.

  • Coaching Tips: For the high balls, lift your outside knee to protect yourself from attackers. For diving saves, ensure you get set in the middle of the goal on your line before making the save. 

  • Sets, Reps, & Rest: 1-2 sets on each side, 8-10 reps, 40-60 seconds rest between sets.

6) SHUFFLE AROUND TO LOW DIVE

  • Benefits: Improve lateral agility, decision-making, and low-dive technique

  • Execution: React to the random colored arrows by shuffling around the color that appears (ignoring the arrow), and then perform a low dive to the ball on the opposite side.

  • Coaching Tips: Stay in a low athletic position and attack the ball at a forward angle with one hand on top and one behind it.

  • Sets, Reps, & Rest: 3-4 sets, 6-8 reps, 30-40 seconds rest between sets.

7) FRONT SET OR BACK SET & DIVE

  • Benefits: Improve hand speed, hand-eye coordination, reaction time, and decision-making.

  • Execution: Bounce or toss the ball depending on the ARROW, touch the target associated with the COLOR, and then catch the ball.

  • Coaching Tips: Stay focused in a low athletic position the entire time.

  • Sets, Reps, & Rest: 3-4 sets, 12-15 reps, 20-30 seconds rest between sets.

8) QUICK HANDS (BOUNCE OR TOSS DECISION)

  • Benefits: Improve your ability to get set and make saves when stepping forward (e.g., from a shot from the ground) or backward (e.g., from a header or volley) into your set position.

  • Execution: React to the random color by stepping forwards or backward beyond the cone, then get set and perform a low dive to the associated cone.

  • Coaching Tips: Ensure you get set before diving, and attack the ball at a forward angle with one hand on top of the ball and one behind it.

  • Sets, Reps, & Rest: 3-4 sets, 8-10 reps, 30-40 seconds rest between sets.

Once you’ve mastered these drills, you can:

  1. Progress the difficulty by decreasing the transition time between stimuli (forcing you to react faster), increasing the number of sets/reps, or decreasing the rest time between sets. Or

  2. Try some of the other hundreds of drills in the SwitchedOn app. You can download it for free using the buttons below.

Bonus: Partner/Group Drills

Training with multiple goalkeepers? Check out these training sessions by professional goalkeeper coach Adrian Clewlow using the SwitchedOn app to improve cognitive performance in his 1v1 and group training!

 
Brett Johnson