How to Take a Goal Kick as a Goalkeeper
Ball placement, the step to the side, the hard bone on your foot, and why 80% power goes further than 100%.
You stand over the ball. Heart going. Completely certain you are about to slice it in front of everyone.
I know that feeling well.
It is not that you are weak, and it is not that you cannot kick a ball. It is that nobody has actually shown you how a goal kick is struck.
A good goal kick comes from the setup, not the swing. Place the ball on a stable spot, step back four or five paces and one and a half to the side so your body can open, run at your plant foot, and strike through the bottom half of the ball with the hard bone on the inside of your foot, ankle locked, at about 80% power.
Where should I place the ball?
This sounds too basic to matter. On grass it matters a lot.
If the pitch is rough, find a small lump of grass and set the ball on it. That tiny bit of elevation makes it far easier to get underneath the ball.
What to avoid:
- A hole, which kills the strike
- Bare ground, where your plant foot can slip
You want a stable spot where you can plant safely and swing clean underneath.
On artificial grass this barely matters. On real grass it can be the difference between a kick that flies and one that scuffs along the ground.
Take the extra two seconds. Nobody is rushing you.
How should I set up my run-up?
Once the ball is down, step back four or five paces.
That is my number. Some goalkeepers need more, some less. Try it and find what feels right, then keep it the same every single time so it becomes a routine rather than a decision.
Then take one step, maybe one and a half, to the side.
This part is the one people miss, and it is the reason so many goal kicks come out low and flat.
If you approach straight on, your hips are closed. A closed body cannot lean back, and without leaning back you cannot lift the ball. You end up drilling it along the ground, which is the habit that drove me mad as a teenager.
Stepping to the side opens your body up. Now you have room to lean back, swing through, and get height.
The run itself
- Set the ball, then step back four or five paces
- One step, maybe one and a half, to the side
- Run at your plant foot, not at the ball
- Last step is your strongest
- A ball's width between your plant foot and the ball
Do not sprint at it. Do not stroll at it either.
Find your own tempo, build a rhythm, and make sure your last step is your strongest, because that is what loads the swing.
Leave at least one ball's width between your plant foot and the ball. Too close and you cannot lean back or get underneath it. Too far and you lose all your power.
Run at your plant foot, not at the ball. Set your plant foot position first, take your steps back, step to the side, then run towards where that plant foot is going. Keep your eyes on the ball, but aim your run at the spot. It sounds like a small distinction. It transforms how cleanly you strike through the ball.
Where on my foot should I strike it?
This is where nearly every goalkeeper goes wrong.
Not your toe. Not your laces.
Strike it with the hard bone that runs from your big toe up towards your ankle. The top inside of your foot.
To use it properly:
- Turn your foot slightly out to open that surface up
- Lock your ankle tight
Think about a golf club. If the shaft were floppy, how far would the ball go? Your ankle is the shaft. A loose ankle gives you a sloppy connection every time.
Swing through the bottom half of the ball. That is what gives you height, backspin, and the clean rising flight you are after.
Hit it flat through the middle with your laces and it goes low and hard. That is occasionally useful into a strong wind, but it is harder to control and much easier to mishit.
Lean back a little as you strike. A little. Lean too far and the ball balloons straight up and goes nowhere. You are looking for the middle: good height, good distance, good contact.
Should I kick it as hard as I can?
No, and this is the tip that will help you fastest.
Technique beats power, always. Swing at 100% and the ball goes wild. Swing at about 80% with good technique and it goes high, long, and roughly where you meant it.
Every goalkeeper I have coached who struggled with goal kicks was trying to hit it harder. Almost none of them needed more power.
What if my kicks just are not long enough?
If you are still growing, stop worrying about distance entirely.
I mean that. Distance arrives with age and strength, and there is nothing you can do to hurry it.
What you can control right now is the strike. Clean contact, right part of the foot, locked ankle, through the bottom half of the ball.
Get that right while you are 13 and by the time your body catches up you will have a technique that sends the ball a very long way. Get in the habit of swinging wildly for distance now and you will spend years unlearning it.
More kicking and passing drills are in the distribution section of the drills library.
I know this because my goal kicks were genuinely poor as a young goalkeeper. Good on my line, decent shot-stopper, and known for the wrong reasons when it came to kicking. It took hours on my own against a wall to fix, and none of that fix was about kicking harder. The other half happened in bed, picturing the kick going right every night before I slept.
What to do this week
Set up your routine and repeat it.
The routine
- Ball placement
- Four or five back, one and a half to the side
- Run at the plant foot
- Ankle locked, through the bottom half, at 80%
Do twenty kicks. Not a hundred. Twenty, with all your attention on the strike, and stop before you get tired and start swinging. Then do the same next session. A goal kick is a routine, and routines are built through repetition, not intensity. Make a couple of them part of your match warm up too.
Is your kicking the part holding you back?
If your distribution is the part of your game holding you back, there is a full six-week plan for it called the Goalkeeper Playmaker Blueprint: goal kicks, side volleys, passing under pressure, all of it.
It is included inside the Ultimate Self-Training Course rather than sold separately, along with 120+ drills and a weekly plan. $27 a month.
Have a look at the program 30-day money-back guarantee if it is not helping.
I have played more than 500 competitive games, represented my national team, and played in Champions League and Europa League qualifiers. I have coached more than 1,000 goalkeepers. My own goal kicks were poor for years, and everything in this guide is what fixed them.
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