Library: CON — Conditioning (Part 1)
CON — CONDITIONING AND ENERGY SYSTEMS
LAX Goalie Hub Reference Library (v2)
Conditioning is the work that decides what you look like in the fourth quarter. Not the first save — the fortieth. A goalie who is fresh at the end of a game sees the ball better, communicates louder, clears farther, and reacts faster than the same goalie who is gassed.
Here is the thing most people get wrong about goalie conditioning: the goalie position is not a distance-running position. A goalie sprints, stops, explodes, resets, and waits. Then does it again. Conditioning for this position is mostly about repeat efforts and fast recovery between them — the ability to go hard, get your breath back quickly, and go hard again. That is why this file is full of shuttles, intervals, and circuits, and light on long slow miles.
This file is the how-to. Your daily email tells you which entry to run today and exactly how much; this file tells you what it is and how to do it right.
HOW TO USE THIS FILE
Find the code. Your email might say "Tempo Shuttles (CON-05) — 4 minutes." Look up CON-05, read it once, and go. After the first time, the cues are enough.
Conditioning goes at the end. Except for a warm-up, conditioning is almost always the last block of a session. Skill work, plyometrics, and strength all need fresh legs. Conditioning does not. If your session is short on time, conditioning is the first block to cut — the skill work is what makes you a goalie.
Effort is described in plain language, not percentages. Throughout this file: - Easy — you can hold a full conversation. You could do this all day. - Steady — you can speak in short sentences. Working, but comfortable. - Hard — you can say two or three words. This is a real effort. - All-out — you cannot talk. Maximum. Rare, and always followed by long rest.
Rest is part of the workout. In a repeat-sprint session, the rest is what makes it a repeat-sprint session. Cutting rest short does not make you tougher; it turns a speed workout into a slow slog and teaches your body to run slower. Follow the rest as written.
THE AGE RULES (read before your first session)
Grades 3–6: conditioning is a game, not a workout. Young athletes get fit by playing hard, not by running laps. Every conditioning entry in this file for grades 3–6 is a game, a race, or a chase — CON-01 through CON-06. They build the same engine and they build something more important: an athlete who still wants to train at 16. Do not give distance running, timed miles, or punishment running to a 3rd through 6th grader. It is the fastest way to make a child hate the sport.
Grades 7–8: structure arrives. Intervals and shuttles become real training, with real rest and real numbers. Volume stays modest. Games still belong here and still work.
Grades 9–12: full structured conditioning. Longer intervals, repeat-sprint work, tempo, and testing. This is also where honest aerobic base building earns its place in the off-season — not because goalies run distance in games, but because a bigger aerobic base means faster recovery between the sprints that matter.
Season rules, every grade: - In-season conditioning is short and sharp. Team practice and games carry the load. The home session adds a spark, never a second workout. Use CON-21. - June is a deload. Play a different sport, ride a bike, swim. Nothing structured. - Summer (July–August) is base-building season. This is when the aerobic engine and the repeat-sprint capacity actually get built. - Hard conditioning goes on 2 to 3 days per week maximum, never on back-to-back days at high intensity, and never the day before a game.
THE SAFETY RULES
1. Heat and hydration. Heat illness is the real risk in conditioning, far more than any injury. Drink water before you are thirsty. On any day above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, cut the volume, add rest, train in the morning or evening rather than midday, and take a shaded break every 10 minutes. Stop immediately for dizziness, a headache, nausea, chills, goosebumps in the heat, confusion, or stopping sweating. Those are emergencies, not toughness tests. Get to shade, get fluids, get an adult.
2. Surface and footwear. Grass or a track for running work. Avoid concrete for repeated sprinting. Turf gets extremely hot in summer — check it with a hand before training on it. Wear supportive shoes that fit; cleats only on grass or turf.
3. Warm up first, always. Never sprint cold. Every conditioning block follows the mobility warm-up prescribed in the daily email (MOB entries). At minimum: 3 minutes of easy movement plus a few build-up runs at increasing speed before anything fast. Cold hamstrings pull.
4. Cool down. Two to three minutes of easy walking after hard conditioning. Do not go from all-out to sitting down.
5. Never use conditioning as punishment. Not by a coach, not by a parent, not by the athlete on themselves after a bad game. Running because you let in a goal teaches a young athlete that fitness is a penalty. In this program, conditioning is a tool, never a consequence.
6. Breathing trouble, chest pain, or unusual fatigue means stop and talk to an adult and a doctor. Athletes with asthma should have an inhaler on the field, every session, no exceptions.
7. Fuel. Do not do hard conditioning on an empty tank. A small snack 60 to 90 minutes before, and water afterward, makes the session work. See the daily email's FUEL section for grade-appropriate guidance.
HOW A CONDITIONING ENTRY IS PRESCRIBED
Your email will say something like "CON-09 — 6 reps, 45 seconds rest." That means 6 repetitions of the entry with 45 seconds of rest between each. Where an entry lists "work:rest," a 1:3 ratio means if the effort takes 10 seconds, you rest 30 seconds.
Distances are given in yards. If you do not have a field, pace them out — one big adult step is roughly one yard, and a young athlete's step is a bit less. Close enough is close enough; consistency week to week matters more than exactness.
QUICK-REFERENCE INDEX
| Code | Name | Grades | Type | Primary purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CON-01 | Line Tag | 3–6 | Game | Change of direction, disguised conditioning |
| CON-02 | Sharks and Minnows | 3–6 | Game | Repeat sprints, reaction, fun |
| CON-03 | Cone Scramble Relay | 3–6 | Game | Acceleration, bending, competition |
| CON-04 | Ball Chase Sprints | 3–6 | Game | Sprint effort with the eyes on a ball |
| CON-05 | Tempo Shuttles | 5–12 | Interval | Repeatable controlled speed |
| CON-06 | Crab and Bear Course | 3–6 | Game | Full-body work capacity, crawling patterns |
| CON-07 | Tempo Runs | 7–12 | Interval | Aerobic power at controlled speed |
| CON-08 | 5-10-5 Pro Agility Shuttle | 6–12 | Shuttle | Change of direction speed, testing |
| CON-09 | Down-and-Backs | 6–12 | Shuttle | Repeat efforts with direction changes |
| CON-10 | Gassers | 8–12 | Shuttle | Field-length repeat capacity |
| CON-11 | 300-Yard Shuttle | 9–12 | Test | Anaerobic capacity benchmark |
| CON-12 | Hill Sprints | 8–12 | Sprint | Safe max-effort acceleration, leg power |
| CON-13 | Jump Rope Base Builder | 4–12 | Rope | Aerobic base, ankle stiffness, rhythm |
| CON-14 | Jump Rope Speed Intervals | 6–12 | Rope | Repeat high-intensity capacity, small space |
| CON-15 | Arc Sprints | 6–12 | Goalie | Crease-specific movement conditioning |
| CON-16 | Pipe-to-Pipe Repeats | 5–12 | Goalie | Lateral repeat capacity in the cage |
| CON-17 | Save-and-Recover Circuit | 7–12 | Goalie | Fourth-quarter save endurance |
| CON-18 | Clear-and-Recover Intervals | 7–12 | Goalie | Clear, sprint, reset — game-shaped conditioning |
| CON-19 | Bodyweight Conditioning Circuit | 6–12 | Circuit | Full-body capacity, no equipment, indoors |
| CON-20 | Mixed-Modal Goalie Circuit | 9–12 | Circuit | Skill under fatigue |
| CON-21 | In-Season Sharpener | 7–12 | Maintenance | Short, sharp, non-fatiguing |
| CON-22 | Summer Base Build | 7–12 | Aerobic | Off-season aerobic foundation |
| CON-23 | Fartlek Play Run | 6–12 | Aerobic | Varied-pace running that stays interesting |
| CON-24 | Tabata Intervals | 9–12 | Interval | Maximum stimulus in minimum time |
| CON-25 | Repeat Sprint Ability Test | 8–12 | Test | The goalie's most honest fitness number |
THE ENTRIES
CON-01 — Line Tag
Step-by-step instructions 1. Mark a square about 20 yards on a side. If you have field lines, use them. 2. One player is "it." Everyone else spreads out inside the square. 3. On "go," the tagger chases the others. Everyone must stay inside the square — stepping out means you are automatically tagged. 4. When someone is tagged, they become the new tagger, and the round continues. 5. Play for 45 to 60 seconds, then rest for 60 seconds. Repeat for 3 to 5 rounds. 6. The goalie twist: the runners must always keep their chest facing the tagger. They can run backward, sideways, or shuffle, but they may not turn their back. This turns a tag game into footwork training without the athlete noticing.
Coaching cues - "Chest to the tagger — never turn your back." (This is the goalie skill hiding inside the game.) - "Short, choppy steps when you change direction." - "Eyes up, see the whole square." - "Big effort for a short time, then real rest."
Common mistakes - The square too large, which turns it into a long jog instead of quick changes of direction. - Rounds too long. Sixty seconds of hard chasing is plenty; after that everyone slows down and the quality drops. - Skipping the rest because the kids want to keep going. Rest is what keeps the efforts fast. - Forgetting the chest-facing rule, which is the only thing that makes this a goalie drill rather than just tag.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Smaller square, walking or jogging pace, more rest. - Regression: Tagger must move only by shuffling. - Progression: Shrink the square, which forces faster direction changes. - Progression: Two taggers at once. - Progression: Add a ball — the tagger must carry a lacrosse ball in a stick while chasing.
How to measure it Do not time or score this. The measurement is participation and enjoyment: did the athlete go hard, and did they want to play again? For a rough fitness marker across a season, note whether they can complete 5 rounds with the same energy in the last round as the first.
CON-02 — Sharks and Minnows
Step-by-step instructions 1. Mark two end lines about 25 yards apart. The space between them is the ocean. 2. One player is the shark and stands in the middle. Everyone else — the minnows — lines up on one end line. 3. The shark calls "Minnows, swim!" and everyone sprints to try to reach the far end line. 4. Anyone tagged before reaching the far line becomes a shark for the next round and joins the middle. 5. Repeat, with more sharks each round, until one minnow is left. That minnow is the shark for the next game. 6. Rest 60 to 90 seconds between full games. 7. The goalie version (grades 5–6): minnows must carry a stick with a ball in it. If they drop the ball, they are caught. Now it is conditioning plus stick protection under pressure.
Coaching cues - "First three steps are the whole race." - "Pick your gap and commit — do not slow down halfway." - "Head up so you can see the sharks." - "Full sprint, then full rest."
Common mistakes - A field so long it becomes a distance run. Twenty-five yards is right; 50 is too far for this age. - Minnows jogging and waiting for others to go first. Encourage everyone to commit at the same time. - Not enough rest between full games. - Playing so long that the last game is a slow walk.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Shorter field, fewer sharks, walking-speed rounds for the youngest athletes. - Progression: Longer field (up to 35 yards) for 6th grade. - Progression: Sharks may only shuffle, forcing minnows to attack the gaps directly. - Progression: Ball-carrying version as described above.
How to measure it No timing. The honest measure at this age is whether the last sprint of the session looks like the first. If the athlete is clearly dragging by game three, the volume is too high for now — cut it back and build over the season.
CON-03 — Cone Scramble Relay
Step-by-step instructions 1. Place 6 objects in a line down a 20-yard lane, spaced roughly 3 yards apart, starting 5 yards from the start line. 2. The athlete starts behind the start line. 3. On "go," sprint to the nearest object, pick it up, sprint back, and place it behind the start line. 4. Immediately sprint out to the next object and repeat until all 6 are collected. 5. Rest a full 2 minutes. That is not a typo — the rest is what keeps each sprint fast. 6. Repeat for 2 to 3 rounds total. 7. Variation: for a team or family, run it as a head-to-head relay with two lanes.
Coaching cues - "Bend your knees to pick it up, do not just bend your back." - "Turn tight around the object." - "Sprint every trip — even the last one." - "Rest all the way. Fast is the point."
Common mistakes - Skipping rest, which makes every round slower than the last and defeats the purpose. - Bending only at the waist to pick up objects — teach a squat or lunge pickup from the very first session. - Objects placed too far apart, making it a distance run. - Turning slowly and jogging the return trip.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: 4 objects instead of 6. Shorter lane. - Progression: More objects, or a longer lane (up to 25 yards). - Progression: Carry a goalie stick the whole time. - Progression: Objects placed in a fan pattern rather than a line, so each trip changes angle.
How to measure it Time a full 6-object round. Because it is fully self-paced and repeatable, this is a legitimate benchmark even for young athletes — and unlike a timed mile, it is fun. Record the best round each phase and celebrate improvement.
CON-04 — Ball Chase Sprints
Step-by-step instructions 1. The athlete stands in a ready athletic stance next to the thrower, facing down the open lane. 2. The thrower rolls or throws a ball out ahead, anywhere from 10 to 25 yards. 3. The athlete sprints after the ball, retrieves it, and jogs back. 4. The jog back is the rest. Do not rush it. 5. Repeat for 6 to 10 sprints. 6. Reaction version: the thrower does not announce the direction. The athlete has to read the throw and go — now the eyes are working, not just the legs. 7. Goalie version: the athlete starts in a full goalie stance with a stick, scoops the ball with the stick, and makes an outlet pass back to the thrower.
Coaching cues - "Eyes on the ball from the moment it leaves the hand." - "First three steps hard." - "Run through the ball, not to it." - "Jog back slow — you want the next one to be fast."
Common mistakes - Throwing every ball the same distance and direction, which removes the reading element. - Not enough recovery between sprints, so every sprint gets slower. - The athlete watching the thrower's hand instead of the ball in flight. - Too many reps. Ten hard sprints is a full session at this age.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Shorter throws, more rest, roll instead of throw. - Progression: Longer throws, or throws that bounce unpredictably. - Progression: Throw at an angle so the athlete has to change direction mid-sprint. - Progression: Two balls thrown in sequence, requiring a redirect.
How to measure it Not timed. Watch for consistent effort across the set and clean tracking — is the athlete's head up and eyes locked on the ball the whole way? For a marker, note the longest throw the athlete can run down cleanly.
CON-05 — Tempo Shuttles
Step-by-step instructions 1. Set two cones 25 yards apart. 2. Run from cone to cone at a controlled, smooth speed — fast, but relaxed. Think "fast and easy," not "fast and strained." 3. Turn, and run back. That is one shuttle (50 yards total). 4. Walk back to the start line if you have drifted, and rest for the prescribed time — usually 20 to 30 seconds. 5. Repeat for the prescribed number of shuttles, typically 6 to 12 depending on grade and phase. 6. Every rep should take about the same amount of time. If your last rep is much slower than your first, you started too fast.
Coaching cues - "Fast and relaxed — loose jaw, loose hands." - "Same speed on rep 10 as rep 1. Consistency is the workout." - "Plant and turn with a bent knee, not a stiff leg." - "This is not a race. It is a rhythm."
Common mistakes - Running the first few reps all-out, then dying. Tempo work is deliberately submaximal. - Cutting the rest short, which turns it into a slog. - Sloppy turns at the cone — decelerate, plant, push off. Turns are a skill. - Running with clenched fists and a tight face. Relaxed muscles are faster muscles.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Fewer shuttles (start at 4), longer rest, shorter distance (15 yards). - Progression: More shuttles, up to 12 to 16 in an off-season phase. - Progression: Shorten the rest interval slightly, week over week. - Progression: Carry a goalie stick throughout. - Progression: Add a shuffle segment — sprint out, shuffle back — for a goalie-specific version.
How to measure it Time each shuttle and record the spread between your fastest and slowest rep across the set. A tight spread (under one second across 8 shuttles) means excellent repeat capacity. That spread number improves faster and means more for a goalie than raw top speed.
CON-06 — Crab and Bear Course
Step-by-step instructions 1. Set up a simple course: 4 cones in a square, or a zig-zag line of cones. 2. Bear crawl: on hands and feet, knees bent and hovering just off the ground, back flat like a table. Move forward by taking small steps with opposite hand and opposite foot at the same time. 3. Crab walk: sit down, put your hands behind you with fingers pointing toward your feet, lift your hips off the ground, and walk on hands and feet with your belly facing the sky. 4. Run the course in this order: bear crawl to cone 1, sprint to cone 2, crab walk to cone 3, sprint back to the start. 5. Rest for 60 to 90 seconds. 6. Repeat 3 to 5 times.
Coaching cues - "Bear crawl: flat back, knees low, like you are balancing a cup on your back." - "Crab walk: hips UP — do not let your bottom drag." - "Opposite hand, opposite foot." - "Slow and strong on the crawls, fast on the sprints."
Common mistakes - Bear crawling with the hips way up in the air, which turns it into an easy shuffle. - Crab walking with the hips sagging on the ground. - Same hand and same foot moving together in the bear crawl — this is common and worth fixing early, because the cross-body pattern is the point. - Crawling distances that are too long. Ten yards of bear crawl is a lot. - Doing this on gravel or rough concrete. Hands need grass.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Shorter crawl distances, 5 yards each. - Regression: Crawl on hands and knees before progressing to a true bear crawl. - Progression: Longer crawls or added cones. - Progression: Lateral bear crawl (sideways) and backward bear crawl. - Progression: Add a tennis-ball balance on the back during the bear crawl for a laugh and a real posture check.
How to measure it Time a full course lap. Also check quality: can the athlete bear crawl 10 yards with a flat back and no hip bobbing? That is a legitimate core-strength marker for a 3rd through 6th grader and it improves fast.
CON-07 — Tempo Runs
Step-by-step instructions 1. Mark a 100-yard stretch — the length of a football field's playing surface, or pace it out. 2. Run the 100 yards at a controlled, smooth speed. Not a sprint. Roughly the speed at which you can hold perfect running form. 3. Walk back to the start. That is your rest. 4. Repeat for the prescribed number of runs — typically 6 to 12 for 7th–8th grade, 10 to 20 for 9th–12th in an off-season phase. 5. Every run should be within about a second of every other run. Consistency is the standard. 6. If your form starts breaking down — shoulders creeping up, head bobbing, arms crossing the body — the session is over.
Coaching cues - "Run tall, run relaxed." - "Elbows drive back, hands stay loose." - "Fast enough to feel smooth, slow enough to stay pretty." - "Same time, every rep."
Common mistakes - Running them too fast, which turns a tempo session into a sprint session and wrecks the next day. - Cutting rest short. - Letting form fall apart in the last few runs. - Doing tempo work the day before a game. - Adding volume too quickly. Add 2 runs per week at most.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Fewer runs, or 60-yard distances. - Regression: Alternate a run with a full 60-second walk. - Progression: Add runs up to the grade cap. - Progression: Shorten the walk-back rest. - Progression: Tempo run into an immediate skill task — for example, run 100, then take 5 wall ball reps at speed.
How to measure it Average time across the set and the spread between fastest and slowest. Track total volume (number of runs at a given consistency) across a phase; that total is the fitness number, not the single-rep speed.
CON-08 — 5-10-5 Pro Agility Shuttle
Step-by-step instructions 1. Set three cones in a straight line, 5 yards apart. The middle cone is the start. 2. Straddle the middle cone with one hand on the ground, feet wide, in a three-point stance. Face perpendicular to the line of cones. 3. On "go," sprint 5 yards to the cone on your right and touch the ground at the cone with your right hand. 4. Turn and sprint 10 yards to the far cone on your left, and touch the ground with your left hand. 5. Turn and sprint 5 yards back through the middle cone. Run through it, not to it. 6. Rest fully. Repeat, alternating your starting direction each rep. 7. Do 4 to 6 total reps for training, or 3 timed attempts when testing.
Coaching cues - "Get low to turn. You cannot change direction standing tall." - "Plant the outside foot hard, then drive." - "Touch the line low — do not stand up to reach down." - "Run through the finish."
Common mistakes - Standing tall at the turns, which is the biggest time-loser and the most common error by far. - Rounding the turns instead of planting sharply. - Slowing down before the finish line. - Only ever practicing starting to the same side. - Doing these fatigued at the end of a session. This is a speed entry and belongs early.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: 3-6-3 (3-yard spacing) for 6th graders or anyone learning the pattern. - Regression: Walk and jog the pattern first to learn the touches and turns. - Progression: Full timing with a stopwatch. - Progression: Start from a goalie stance instead of a three-point stance — far more specific to the position. - Progression: Partner calls the first direction as you start, adding a reaction element (grades 9+).
How to measure it Timed, best of three, fully rested. Rough reference times for goalies on grass in athletic shoes: 6th–7th grade, under 6.0 seconds; 8th–9th, under 5.6; 10th–12th, under 5.2. These are guides, not judgments — the number that matters is your own, tested the same way at each phase change.
CON-09 — Down-and-Backs
Step-by-step instructions 1. Set cones or use lines at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 yards from a start line. 2. From the start line, sprint to the 5-yard line, touch it with your hand, and sprint back to the start. 3. Immediately sprint to the 10-yard line, touch, and return. Then 15, then 20, then 25 — each time touching and returning to the start. 4. That whole sequence is one rep. 5. Rest three times as long as the rep took. 6. Repeat for 3 to 5 reps depending on grade and phase.
Coaching cues - "Sink your hips to touch — do not bend at the back." - "Plant with a bent knee, not a locked one." - "Turn tight and go — the turn is where the time is." - "Full rest between reps, every time."
Common mistakes - Reaching down with a rounded back to touch the line. - Slowing early into each turn to save energy, which is exactly the habit you do not want. - Doing too many reps. Five good ones beat ten dragging ones, and the tenth teaches your body to move slowly. - Running these as punishment. Never in this program. - Doing them on concrete or a hard gym floor with poor shoes.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Use only 3 lines (5, 10, 15 yards). - Regression: Longer rest between reps. - Progression: Add lines out to 30 yards. - Progression: Reduce rest to a 1:2 ratio in a late off-season block. - Progression: Do the return trip as a shuffle rather than a sprint, holding a goalie stick, for a position-specific version.
How to measure it Time each rep. The key metric is rep-to-rep drop-off: your last rep should be within 5 to 7 percent of your first. A large drop-off means your repeat capacity is the thing to build, and it means your current rest was too short.
CON-10 — Gassers
Step-by-step instructions 1. Stand on one sideline. 2. Sprint across to the far sideline, touch the line with your foot or hand, and sprint back. That is a "half gasser." 3. Immediately go across and back a second time. Across, back, across, back — that full set of four crossings is one gasser. 4. Rest 90 seconds to 2 minutes. 5. Repeat for 2 to 4 gassers depending on grade and phase. 6. Walk and breathe during the rest. Do not sit down.
Coaching cues - "Even effort across all four crossings — do not blow up on the first." - "Touch the line with your foot; do not cheat the distance." - "Breathe out hard during the rest — that is how you recover faster." - "Stay on your feet between reps."
Common mistakes - Sprinting the first crossing all-out and walking the fourth. - Cutting the line short, which changes the workout and the number. - Doing gassers in-season on top of a full practice. This is off-season and pre-season work. - Doing more than 4. Volume is not the point. - Doing them in high heat without extra rest and fluid.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Half gassers (across and back once), more reps, more rest. - Regression: Narrower field width. - Progression: Add a gasser, up to 4 total. - Progression: Reduce rest by 15 seconds per week within a block. - Progression: Add a goalie stick and finish each gasser with 5 wall ball reps, so skill happens on tired legs.
How to measure it Time each gasser and record the total time and the drop-off from first to last. Reference targets for a conditioned high school goalie: a 60-yard-width gasser in roughly 32 to 38 seconds, with under 8 percent drop-off across 3 reps. Test at the start of pre-season and again mid-season.
CON-11 — 300-Yard Shuttle
Step-by-step instructions 1. Set two cones exactly 25 yards apart. 2. Start at one cone. On "go," sprint to the far cone, touch the line with your foot, and sprint back. 3. Continue running back and forth for 12 total lengths — 12 x 25 yards = 300 yards. 4. Stop the clock when you cross the finish on the twelfth length. 5. Walk for 5 full minutes. If the session calls for a second trial, run it then and record both. 6. Cool down with 3 minutes of easy walking. Do not sit down immediately.
Coaching cues - "Pace the first four, hold the middle four, empty the last four." - "Low turns, quick feet at the cone." - "This is a test, not a training session — go in fresh." - "Walk it off afterward. Do not sit."
Common mistakes - Going out too fast in the first three lengths and falling apart by length eight. Almost everyone does this the first time. - Testing on tired legs, which makes the number meaningless. - Testing in high heat. - Running it weekly. It is a test, and testing too often just makes you tired. - Sitting or lying down immediately after. Keep walking.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: 150-yard shuttle (6 lengths) for a 9th grader's first exposure. - Regression: Run it once instead of twice. - Progression: Two trials with 5 minutes rest, recording both and the difference between them. - Progression: Track your two-trial average across a full year.
How to measure it Time in seconds. General reference for a well-conditioned high school field player: roughly 60 to 70 seconds. Goalies who train this consistently usually land in a similar range. The more useful number is your own trend and, if you run two trials, the gap between trial one and trial two — a smaller gap means better recovery capacity. Test at the start of pre-season, mid in-season, and the start of the summer block.
CON-12 — Hill Sprints
Step-by-step instructions 1. Find a grass hill and walk it once to check for holes, roots, rocks, and slick spots. 2. Start at the bottom in an athletic staggered stance. 3. Sprint up the hill for the prescribed distance — usually 15 to 30 yards — driving the knees and pumping the arms. 4. Decelerate at the top and walk back down slowly. Never run down a hill. Downhill running is where hamstrings and knees get hurt, and it offers nothing. 5. Rest at the bottom until your breathing is under control. 6. Repeat for 4 to 10 reps depending on grade and phase.
Coaching cues - "Drive the knees up, drive the elbows back." - "Lean from the ankles, not the waist." - "Attack the first 5 steps." - "Walk down. Always walk down."
Common mistakes - Running down the hill. This is the one rule that matters most in this entry. - Bending at the waist and staring at the ground. - Choosing a hill so steep it becomes a hike. - Doing too many reps. Six to eight hard hill sprints is a full conditioning session. - Running hills on wet grass or on a slope with hidden footing hazards.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Shorter distance, more rest, fewer reps. - Regression: A gentler slope. - Progression: Longer sprint distance up to 40 yards. - Progression: More reps, added gradually. - Progression: Start from a goalie stance, or start on a partner's call for a reaction element.
How to measure it Time a fixed hill distance, best of three, on the same hill each time. Track across a phase. Also track total quality reps — the rep at which your form clearly degrades is your current capacity ceiling, and it should rise across a block.
CON-13 — Jump Rope Base Builder
Step-by-step instructions 1. Size the rope as described above. This step matters more than any other. 2. Stand tall with elbows tucked close to your ribs, hands out at about hip height. 3. Turn the rope with your wrists, not your arms. The shoulders stay quiet. 4. Jump just high enough to clear the rope — about an inch. Land on the balls of your feet with soft knees. 5. Jump continuously for the prescribed round — start at 30 seconds and build. 6. Rest, then repeat. Typical prescriptions: 6 rounds of 30 seconds for beginners, up to 6 rounds of 2 minutes for older athletes in a base-building phase.
Coaching cues - "Wrists turn the rope, not the arms." - "Elbows in at your sides." - "Tiny jumps. One inch is plenty." - "Miss and restart immediately — do not stop the round for a trip."
Common mistakes - A rope that is too long — the most common problem by far, and it makes everything else impossible. - Jumping way too high, which tires the legs in 20 seconds. - Swinging the whole arm from the shoulder. - Stopping the round every time the rope catches. Trip, restart, keep the clock running. - Long sessions on concrete, which beats up shins.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Practice the arm motion with no rope, or jump with the rope held in one hand and turned beside the body. - Regression: 15-second rounds. - Progression: Longer rounds, up to 3 minutes. - Progression: Alternate-foot jumps (a running step in place). - Progression: Single-leg rounds, 20 seconds per leg (grades 7+). - Progression: Move to CON-14 for interval work.
How to measure it Longest unbroken round (no trips) and total jumps in 60 seconds. Reference targets for unbroken 60-second jumping: 4th–5th grade, 60+ jumps; 6th–8th, 100+; 9th–12th, 130+. Also track total accumulated minutes in a base-building week.
CON-14 — Jump Rope Speed Intervals
Step-by-step instructions 1. Warm up with 2 minutes of easy jumping (CON-13 pace). 2. Work period: jump as fast as you can, keeping the jumps tiny and the wrists turning quickly. Speed comes from rope speed, not jump height. 3. Rest period: stand, breathe, and shake out the calves. Do not sit. 4. Standard formats: - Beginner (6th–7th grade): 8 rounds of 20 seconds fast, 40 seconds rest. - Intermediate (8th–9th): 10 rounds of 30 seconds fast, 30 seconds rest. - Advanced (10th–12th): 10 rounds of 40 seconds fast, 20 seconds rest. 5. Finish with 2 minutes of easy jumping or walking to cool down.
Coaching cues - "Faster rope, not higher jumps." - "Small, tight, quick." - "Stay tall — do not hunch as you get tired." - "Trip and go. Do not stop the clock."
Common mistakes - Jumping higher to go faster, which is backwards and exhausting. - Sitting down during rest periods. - Doing this on concrete for long sessions, which is hard on shins — grass, rubber, or wood is better. - Skipping the easy warm-up rounds. - Calf soreness ignored. If calves are tight, reduce volume and stretch after.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Shorter work periods, longer rest. - Regression: Steady-pace rounds instead of fast rounds. - Progression: Longer work, shorter rest, in the formats above. - Progression: Double-unders (rope passes twice per jump) for 10-second bursts, grades 9+. - Progression: Alternate a fast rope round with a goalie-stance hold or a wall ball set.
How to measure it Jumps completed in a 30-second all-out round, best of the session. Also track the format you can complete cleanly — moving from the beginner format to the advanced format across a winter block is a real fitness gain. Count trips per session; fewer trips at higher speed is skill improving alongside fitness.
CON-15 — Arc Sprints
Step-by-step instructions 1. Set cones in a curved arc about 4 to 5 yards out from the front of the goal, spanning from one pipe-side to the other. Five to seven cones, evenly spaced. 2. Start at the cone on one end, in a goalie stance with the stick up. 3. Move along the arc from cone to cone, staying in your stance and keeping your chest square to an imaginary ball at the center of the field. 4. Move using goalie footwork — shuffle steps, not crossover running — for the whole arc. 5. At the far end, touch the last cone, then immediately reverse and come back along the arc. 6. One trip out and back is one rep. Do 4 to 8 reps with the prescribed rest. 7. Sprint version (grades 9+): at each cone, drive out one hard step toward the imaginary shooter, then recover back onto the arc before moving to the next cone.
Coaching cues - "Stay on the arc — do not cut across the middle." - "Chest to the ball the whole way." - "Stick stays up even when you are tired. Especially when you are tired." - "Shuffle, do not run. The moment you cross your feet, you are not a goalie anymore."
Common mistakes - Standing up tall as fatigue hits. The stance is the drill; when the stance goes, the rep is over. - Crossing the feet. - Cutting the corner and flattening the arc. - Dropping the stick to help with balance. - Turning the shoulders instead of staying square.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Fewer cones, shorter arc, walk-through pace. - Regression: No stick while learning the pattern. - Progression: More reps, or shorter rest. - Progression: Add the drive-out sprint version. - Progression: Add a partner who moves a ball around the perimeter, so your arc position is dictated by a real ball rather than an imaginary one (grades 8+).
How to measure it Time a full out-and-back trip and track the drop-off across reps. The more important measurement is stance quality: film the set and count how many cones you passed with a broken stance in the last rep versus the first. That number falling to zero is the goal.
CON-16 — Pipe-to-Pipe Repeats
Step-by-step instructions 1. Stand at one pipe in a full goalie stance, stick up, chest square to the field. 2. On "go," shuffle to the far pipe, touch it with your foot or stick, and shuffle back. 3. Continue moving pipe to pipe as fast as you can with clean footwork for the prescribed work period — usually 20 to 30 seconds. 4. Count your crossings. Every crossing counts. 5. Rest the prescribed time, standing and breathing. 6. Repeat for 4 to 8 rounds.
Coaching cues - "Shuffle — feet never cross." - "Stay low. Do not pop up to move faster." - "Stick up the whole time." - "Count out loud if it helps you stay honest."
Common mistakes - Standing tall to move faster, which is faster in the moment and useless in a game. - Crossing the feet. - Dropping the stick as fatigue builds. - Turning the body to run rather than shuffling square. - Counting crossings that did not actually reach the pipe.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Shorter work period (15 seconds), longer rest, or a narrower cone spacing. - Regression: No stick at first. - Progression: Longer work periods up to 40 seconds. - Progression: Shorter rest. - Progression: Add a save attempt at each pipe on a partner's toss (grades 8+). - Progression: Full gear, which changes the demand substantially and is worth doing at least once per phase.
How to measure it Crossings completed in 30 seconds, and the drop-off from round 1 to the final round. Reference targets in gear, 6-foot goal: 5th–6th grade, 12+ crossings; 7th–8th, 15+; 9th–12th, 18+. Track drop-off — under 15 percent across 6 rounds is strong.
CON-17 — Save-and-Recover Circuit
Step-by-step instructions 1. Set up in the cage in a full stance. Your partner stands 8 to 12 yards out with a bucket of balls. 2. Round begins. Partner delivers a shot or firm toss. Make the save with real technique — step to the line of the ball, hands lead, body follows. 3. Immediately after the save, drop the ball, sprint out to a cone 5 yards in front of the cage, touch it, and backpedal to your stance on the arc. 4. As soon as your feet are set, your partner delivers the next shot. Do not wait to catch your breath — the reset is the drill. 5. Repeat continuously for the prescribed work period. Typical: 30 seconds for 7th–8th grade, 40 seconds for 9th–12th. That usually produces 4 to 7 saves per round. 6. Rest the full prescribed time, standing and breathing through the nose. Then run the next round. 7. Complete 4 to 6 rounds. Six rounds of 40 seconds is a serious workout for a high school goalie and needs no additional conditioning that day. 8. No-partner version: replace the shot with a hard self-toss off a wall or a rebounder. The sprint-and-reset stays identical.
Coaching cues - "Save first, conditioning second. A sloppy save is a wasted rep." - "Feet set before the next shot. Never take a shot while still moving." - "Breathe through your nose between shots — it keeps you calmer than gasping." - "Stick up. The stick is the first thing to drop when you get tired, and the last thing you can afford to lose." - "Loud on every save. If you cannot talk, you are not conditioned yet."
Common mistakes - Turning it into a sprint workout and letting the save technique collapse. If technique is going, end the round. - The partner shooting too hard for the athlete's level, which makes it a survival drill instead of a save drill. - Shooting before the goalie's feet are set, which trains a habit that will cost real goals. - Chasing the ball after each save instead of leaving it — the reset sprint is the recovery, not the ball retrieval. - Doing this the day before a game. It is a heavy session. - Skipping gear entirely at the high school level. Gear changes the demand meaningfully.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: 20-second rounds, 60 seconds rest, tosses instead of shots, no sprint (just a reset step out and back). - Regression: Shorten the sprint-out cone to 3 yards. - Progression: Longer rounds, up to 45 seconds. - Progression: Shorten rest to 1:1.5. - Progression: Add a communication requirement — a real clear call on every save ("Ball down! Break!"). - Progression: Vary the shot location so the athlete must move along the arc before setting, grades 9+. - Progression: Finish the last round with an actual outlet pass to a target after the final save.
How to measure it Saves attempted and saves made per round, and the save percentage drop-off from round 1 to the final round. That drop-off is the real number: a goalie whose save rate falls 30 percent by round 5 has a conditioning problem, not a hands problem. Under 10 percent drop-off across 5 rounds is excellent. Also track volume — the number of quality rounds you can complete at a stable save rate — across a phase.
CON-18 — Clear-and-Recover Intervals
Step-by-step instructions 1. Set a target 25 to 30 yards upfield — a partner, a cone gate 5 yards wide, or a rebounder. 2. Start in the cage in a full stance, ball in your stick (or make a save first if you have a partner shooting). 3. On "go," yell your clear call — "Ball down, break!" — and sprint out of the cage on an angle toward the sideline for 8 to 10 yards. 4. Deliver an accurate clearing pass to the target while moving or after one quick plant step. 5. Immediately turn and sprint back to the cage, arriving in a set stance facing the field. 6. That whole sequence is one rep. It should take 12 to 20 seconds. 7. Rest the prescribed time. Repeat for 6 to 10 reps. 8. Alternate which side you break to on each rep. Goalies who only practice clearing to their strong side get scouted.
Coaching cues - "The call comes first, before your feet move. The call is what starts the break." - "Run to open grass, not up the middle of the field." - "Accurate beats hard. A 20-yard completed pass beats a 40-yard turnover every time." - "Sprint back. Getting back to the pipe is the rep — most goalies jog it and that is where goals come from." - "Set your feet at the pipe. The rep ends in a stance, not standing up straight."
Common mistakes - Jogging back to the cage. This is the half of the drill that everyone skips and the half that actually matters. - Throwing before the head is up and the target is found. - Always breaking to the same side. - Forgetting the verbal call, which is the part that transfers directly to game value. - Making the pass so long that accuracy collapses. Distance grows over months, not sessions. - Running the drill at less than game intensity, which makes it a passing drill instead of a conditioning entry.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Shorter break (5 yards), shorter pass (15 yards), longer rest. - Regression: Stationary pass after coming to a full stop. - Regression: Walk the return instead of sprinting it, while learning the pattern. - Progression: Longer clears, up to 40 yards for grades 10+. - Progression: Add a passive rider — a partner who jogs at you — so the break direction is a decision, not a script. - Progression: Add a live rider at partial speed, grades 10+. - Progression: Start every rep with a real save (combine with CON-17). - Progression: Reduce rest to 1:2.
How to measure it Completed clears out of total reps, plus total rep time from "go" to set-in-the-cage. Reference target: 8 of 10 clears completed with total rep times inside 20 seconds for a high school goalie. Track the drop-off in completion rate across the set — accuracy under fatigue is the whole point. Also track your weak-side completion rate separately; that gap is usually the biggest and most fixable finding.
CON-19 — Bodyweight Conditioning Circuit
Step-by-step instructions 1. Warm up with 3 minutes of easy movement — march in place, arm circles, bodyweight squats, and a few build-up efforts. 2. The circuit is six stations. Work each station for the prescribed time, then rest 15 seconds and move to the next. 3. Station 1 — Squat to stand: feet shoulder width, sit back into a squat, stand tall. Steady rhythm, full depth without the heels lifting. 4. Station 2 — Push-up (any variation you can do with a straight body): knees down is a fully legitimate version. Body stays in one line. 5. Station 3 — Mountain climbers: hands under shoulders, drive one knee to the chest at a time, hips stay low and level. 6. Station 4 — Reverse lunge, alternating: step back, lower the back knee toward the floor, drive back to standing. Torso tall. 7. Station 5 — Goalie stance shuffle in place: drop into your stance and shuffle side to side over about 2 feet, staying low the whole time, stick or broom in hand if you have one. 8. Station 6 — Fast feet: small, quick steps in place, staying on the balls of the feet. Arms pumping. 9. Rest 60 to 90 seconds. That is one round. Complete 2 to 4 rounds. 10. Work times by grade: 6th grade, 20 seconds per station, 2 rounds. 7th–8th, 30 seconds, 2 to 3 rounds. 9th–12th, 40 seconds, 3 to 4 rounds. 11. Cool down with 2 minutes of easy walking and a short stretch.
Coaching cues - "Form sets the pace, not the clock. Slow down before you break down." - "Full range on everything. Half squats build half legs." - "Breathe on a rhythm — do not hold your breath through a station." - "Stay low through the whole stance station. Popping up is the same mistake you make in the fourth quarter."
Common mistakes - Racing the clock with sloppy reps. A round of ugly reps trains ugly movement under fatigue. - Push-ups with sagging hips or a chin-only range of motion. Drop to knees instead. - Skipping the 15-second station rest, which sounds tough and simply lowers the quality of everything after station 3. - Doing this on a hard floor with no shoes and cranky shins. Shoes on, or use a mat. - Adding rounds faster than the body adapts. Add one round per two weeks at most.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: 15-second stations, 1 to 2 rounds, 30 seconds rest between stations. - Regression: Substitute an easier version of any station — knee push-ups, split squats holding a wall, marching instead of fast feet. - Progression: Longer work periods up to 45 seconds. - Progression: Shorten station rest to 10 seconds. - Progression: Add a fourth round. - Progression: Add a light dumbbell or backpack to the squat and lunge stations, grades 9+. - Progression: Finish each round with a 20-second wall-sit hold in stance depth.
How to measure it Count total reps at one chosen station (usually squats or push-ups) in the first and last round, and track the drop-off. Also track the format you can complete cleanly — moving from 20-second, 2-round work to 40-second, 4-round work over a winter block is a substantial and measurable capacity gain. Rate your own form honestly on a 1 to 5 scale at the end of each round; if the last round rates below a 3, the volume is too high.
CON-20 — Mixed-Modal Goalie Circuit
Step-by-step instructions 1. Warm up fully. This is a demanding session and belongs on an off-season or pre-season Saturday, not a game week. 2. The circuit is six stations, run back to back with no rest inside the round. Each station is 40 seconds. 3. Station 1 — Conditioning: pipe-to-pipe repeats (CON-16). Full stance, clean shuffles, count crossings. 4. Station 2 — Skill: wall ball, strong hand only. Steady rhythm, hands away from the body, eyes tracking the ball into the stick. 5. Station 3 — Conditioning: arc sprints (CON-15). Stay on the arc, chest square, stick up. 6. Station 4 — Skill: save reps on a partner toss or wall rebound. Step to the line of the ball, hands lead. Quality over quantity. 7. Station 5 — Conditioning: shuttle runs, 10 yards out and back, continuous. 8. Station 6 — Skill: outlet passes to a target 20 yards out, alternating sides. Accuracy is the only score. 9. Rest 90 to 120 seconds, standing and breathing. That is one round. 10. Complete 3 to 5 rounds. Four rounds is a full session and needs nothing else that day. 11. Cool down: 3 minutes of easy walking, then a static stretch set (see MOB entries).
Coaching cues - "The skill stations are the point. The conditioning stations exist to make them hard." - "When technique breaks, the round is over. Ending a round early is a coaching decision, not a failure." - "Hands away from the body on every save rep, especially the ugly tired ones." - "Count out loud on the conditioning stations. If you cannot count, you cannot communicate, and a silent goalie loses games."
Common mistakes - Letting the skill stations become rest stations. They are the reason the circuit exists. - Running the conditioning stations so hard that the following skill station is unusable. Aim for hard, not all-out. - Skipping the between-round rest, which collapses quality across the whole session. - Running this in-season. It is an off-season and pre-season entry. - Trying it before the individual entries (CON-15, CON-16, wall ball routines, save mechanics) are each solid on their own.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: 30-second stations, 2 to 3 rounds, and a 15-second transition rest between stations. - Regression: Drop to four stations — one conditioning, one skill, repeated. - Progression: 45-second stations. - Progression: Add a fifth round. - Progression: Make the skill stations harder rather than the conditioning stations — off-hand wall ball, low-to-low saves, weak-side clears. - Progression: Add a scoring standard: a round only counts if the skill stations meet a target (for example 8 of 10 saves, 6 of 8 clears on target).
How to measure it Score the skill stations, not the conditioning stations. Save percentage at station 4 and on-target clears at station 6, tracked round by round. The number that matters is round 1 versus final round. A goalie holding within 10 percent across four rounds is genuinely game-fit. Also log total rounds completed at standard, which is the cleanest measure of progress across an off-season block.