How to Play As a Futsal Goalkeeper

Choose your gear. It's wise nowadays in futsal to wear protective padding as a goalkeeper as quite often a save will require you to dive onto the hard ground. Knee pads, arm pads and some long pants will reduce the risk of injury, letting you play to the best of your ability.

Apply your strategy. When playing as a futsal goalkeeper you are required to protect a goal roughly 8 feet (2.4 m) wide by 6 ⁄2 feet (2.0 m) high. When positioning yourself you should always be careful of how much of the goal you are covering or not.

Decide your tactics (breakaways). When the opposition performs a breakaway there are two main ways to block the shot, the first way implies the strikers are running through onto a throughball, when this happens its best to surprise them. A fast full paced sprint to intercept or kick the ball away will surprise your opponent forcing them to shoot if they can. The second way implies a pass direct to the striker leaving it between you and your opponent to battle. With this style its best to be crouched down a little with your '5 hole closed' to prevent a shot. It is best to come out far enough to be able to block the goal with your feet if a low shot is taken while still being able to watch for a chip and parry/catch it.

Use penalty opportunities. If the opportunity presents itself the opposing team might be awarded a penalty. Penalties are quite intense due to the distance between you and the taker being quite small. As with most goalkeeping penalty tactics, it's best to make yourself as big as possible. Unless you definitely know where the shot will be try to stay in the center as long as possible as most goalies can touch side to side without moving much in their goal.

Be aware that free kicks are quite dangerous as they can be right up quite close to your circle. The advantage of penalties is that free kicks allow your team to have a wall. You may find it is best to have a two person wall with a dead on free kick and a one person wall with a side on. The remaining players should position themselves goalside of the attackers to prevent a lay off shot.

Handle corner kicks. Corner kicks can be deadly as a quick fast paced ball into the middle can leave you stranded to make the save. However when positioning yourself its best to take charge. It is best to be at the front post while being crouched down a little with your foot on the post to prevent a low shot on the post or use diving save to prevent a low cross in the middle. With airborne crosses that require a header shot it is best to punch the ball away in mid air before anyone can touch it.

Have an overall game plan. Depending on the rest of your teams capabilities, you can push forward out of your box to take side kicks and in some cases half-field shots. Of course if you do partake in this there is a chance of an intercepted ball enabling a shot on your goal while you're halfway up the field.