Q&A for How to Be a Soccer Goalie

Goalkeepers aren't all monstrous giants - some are short. Never give up. It's not your physique that matters but your ability and dedication!

Play aggressive, run at the player while watching the ball and the player. If the attacker gets close enough, quickly dive at his or her feet in a cradle position and grasp the ball.

Practice jumping up and landing firmly on your feet. Build leg strength to support your body better, then talk to your soccer coach for advice about landing safely.

Work on your leg strength: squats and lunges help. Also, practice your verticle jump and measure it every week to observe your progress.

The best way is to look at their body language. If they're planting their foot, be ready. If someone else on their team is open, be prepared to gave to defend against their shot as well.

There are two ways. One, as you dive, twist your body so that you land with one arm flat on the ground and the other arm cradling the ball. Two, make the ground your third hand. Dive in a way that the ball becomes your cradle.

Try to punch it instead of having a flat palm, or you could tilt your hand back once you touch the ball.

When you catch the ball, make sure that both your thumbs and index fingers form a W, as this will help maintain control of the ball and reduce the risk of dropping the ball.

Find a wrist splint but, of course, this depends on the seriousness of the injury. if you think it's bad enough, you should see a doctor.

Show up early for practice and maybe even stay behind for extra training. Work extra hard and keep being dedicated.

Kick the underside of the ball with the laced area of your shoe to give the ball more power. Make sure the follow through is strong or the ball won't go far enough.

To be a successful goalie, you need to be able to jump and dive very effectively. Because you aren't very tall, you will need to work harder than someone who is taller than you to reach the ball, but with talent, effort and discipline, it can be done.

Positioning is key; where you stand in front of the goal is extremely important. You want to be in an area of the goal where you have good vision and are able to cover the most angles. Most of positioning is common sense. It will take lots of time, dedication, and practice, but eventually you will improve your saves.

You can avoid hitting the post by stepping about 5 ft. outside of the goal. (Plus, when someone shoots on you at a distance, it's not good to be on the goal line.)

Before making the save, look for teammates farther away from the net to whom you can kick or hit the ball when you make the save, then aim the ball in their general direction.

Sometimes goalkeeping requires a tough mentality, if you don't have the proper mindset to endure footballs flying at you at high speed, you should choose another position.

Bend your head down so the ball will hit your forehead instead, or block your face with your hands.

You want to take a power step (as we keepers call it), which is just a good strong step toward the ball, with your foot on the side of your body that the ball is coming to. When you jump in the air, bring your back leg up and bring your knee to your chest, which will cause you to go even farther.

It shouldn't matter. Plenty of goalies keep the same gloves on every game for years and nothing happens.

Not really although it is a bonus goalkeepers tend to be one of the tallest on the team or the best jumper.

The other player will most likely be given a red or yellow card, depending on the referee.

If the referee sees an foul being made intentionally, he is going to do the right thing as referee and give whomever committed the foul a red card. There is really no way to convince him/her otherwise. I recommend not intentionally fouling.

Practice and show your parents your skills. Keep talking to them about how passionate you are about it.

Always the laced part. Kicking with the tip of your shoe may put unnecessary strain on your ankle, and can increase the chances of broken bones in your foot and lower leg. Kicking with the tip of your toe also increases the chance of a muscle sprain and creates less stability when kicking.

Develop your leg muscles and technique. You may just need to grow a bit as well. Look for drills that help your leg muscles, as they will help with jump and kick power.

You're probably diving wrong. When you land, you want to sort of slide, not thud into the ground. Professional GK's roll after a dive, not just to look cool, but to absorb the impact.

At a level where you play for fun, being on the larger side is not a problem.

Take 4 steps backward from the ball, take a deep breath, then shoot the bottom of the ball with all the power you have.

Create a makeshift goal and invite your friends and family to try to score.

Direct your defense. Use vocal commands, such as "away" and "keepers ball," to tell them what to do. Come out and attack the ball by punching it away from the goal or catching it. Have a teammate on your back post or sometimes even your front post to defend even more. You are the master of corners. Direct your teammates.