Balance the beans

Preparation: Place the cones in two rows three meters apart. The cones are also placed three meters apart in each row. (See sketch) Place ‘cone 7’ 3 meters opposite the centre cone in the front row. Place a beanbag at cone 1 Place a ball to the insides of cones 2 and 6 Exercise: Goalkeeper, in full kit, pick up the bean bag and places it on his left glove and balances it there. Starting from cone 1 he moves forward to cone two and right kick clears the ball placed next to cone 2 Moving backward and sideways to cone 3, without turning around the keeper must keep the bag balanced. Once at three he starts to move towards cone 4. The coach now roles the ball either to the left or right of cone 4 for the keeper to clear it with the appropriate foot. Once cleared he moves back towards cone 5 and then forward to cone 6 for a left foot clearance of the ball placed adjacent cone 6. If the beanbag falls off during the process the exercise resets to either the start or the previous cone as per the coaches assessment of the players skill level. Once the keeper is doing the exercise easily the speed can be increased. If the keeper is proficient in the exercise the difficulty can be increased by changing the shape of the balanced item to make it more difficult to balance it on the left glove. (Note that the shape of the left glove also makes it more or less difficult for the keeper to balance the item.) Outcome: Increase keeper’s stability and balance Increase the keeper’s ability to concentrate on one thing while still being aware of his surroundings and positioning (space awareness) Use the exercise to challenge keepers on a similar skill level to see who can do it the fastest with the most passes without dropping the balanced item.