Too often, the keeper gets the ball and kicks it aimlessly down field.  Instead of just kicking the ball down field, there should be a plan as to how to work the ball out of the back or, if there is a need to play a long ball out of the back, the frontrunners and midfielders MUST know where the keeper is going to kick the ball.

 

If you are going to play a long ball out of the back (and there certainly are times when this is the right decision) than it’s important that you have both good distance on your kicks as well as accuracy.  It seems that many think about the distance part of this but forget about the accuracy issue altogether.

If the keeper sees a teammate downfield who is open, he/she would, of course, play her a long ball. 

 

However, if he/she doesn’t see anyone who is open, the next thing to do is play the long ball into a space where her teammates expect her to so that they can get numbers up in that area.  The only way they can do this is if the keeper can be consistent in his/her playing of long balls.

 

The best way to practice this is to place a small square of cones (10 x 10) in an area (depending upon the age and kicking ability of the keeper this could be anywhere from 40-70 yards down field) and somewhat to the side of the center circle.  The keeper tries to see how many balls out of 10; he/she can get to land inside the square.  When they start doing this, they will most likely be surprised at how difficult it is to get the ball in this area, but once they start to concentrate on it (and realize the importance of being accurate) they will be more successful in their kicking and as a result, their team will be more successful.