034: Catching the Ball with Brian Simmons

As the owner/operator of TIP Goalkeeping and the Director of Goalkeeping for Real Salt Lake’s Youth Development Academy, Brian Simmons is an experienced trainer and dedicated teacher of the game and the position. Today, he tackles one of the most important – and perhaps one of the most obvious – skills that a goalkeeper needs: catching the ball.

After a standout prep career in northern Utah and 10 years of coaching experience, Brian has launched his own goalkeeping brand and trains young keepers for a variety of clubs and organizations in the state.

In today’s episode, he breaks down the fundamentals of proper goalkeeper catching. He explains the execution of several catching styles, when a keeper would use each one, and how to properly train them. He also talks about the roles that positioning, focus and footwork play in being able to secure the ball. Brian also produced a companion video, to help illustrate some of the concepts and techniques we discuss in the interview. You can find it here, on his website.

The episode is a dense 30 minutes, and there’s even more in the Outtakes segment below. I hope you enjoy it!

Special thanks to Brian Simmons for joining me!