Scooping Ground Balls

Sprint the outside of the grid, set your feet, scoop the ground ball clean — then backpedal home, shuffle across, and go again up the other side.

Clean pickups start before the ball arrives — hips square to the server, quick feet that never cross, and a ready stance already set.

Ages 9+One keeper at a time (coach serves)10 minCones, balls

Set up · 3 actions · before the kids arrive

Grab: Cones and a supply of balls.
Build: Build a 5-by-10-yard grid.
Place: The keeper starts on one end of the grid. You stand about 5 yards off the opposite end with the balls.

Show me the setup picture

A 5-by-10 grid with the keeper on one end and the coach about 5 yards beyond the opposite end with a supply of balls.

One thing to remember: Goalkeeper footwork, scooping ground balls, and a fast ready position — knees slightly bent, on the balls of the feet, hands up, eyes on the ball.

How it runs — the whole game in one sentence

Sprint up one side of the grid, get set, scoop the served ground ball and return it — then backpedal to the start, shuffle across the end line, and repeat up the other side.

1Organize the players▾
Coach does
Put the keeper on the start end of the grid and take the ball supply about 5 yards off the far end.
Coach says
You start down there. Every ball comes from me.
2Show the jobs▾
Coach does
Walk the loop — on your command, the keeper sprints along the outside of the grid to the top, gets into the ready position, scoops your ground ball and returns it, backpedals to the start, then shuffles across the 5-yard end line and runs the same trip up the other side.
Coach says
Sprint up, get set, scoop it clean, give it back. Backpedal home, shuffle across — same thing up the other side.
3Play▾
Coach does
Serve each ball directly to the keeper on the ground as they arrive at the top. Run it in sets, with ample time to recover between them.
Coach says
Hips to me! Hands ready before it leaves my foot.
Look for: Hips facing the server the whole way around — sprinting, backpedaling, shuffling — with the feet never crossing.
4Switch and repeat▾
Coach does
Give real recovery between sets, and rotate keepers through if you have more than one.
Coach says
Rest it — fresh legs keep the feet clean.

If it's not working

If the footwork gets sloppy, stop a loop and ask the keeper where their hips were pointing — let them say it, then run it again.

Want to go deeper? Optional — not needed to run the game.

Why are we doing this?

The loop strings the keeper's movements together — sprint, set, scoop, backpedal, shuffle — with one habit underneath all of them: hips facing the ball, quick feet, and a ready stance that arrives before the serve does.

What are they learning?

Goalkeeper footwork, scooping ground balls, and a fast ready position — knees slightly bent, on the balls of the feet, hands up, eyes on the ball.

How can I change it?

Harder: Serve balls that skip just before reaching the keeper, or play them right at the shin and knee.

Next: Shuffle Dives — the shuffle now ends on the ground, ball in both hands.