There are hundreds of keeping drills for standing up to the stumps. However, outside of the professional game, I see little evidence of keepers being asked to develop their capacity when standing back.

So lets address this now!

Basic standing back drill

I'm sure you know about the merits of the "Sidearm" for the preparation of batsmen to deal with fast bowling through consistency of pace and sheer numbers of deliveries that a coach can produce over a session.

Now we can extend that to the keepers.

Always use the crease lines to make the drill as specific as possible with distances and angles. Position the keeper lining for a left- or right-handed batter and fire through balls simulating the pace that the keeper experiences in games.

The better you get at controlling the Sidearm, the more you can subtlety change the angle of the ball in order to move your keeper left and right forcing him to move his feet and dive every now and again.

This basic drill can be upped by a number of enhancements to increase challenge and stretch the keeper.

1. Place an upright cricket bag (simulating a batter) in front of the stumps to block the view of the keeper for certain lines of ball. This replicates the challenges of the job and also when combined with a swinging ball promotes good discipline as the keeper needs to hold their line to gather information prior to moving.
2. Place a board like the Katchet on the ground on a length so that the ball deflects for catches every now and again. The randomness of the contacts with the board reflect the realistic challenge that the keeper faces each day.
3. Wrap hard wearing tape on one side of the ball to change it's balance and aero-dynamics. This simulates the swing and dip that you find occurs in certain venues and countries around the world. Certainly good for preparing keepers to play in Europe and the UK.
4. Lower the release point of the Sidearm in order to get the ball to skid lower and reach the keeper at more challenging heights around the shin/ankle area. This is the most difficult height of ball to take and also the one that comes along in early season on a regular basis.....so it's worth practising lots ahead of a new season.

So get yourself a sidearm, practice religiously with it and open up a world of standing back keeper drills that will take your glovemen to the next level.