Distribution is a massive part of modern goalkeeping. Gone are the days when goalies simply booted the ball away at every given opportunity. Now, many keepers have a range of distribution methods in their arsenal. The roll. The throw. The short pass. The long ball. The drop kick. Each one has its risks, rewards, and best-use cases, which we’ll explore below.
Rolling the Ball
First, the simple roll. This is when you’ve gathered the ball up from the ground or caught it from a shot or cross. You can then roll it out to the feet of your teammates.
Risks
There’s not too much risk to rolling the ball out. It’s a simple distribution technique. However, you still need to be careful, especially on wet surfaces. Rolling a ball on muddy ground can be unpredictable. It might get stuck, roll slowly, or not go quite as far as you expect. All of which might present an opportunity for the opposition.
Another downside with rolling is that it keeps the ball close to your goal. If the opposition team has a good press, they can put your defenders under almost immediate pressure.
Rewards
There are two big rewards to rolling the ball. First, it gets the ball back into play as quickly as possible and enables your team to get on with the game. This makes it a good choice for situations when you’re chasing a goal, or when your team wants to maintain pressure.
The second benefit is that it’s an almost guaranteed way to keep possession. It’s rare to see a roll get intercepted.
Throwing the Ball
If you’ve got a good arm, you may be able to throw the ball quite a distance to a teammate. Top keepers like Manuel Neuer, for example, regularly throw the ball to the halfway line.
Risks
The level of risk when throwing the ball all depends on your skill. If you’re a strong and accurate thrower, there’s not too much risk. But if your throws sometimes go wayward, you may give the ball straight to the opposition.
Once again, you also have to keep an eye on the weather conditions before launching a big throw. On a rainy day, the ball might be quite slick and slip from your grasp at the wrong moment. Additionally, if the wind is strong, that could affect the ball’s flight.
Rewards
As with rolling, throwing the ball is a good way to get it straight back into play. You can catch the ball from a corner, for instance, and then launch it to a teammate further down the field. This might take the opposition by surprise and help launch a counter-attack.
Throwing is also beneficial for keepers who aren’t quite as comfortable with their feet. You don’t have to put the ball down and deal with any onrushing opposition players trying to take it away from you.
Short Passes on the Ground
This is one of the most popular distribution methods in the modern game. With more keepers confident with the ball at their feet nowadays, it’s common to see them playing quick, short passes to their defence.
Risks
Risk-wise, the main issue with a short pass to a defender is that, just like with the roll, it keeps the ball close to your goal. Often, a keeper’s instinct is to clear the ball as far up field as possible and minimise the risk of a goal. But by playing the short ball, you have to be ready for a potential turnover and opposition attack almost right away.
For that reason, it’s crucial for goalies to read the game well and check the positions of players on both sides to make the right call. Don’t just blindly pass to the same full back over and over, or the opposition might quickly figure you out.
Rewards
The big reward here is that it maintains possession for your side. You get to build out from the back, which is what a lot of teams like to do in modern football, and hopefully create an attack. Plus, unless the opposing team has a high line and heavy press, there’s not too much risk of them intercepting the ball.
Long Balls
The long ball was once the go-to distribution method for pretty much every keeper. At every goal kick, you’d see them boot the ball as hard and far as they could, all the way into the opposition half. While this isn’t done quite as often nowadays, there’s still a place for long balls in modern football.
Risks
The risk of the long ball is that it’s almost 50/50 in terms of which team actually ends up in possession. Of course, some keepers are efficient and accurate with their long passes and can often pick out a teammate quite well. But even the best goalies will sometimes boot the ball to the other team.
Keepers often breathe a sigh of relief after clearing the ball far away. But if you lack accuracy and focus purely on power, that relief may only be short-lived. You could find yourself facing another attack only seconds later. This is why it pays to pick your passes with care and try to target a teammate with every long ball.
Rewards
Obviously, the big reward here is that it clears the ball away from you. Far away. Usually right into the opposition half. Even if the opposition gets possession, they still have to build up and pass through your midfield and defence to get to you.
The long ball is a good choice towards the end of a game or a half, when you want to minimise the opposing team’s opportunities to score. This method is also helpful in those situations when your team may be running out of time to equalise. It gives you a chance to get the ball up to your striker without the need for time-consuming build-up play.
Drop Kicks
The drop kick is when the keeper picks up the ball and then drops it in the air and boots it away.
Risks
The risk with the drop kick is similar to the long ball. It usually leads to the ball being launched so hard and far away, that you can’t fully control where it lands. It may, therefore, end up with the opposition, losing possession for your side.
Rewards
Plenty of keepers love drop kicks. They say they’re easier to pull off compared to long balls off the ground. They’re effective for giving your teammates more time to position themselves and win the aerial duel to keep possession.
Drop kicks also provide you with the element of surprise. With the ball in your hands, the opposition won’t always know what you’ve got in mind. They might expect a roll or throw. Then, you can catch them out with a sudden drop kick right to one of your forwards.