Coaches Blog

KeeperZone coaches do not teach the power dive. The reason is that it flys in the face of consistent, athletic, and balanced movement. The problem with the power dive is in the technique of the movement. First I will describe the movement.

The Power Dive suggests that when the ball is put to the corners of the goal the back knee should drive across the body and the goalkeeper jumps off the foot closest to the ball. Any time the knee drives across the body the shoulders immediately go backwards. There is very little athletic movement in sports where the quickest most balanced method is having the shoulders leaning backwards. Another problem with the power dive is the "power step". This is one very big step in the direction of the shot. Stepping with the large step outside the width of the shoulders causes the heel to hit the ground first (It is even taught that the heel should hit first). Again there aren't many athletic movements where the heal hitting the ground causes speed and momentum. This large step is also very slow. When watching the power dive, it will often look like the goalkeeper has waited for the ball so that they can make a dramatic dive to the ball. This reaction is slow and unbalanced.

As stated before, proper goalkeeper training has as its goal, consistent movement. This power dive does not allow for consistent movement. With the lack of speed of the movement, it does not allow a goalkeeper to cover the entire goal because there is no momentum, just a jump. I have not seen many goalkeepers who can cover the width of half the goal (4 yards) with one jump. To cover the goal, the goalkeeper must be able to incorporate footwork into the dive, not just dive. Most goalkeepers are capable of moving their feet to a save and stay on their feet. Most are capable of diving for a save. But how many are able to move their feet into a save and leave their feet into a save if they need to. This is the goalkeeper that will be capable of covering the entire goal.

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