Learn the leg save as a handball goalkeeper: lunge, toes turned out and rule knowledge, so you stop low shots with the foot and protect your ankle.
The leg save is the defence of low, flat shots with the leg: you take a lunge to the side, angle the leg and turn the toes outward so that your ankle stays protected [1]. Inside the goal area you may use any part of the body to stop the ball [2].
The honest answer to "How fast must I be?": fast enough, but above all early enough. A study of 7 goalkeepers found that on long-distance throws they set off toward the throwing side about 193 ms (just under a fifth of a second) before release, and with less uncertainty even about 349 ms before [3]. So good goalkeepers do not react to the ball, but to the thrower.
How long it takes until the leg save sits depends on your starting level; there is no reliable study figure, it is coaching experience. What matters is starting with the right foot position before you get faster.
Whoever starts early and turns the foot correctly saves more and gets hurt less.
Stand in the basic stance, weight on both feet, arms slightly forward at shoulder height [1]. Milestone: You hold the stance calmly for 20 seconds.
Take a big step to the side into the corner, angle the leg and turn the toes outward. The Swiss practice supplement warns: if the toes point forward on landing, large sideways forces act on the ankle. The movement should be demonstrated beforehand and automated [1]. Milestone: 10 steps to the left and right with the toes cleanly turned out, also on phone video.
Your partner rolls or throws flat from short distance into both corners. You stop with hand and foot; beginners should try to save with both hands to have a larger surface [1]. Milestone: 8 out of 10 balls saved without the toes pointing forward.
The thrower stands farther away and throws flat into corners. Start when his arm goes back, not only when the ball is flying [3]. Milestone: Your lunges begin before the ball is released.
Watch the throwing arm and the ball. In an eye-tracking study of 40 goalkeepers (women and men), the last still gaze phase (quiet eye) was significantly longer on successful saves than on failed ones; men tended to look at arm and ball, women at torso and head [4]. Milestone: After every throw you say where the ball went and are right at least 6 out of 10 times.
Goalkeepers have a high injury risk: at the 2017 Men's World Championship the odds of a match injury for goalkeepers were clearly higher than in the comparison group (OR 5.03) [5]. Prevention programmes in handball lowered the risk of ankle injuries (OR 0.57) and lower-limb injuries overall (OR 0.59) in a meta-analysis [6]. So make warm-up, ankle training and landing drills compulsory.
Children should learn the leg save only on a soft surface and with soft balls (practice). If you have pain in the foot, knee or groin: rest and have it checked. This guide explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training or a coach.
Starting direction before final position. Instead of getting stuck on the ball, learn to decide at once: left or right. Even if you are wrong, you are moving early enough to correct. The measured 193 ms lead time [3] shows that starting before the ball is part of everyday life for good goalkeepers.
For flat, low shots that you can no longer reach with your hands. You take a lunge to the side, angle the leg and turn the toes outward so that the ankle stays protected [1].
Yes, inside the goal area you may use any part of the body while defending [2]. You just may not play the ball with the foot or lower leg out of the goal area if it is moving that way [2].
Turn the toes outward during the sideways lunge [1] and warm up specifically. Prevention programmes lowered ankle injuries in handball in a meta-analysis [6]. If you feel pain after training: rest and have it checked.
Because otherwise he arrives too late. In one study goalkeepers set off about 193 ms before release, with less uncertainty even about 349 ms [3]. They read throwing arm, body posture and situation, and start early.
Body Feint in Handball: Getting Past the Defender Without Risking Your Knee