One of the more frequently debated concepts in the modern game of goalkeeping is where to place the hands within the set position. We could spend an entire week discussing all the different ways to set your feet, posture your torso, and debate the efficiency of different steps out of these positions but that’s another battle for another day.
What I want to focus on here are the hands, the goalkeepers’ best friend (aside from the posts) and our most valuable asset.
There’s a myriad of ways in which to set your hands. Let’s take a look at the different ways to have your hands in the set position, pros and cons of each one, and see if we can find a healthy answer to an age-old question, “where is the best place to set your hands?”
I played goalkeeper for 20+ years at a high level,
nothing to brag about, but more than your average bear. Being trained in many different styles across different countries I’ve seen and been taught a lot of variations to the set position and more specifically, where to place your hands prior to receiving a shot.
I personally approach each session with an open mind and try to honestly learn each technique and the philosophy behind what my coaches want out of me, but hey, sometimes things just don’t work the way they’re planned. Let’s dive in (pun intended).
Let’s start with hands resting at waist height with the palms facing in.
I see this position taught a frequently at the youth level. I think it’s rooted in a solid philosophy and works well up until a certain level and rate of play.
Some of the positive aspects of this hand position are:
ability to reach the high contour save quickly
basket catch ready
helps keep the weight forward naturally forcing the chest over the knees (so important to teach at a young age!)
ability to make tip saves is enhanced when this hand position is deployed
I’ve used this set position for a short period of my career up until the game got too fast and my hands were required to go elsewhere.
The pitfalls of this set position far outweigh the advantages, especially at higher levels.
Let’s talk primarily about the palms facing in. I don’t like this one bit. When our palms are facing inside, we are using an extra rotation in the wrists when receiving shots in order to catch. We are forced to take the time to actually rotate the palms toward the outward facing position in order to catch.
This also causes the elbows to be narrow in the catch which forces a “w” position of the hands. At the higher levels a “triangle” catch finish is what we’ll need, with the elbows flexed wider for absorbing shot power and giving us better ability to control shots we don’t handle cleanly.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, in low diving saves, we now have to rotate our wrist and move our arms down to the ground simultaneously to shape our hands properly for a low save. As you can imagine, this leaves a substantial window between the ground and the keeper for the striker to exploit at a closer range. This also inhibits us from going low from this position as it’s a naturally tall position which is a problem for so many reasons we’ll touch on towards the end.
I’d say this position can be used for shots outside of 25 yards when the chances of a high
save being made are greater but as the game encroaches on our goal, we’ll want a different hand position. While I think this is a good starter position I don’t believe, in my opinion, it should be taught as extensively as it is. It creates some bad habits down the line that coaches like me are forced to fix!
The next position I want to look at isn’t a far cry from the prior position we touched on.
Now we’ve moved the elbows away from a 90-degree position and dropped our hands in
line with our knees. I feel as if I see this one more often in the college level. I personally was
taught this position during my time playing at the University of Cincinnati.
There are many positive aspects of this position;
we have a lower base because our hands are lower, which puts us in a more explosive position.
again, chest is over our knees and the our hands are what’s keeping the posture positive.
we are basket ready in this position with an added advantage going into front smothers (or forward dives).
even though the palms are still in, we can get our elbows flexed on contour catches which helps with more powerful shots. I hate being narrow!
Again, with the palms facing in. Boooo!
While we’re in a much better position than the previous example we still are dealing with wrist rotation in the low saves. I don’t like anything that throws my catching off, so I always had a problem with the palms here.
During my time at UC, I found myself juxtaposed between palms in and palms out. When extending into saves that I couldn’t catch as easily this position kind of forces us to parry anything that’s not a 100% clean catch.
You’d be surprised at what you can hold on to if you’re set up properly, this position bails us out from having to catch most hard-hit mid-range saves. Fewer cons to this position but we can still find something better, I promise you!
Now, time for my favorite position of them all!
Hands low (knee height or lower), open to the field of play.
Let’s look at some of the negative aspects of this first just to stay true. I think
one of the only negative aspects of this position is that it’s ineffective when the ball is 20+ yards out. This has almost no application at that point for it is best used when the shot is 20 yards and in. Let me explain; when the ball is outside of the 18-yard box we can afford to be in a bit taller position. We need to be ready to come out on slotted passes or chipped through balls, but also need to be explosive when we need to be, which means we want to assume a healthy athletic position as opposed to an extremely low one.
Another con to this position is that it requires extremely fast hands to make contours cleanly. Hence why this save is used within 20 yards when the priority is to cover the ground first and work up.
I will say from personal experience that you can train this hand speed with a bunch of different drills.
However, there are so many pros to this position…so many!
First and foremost, we are in a low, explosive position with our weight focused on
being forward due to the our hands being low and in front of our knees. This position has the maximum effect in close range and being able to cover the frame with
explosiveness as well as perspective.
We appear wider than we are (taking a page out of the king cobras defense mechanisms) limiting the strikers’ options.
In terms of reaction saves, which always happen within the 18, this hand position is extremely effective. Specifically speaking to when a ball is crossed, then headed towards the ground at goal. This allows us to cover some of the most awkward saves in the business more efficiently, plus its absolutely demoralizing to a striker.
With our palms being open to the field, the lead diving hand will always be acting as a barrier along the ground. The window from torso to ground is reduced 10-fold because of how we extend to the save. You can see here in the picture below how there is minimal gap from the lead hand towards the ground, palm is open, and the trailing hand is shaping to hold. You can get to this with any of the aforementioned set hand positioning, but the quickest route is with hands low and open.
Quickness kills!
In terms of extending into the top corner saves we are already in a low position and with the hands being open to the field we can control our parries a little more effectively as we don’t have any rotation in the arm, wrist, or shoulders. It’s a straight shot to the ball. Everything is moving in one direction simultaneously. Can you believe almost all of this
starts with where your hands are? Me either!
There are other versions of the 3 above set positions that are taught but I’d say these are
the main techniques I was taught most throughout my career. So which hand position is the best? Well after a brief analysis of each one I’m positive you’ve come to the same conclusion as I have: hands low and open is the best.
But let's talk big picture here, should we settle on one set position and ignore the rest?
The answer is absolutely not!
Towards the end of my career, I employed a healthy mixture of all 3. When the shot is outside 20 yards, we want a slightly taller position with more relaxed hands, when the shot is inside 20 yards hands low and open are going to breed higher success rates. Don’t believe me? Check out the highlights from this year’s English Premier League season (or any season for that matter) and see for yourself.
The game of soccer is unique because it is fluid. Like an organism the game ebbs and
flows constantly for 45 minutes at a time and we, as goalkeepers, need to be, as Bruce Lee puts it, “like water.”
We want our game to be attached the evolving game in front of us, we adjust as it goes farther away and gets closer.
I don’t believe the answer moving forward is a singular set hand position for the entire game. We obviously can take good and bad from all of these, but the important thing is the philosophy. We can use them all to a certain degree within the run of play to have success.
That being said, I don’t budge on my thoughts when the shot is 20 yards and in.
Hands open and low is the way to go.
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