Floaters To Bulllets: Keepers Must Master the Art of Flight
2025 is seeing more and more uncertainty when it comes to teams retaining their own kickout. Gone are the days when a keeper could simply lump the ball into midfield and trust their big men to claim it cleanly. Gone are the years of a keeper simply tapping a ball 15 yards to his right to a unmarked corner back. Instead, what we’re seeing now is a kickout battle riddled with breaks, deflections, and scraps for possession.
Why? Because most keepers, by and large, are not putting the right flight on the ball.
The Problem: Poor Flight, Poor Retention
The fundamental issue is that too many goalkeepers are kicking with a high trajectory, resulting in a longer time in the air. This gives defenders and opposition midfielders time to position themselves, crowd the landing zone, and make a clean aerial take almost impossible. Add to that the fact that many teams are bunching players in the middle third, and what you get is a chaotic contest for possession rather than a precise, purposeful kickout strategy.
Teams are struggling to secure clean possession because keepers are not consistently driving the ball out as directly as possible. The flight of the ball should be executed to eliminate unnecessary airtime, reducing the chance for the opposition to react and get numbers to the break.
Shaun Patton: The Sharpshooter of Kickouts
If there is one man who has mastered this skill, it is Donegal’s Shaun Patton. His kickout technique is the gold standard; low trajectory, minimal air time, and savage distance. His ability to deliver the ball quickly from A to B means Donegal can be immediately on the front foot.
When Patton strikes a kickout, it’s not just a long-range effort; it’s a precision pass. The ball stays low, travels fast, and arrives at the target before the opposition can flood the area. This allows his teammates compete in a 1v1, where they have a much better chance of winning the ball clean, ideally against a mismatch.
Compare this to the majority of keepers in the game today, who still persist with looping, floaty kicks. These may be fine in calm conditions, but in high-pressure situations, where the opposition is set up to compete, they lead to broken play and a 50/50 battle.
A Skill Yet to Be Mastered
The reality is that most goalkeepers are simply not skillful enough at kickouts yet. Many can hit distance, but few can drill a ball with precision at pace. Some might blame the wind at times for inconsistent accuracy, but the best will obviously adapt and learn how to control the flight of their kicks regardless of conditions.
The positive here is that this is a skill that must (and will) be developed. As keepers improve their technique, teams will develop new tactics to maximize the kickouts they retain cleanly . This won’t just increase possessions; it will also create a fascinating tactical spectacle, as teams devise ways to break presses and manipulate space.
This is not a call for rule changes as we have come so accustomed to in 2025 but rather to promote more clean aerial catches, it’s simply a challenge to keepers to improve. If you’re a coach, start demanding it. The kickout is too important a weapon to be left to hunger of your team on breaks.
