Soccer goalkeeper training should not be taken for granted.

In his book ‘Soccer in Sun and Shadow’, Eduardo Galeano wrote, "The goalkeeper. They also call him doorman, keeper, goalie, bouncer, or netminder, but he could just as well be called martyr, pay-all, penitent or punching bag. They say where he walks, the grass never grows." So, Galeano is saying that soccer goalkeeping skills are, essentially, taken for granted…yet, soccer goalkeeper training seems to be one of the absolute most important aspects of a soccer team.
 
  Since he does not run down the field, or run nearly as much as the other players, and because he is allowed to use his hands on the ball (which no other player may ever do save for if they are doing a throw-in), the goalie is often seen as "less athletic" than the fielders in soccer. Yet, the opposite is usually true. The goalie has to be among the most athletic people on that field. The goalie must possess incredible reaction speed, amazing agility, superior hand strength and hand-eye coordination, fantastic quickness, and a powerful leg to propel the ball more than halfway down the length of the field at the right times. He also needs more upper body strength than any other player, for not only is he "privileged" to make important plays with his hands and arms, but ultimately, the goalie will sacrifice his body more than any other player.
 
  If you choose to take part in the goalie’s world, you must accept becoming the most underrated and misunderstood player on the soccer field. Yet, you play arguably the most critical position on your team. As the goalkeeper, you are the "last line of defense and the first line of offense."
 
  Well, obviously, you need to know how to catch the ball, and for this you need good hands and often great leaping ability. But what else do you need? Well, you need to be able to trap, pass, and dribble the ball as well as or better than all of the other players. When a situation calls for you to use your feet, you need to be able to do it as well or better than anybody else on the field.

Do you known how to tip or punch the ball away from the net? You can’t always just catch the ball; the fielders will kick many balls at you that you can’t merely catch out of the air. What if the ball is coming at an angle, or it’s far enough away from the goalkeeper that the only good option is to tip it out of bounds or to punch it away from the goal?

All of these concerns are the goalkeeper’s in soccer.

There are some products you can get to help you or, if you’re a soccer coach, help your goalie.

 
• A goalie medicine ball—a special kind of soccer ball that increases
    goalkeepers’ upper body strength, core strength, and speed of reaction time.
 
• The goalkeeper speed foot ladder. The foundation of any goalie’s success is
    foot speed and quickness.
 
• The goalie agility ladder.

Use all of these tools and this knowledge to advance yourself as a goalie.  If you coach, these will advance the soccer goalkeeper training techniques of your players.