Author: Dan Pilgrim

Aerial ‘punts’

Another article trying to ‘think outside the box’ and consider the goalkeeper’s options for punting away high balls or punting a high ball as an outlet pass.

Edit: managed to get some action shots after heading to Guildford to watch a game, where Mason thankfully did so!!

Punt kicks are what are common in football, but whilst a rarity in hockey are seemingly being introduced by some goalkeepers experimenting with the limits of the position. Kind of like the kick to restart play from the goalkeeper’s box in football, but without the ball being on the ground! Essentially kicking to punt away a raised ball, whether from a self pass, or from a high ball. And as I want to point, it has become something that even goalkeepers in our sport of hockey are experimenting with, pushing the limits on what a goalkeeper can or supposedly, can’t do. Andrew Isaacs at Havant is the main goalkeeper using the technique in the EHL, but you will sometimes see goalkeepers clearing with the top of the kicker, to aid in getting distance against a raised pass, anyway. It is obviously quite an advanced trick as it only has a rare usage and is pretty difficult (to do well!)!

 

Technique

The technique of kicking away with the top of the kicker is essentially just like a drop punt kick in football. But with a trickier technicality, obviously, as you are wearing foam pads! And except that you can’t use your hands to drop the ball for the kick! Which makes things harder as you have to flip the ball up with your stick before you punt away (often from the self pass set-up with a defender passing the ball). And it also helps to have a variant and learn to kick as a ball comes at you on the drop of an aerial etc.

 

  • Get behind the aerial or ball dropping towards you (so you don’t miss it!)
  • Swing with the leg into the kick as the ball comes at you
  • As you do, turn your foot at the angle you want the ball to be directed at; don’t turn the kicker ‘face’ away, it is the angling of the foot that directs the kick away and clearance (visualise or be aware of the sideline, 25 to help etc.)
  • Have the ‘face’ of the top of the kicker connecting with the ball (making the most of the surface area) and getting as much on it as possibly, preferably from the middle
  • Continue to drive through the ball as you would when kicking normally, so that you get as much power on the kick as possible
  • Finally, bring the foot back and reset, to rebalance and get back to a standing position or your ready stance

 

As this picture of Max Weinhold illustrates:

 

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/goalkeeper-max-winhold-of-germany-clears-the-ball-during-news-photo/149657218

 

If you want to start from a free hit, then you will need to flip the ball up with your stick to get the ball high enough for a good drop to get distance on the kick. You can see the technique that is similar to what Isaacs uses, with Stockmann attempting a kick to a player to keep the play going, in the following clip. The process involves flipping the ball up with good stick control to punt away, as has been said. This can be seen at 3:41 playing time (Jaap stops the ball with his glove first):

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzt6VFu9lbU

 

Although pretty blurry (sorry!!), the following pictures show the process. Mason kicks with his right unlike Isaacs:

punt

punt1

punt2

punt3

Football goalkeepers obviously do this more regularly, as they drop a caught ball to punt away. Following advice and ‘cross training’ gives more in-depth analysis on technique. The JB Goalkeeping blog is great for this and the link gives useful information:

 

http://www.jbgoalkeeping.com/distribute.html#handkick

 

Starting play with the free hit

There was a lot of talk when the free hit rule changed and the self pass option became introduced into the hockey world. And some goalkeepers considered making use of it to allow further options to get the ball up the pitch quickly and confuse the opposition team at the same time. Obviously with aerials being allowed at free hits in hockey, it doesn’t seem quite so unique or needed as the player can release an aerial! It is something that ‘Mace’ (Simon Mason, ex-GB, current first choice at Guildford) when it became something of interest. He was accurate with it and could get it quite far (heard he did a couple of times but seen it done in training; happy to be corrected if wrong!).

 

But this is something that Andrew Isaacs at Havant has started pioneering and test. Doing essentially what Stockmann can be seen doing, but at the restart and with more regularity and trying for greater distance and accuracy. He did it last season, but may not be doing it quite so much this season! And haven’t been able to get to any of their games to check!

 

You can see the process at 0:10 (it, the first, looks to be an assist on a goal scoring opportunity) and then 0:20 and 0:58 and 1:10 (basically all the way throughout the video but pernickety in timing for skipping through!). He seems to kick with the left from the free hit restart, but know he is comfortable with kicking with both feet, seeing him ‘punt’ a flick into the D with his right before. Not sure if 0:58 is an example of him kicking away a loose high ball as he does, as a little out of focus.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78eXwzkZ0p0&feature=related

 

It’s a big ask in hockey where it’s unexpected and will take a lot to pull it off accurately, making it seem less likely to be used so regularly! Kicking over distance, where you have to predict the drop, is a little different to kicking on the floor. Football goalkeepers at the elite level are judged on their pinpoint accuracy with their kicking and to get an aerial kick to a player without ‘making it dangerous’ requires this even more so, if done in hockey. The following is a great example. Timing, direct and power for distance all come into play. Gazzaniga at Southampton may have only got a few Premier league starts this season, but I was surprised by his ability with distribution. His accuracy is pretty amazing and has gotten a lot of assists for starting scoring opportunities. See at 0:35, for a short but precise pass. Watch for 0:46 and 1:00 for great examples and evidence of this! And the rest are good enough to watch and see.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SHTGdf1oFs

 

Sidetracking as I often do, but in football, goalkeepers are seen as the extra defender and distributor, which hockey goalkeepers can learn from, if open minded and ‘thinking outside the box’! Joe Hart will often take free kicks outside his area and command distribution, as another example. In football they love it if you set up goals for them and outside the stereotype of goalkeepers accept you more as a team mate, but I can’t see it catching on in football!

 

A clearance method

Other than restarting play, a punt kick also gives further options when dealing with high balls into the D. Of course, if it’s an aerial pass into the D, it’s a pretty difficult to judge and get right. But, with an elite skilled goalkeeper, because reading the game for them is at a high level and more opportunities like this are faced, then it may be of use. If the timing is such that the attacker isn’t going to get their first, but you need to clear because otherwise the ball could run on for them to latch onto, then it is something to consider. Possibly!

 

The following link takes you to a picture of Chris Bristow (in his time at Surbiton), clearing with a punt on a ball inside the D:

 

http://www.simonhartphotography.com/_photo_7383115.html

 

Clearing with greater force

If dealing with an aerial flicked into the D, swatting at it with the glove won’t actually do much. At least, that’s what I’ve found. Even if you’ve got good rebound properties with your glove, putting it just outside the D requires help from defenders (who may not be there) and such. Having witnessed Isaacs do it in person in a friendly against Holcombe, I’ve observed its uses. With a kick away, he managed to get it to distance and well controlled with accuracy, to the sidelines; much further than a clearance with the glove. You can’t really do that with a glove and a kick if done with power, provides another option. Unorthodox, yes and very difficult to teach but it is also very handy. A skill used appropriately in the right situation, which effectively is what the science of goalkeeping technique and tactics is about really. Having ‘tools in your toolbox’ as Mitch Korn teaches in ice hockey and something to be learnt from.

 

In the video of Isaacs, you can see Millington (playing for Exeter) just about (the camera angle blocking him out of shot!) at about 1:15 playing time.

 

‘Face’ of the kicker

Interestingly, Isaacs uses Mercian kickers, which do not have buckles on the ‘face’ which could potentially affect the ability to punt the ball. Gryphon, Mazon and Grays also use this strapping system. I’m not sure exactly, to what depth, or how much protruding buckles can affect the punt itself, but having seen Obo users pull it off in training, don’t think it presents much of an issue.

 

Use?

Ultimately, it is an extra option, to confuse the opposition, or to help with a difficult ball that needs clearing. It has a very specific use and takes a lot of working on to be comfortable with, although I do like the idea of goalkeepers in hockey being more comfortable with the ball ‘at their feet’ as in football. You may want to prioritise on more important skills, but if you’ve got everything else sorted, may want to add it to your repertoire (especially if you are at a level where aerials into the D are more common). And basically if anything else, it’s a lot of fun to experiment and muck about in training (if you get the chance!) or you can just go down a park or ‘rec’ with a football and have a go, outside of your hockey training schedule.

 

Even if you don’t ever use it in a game, it is practising important skills of goalkeeping. At the fundamentals, it’s working on eye contact, so hand-eye (foot-eye in this case!), tracking the ball with vision, footwork and working with kicking and feeling comfortable with the ball at your feet. And stick work as well as you flip the ball up to punt clear.

 

You will see elite goalkeepers using it and you may even consider it yourself (maybe, perhaps!). But it’s a skill in itself and has a lot of finesse and panache I guess as it’s pretty precarious and requires a lot of self confidence and comfortable approach with the skill being pulled off, because otherwise you end up looking like a total Wally, as the ball skips past! It would take a lot of practise and confidence to pull it off in games, but can still be utilised as an option for a strong clearance against a high pass.

 

Food for thought?!

Or maybe not! But I think it’s good to be seeing goalkeepers push the boundaries and experiment with the goalkeeper as an option as distributor and for clearing. But, it’s not like I’m recommending you go out and teach yourself it to use in games! The article was written as a means to explore and engage with the idea of what a goalkeeper can and should do, as an extra defender perhaps. It’s just a chance to get you to think! Thinking about the position of goalkeeper and the goalkeeper’s role within the team.

 

Personally, I would really like to see hockey becoming a lot more like football (hearing the cries of dismay!) in relation to goalkeeping (not anything else!), where the goalkeeper is an outlet pass option, accurate and comfortable with the ball at their feet, and ‘the fifth defender’. Ice hockey is no different, where the goaltender is taught to ‘dump the puck’ with a long pass and can even assist on goals, so in terms of this, I think hockey (goalkeeping) is a little behind the times on boundary pushing and someone like Isaacs could have an impact on the way we think about playing in goal and revolutionise the approach to the position and thoughts about it. Just my take on things! Not as if they’re groundbreaking or anything (my opinion that is)!

‘Time wasting’ at the short corner

A quick article on the option of standing outside your goal to prepare for the corner. Not everyone uses it and might consider this sort of thinking to be a little tedious, but I think to think outside the box and enjoy writing about all things goalkeeping, so something to mull over if you’ve never considered it before!

‘Time wasting’ at the corner is essentially just taking your time to set up at the short corner, stepping outside of goal and making the most of the opportunity to prepare or attempt to ‘psych out’ the opposition. I thought I’d give it that title just to reel you in (hopefully!)! It’s basically an opportunity to take on fluids and rehydrate (if you are playing in a hot climate especially, or to help with mentality and concentration; water is said to aid this!) as well as organise your corner defence, especially if the opposition are running a set-up you are having trouble with or not experienced before and need to know how to run your defenders against the injection. It’s not exactly the same time wasting in footie where they drag out a spot kick but I guess is in a similar vein.

 

Kelburne take their time preparing for the corner.
Kelburne take their time preparing for the corner.

 

What is it?

‘Time wasting’ at the corner is a variety of things, but I wanted to extrapolate it for the point of article writing! It can be really trying to push the boat out and run down the clock, or simply standing outside the goal and chatting to your defence to organise it, if the team has started to variant their routine and you need to change up your defence run out. Taking the chance to rehydrate and run through options with your team mates. In some ways, in its truest form, ‘time wasting’ is a technique used noticeably at the international level to try and slow down the taking of the penalty corner. Especially if trying to run down the clock at the end of a match when you don’t want to face another corner! The method puts the other team off their efforts in organising the corner attack; hopefully messing up their chances. Defenders will take their time putting on their face masks and try to prolong it for as long as possible. As a team effort, the goalkeeper is also expected to find ways of wasting crucial time!

 

Who does it?

It’s not that uncommon to see goalkeepers step out of their goal just before they set up before a short corner that has been conceded. If you watched the Olympics or been watching other games at international level, then you may have seen various goalkeepers do this. James Fair for example would often drink and talk to his defenders just before getting back into goal to prepare for the corner. I managed to get down to the Euro Hockey League first round stages at East Grinstead not so longer ago in person and watched Kelburne’s goalkeeper in the game against Rot˗Weiss Kӧln taking time out to step out of his goal to do so. You can often find goalkeepers at all sorts of levels doing so too.

 

Stepping out of goal

Instead of stepping into their goal to get ready for the corner, some keepers like to step out of their goal and stand off the line, outside of goal. This allows the team to get organised and signals to the umpire that the time is not ready yet. This is especially useful if you do not have the full 4 defenders for the corner defence and are waiting for the extra men to come back. Once the extra defender has turned up, or your team have got ready, you can step back into goal and get prepared (ready in your stance) for the injection and the shot.

McGregor waits outside his goal.
McGregor waits outside his goal.

 

Here you can see the goalkeeper of Boxmeer (black jersey, red TK pads) waiting outside the goal to give his defence the time to set up at 0:48:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUNRmTL7-Sc

 

At 0:07 you can see Dan Vismaan (the goalkeeper at Rotterdam before Blaak took over) stepping out of goal, but not making ‘a meal out of it’!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZjWWPWrPbg&feature=related

 

In this clip at 0:22 playing time makes an obvious statement of stepping out of the goal to ‘time waste’ and then talks things through with his defenders:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QojFtHaOFIA&feature=related

 

Stretching

Some goalkeepers will even go as far as stretching to try and run down the clock even further. When they are outside of the goal, waiting for their teammates to get organised (if the defenders are putting on their face masks, jocks and hand protection) then the goalkeeper could do some stretching, like the leg muscles. If you wanted to waste further time, you could pretend there was something wrong with your equipment. For example, you could fiddle with the straps on your kickers, or take a leg guard off to look at the kicker and then put it back on again (pretending as if there’s something wrong with it). Doing this wastes further time and frustrates your opponents even more.

 

This goalkeeper almost ‘takes liberties’ with his stretching!
This goalkeeper almost ‘takes liberties’ with his stretching!

 

N.B.: In writing this, I’d like to point out I don’t condone it, as reporting it, just making note   of observations from games I’ve made! It feels a little cheeky and audacious to try to get away with!

 

On the second corner in this video, you can see the goalie stretching a bit at 0:27 to give his defenders extra time to get ready, before he quickly sets up behind the goal line:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEmgPLBPv3E

 

Time to prepare

‘Time wasting’ other than the phrase, at its simplest form; of stepping out of goal and organising offers a simple but crucial option. It gives you the time to think through options against an opposition who are trying a different corner routine, which you need to analyse and work out a suitable way to defend. If you have faced a corner where the opposition have ‘switched things up’ and changed their approach then your standard defence may not be up to it. Ex-GB and Scotland international Ali McGregor used to talk with his defenders outside the goal to talk through things with his defenders in club action when he was at Loughborough as do various other goalkeepers.

 

McGregor discusses with his team mates how the short corner defence will be organised.
McGregor discusses with his team mates how the short corner defence will be organised.

 

Here the goalkeeper is visibly far out of goal and taking to his defence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmbmUwbvYYA

 

It also gives time to rehydrate as has been stated previously. Rehydrating is important and often forgotten and the umpire should allow you to get a drink during the process of preparing for the corner, within the team it takes your defenders to put on extra protection. Otherwise you may be taking the risk in getting a drink, only to have to push your helmet on and rush out of goal as someone throws an aerial into your D or something, as I’ve heard a tale of!

 

Rob Turner of Bowdon takes on some water.
Rob Turner of Bowdon takes on some water.

Umpire timing

Whilst, the title and phrasing suggests that you could actually time waste, I don’t think umpires should or would seriously let you get away with total defrauding! Umpires will normally time at the elite level to make sure they don’t actually waste time, and hope this is the same for elsewhere. In the Euro Hockey League they had an allotted time limit for how long the team had to prepare on a corner. At lower levels you will still get astute umpires making sure you’re not taking an obscene amount of time with the tactic, even if the same restrictions aren’t in place (i.e. amount of time set)!

 

And for one final clip, you can see a good junior Australian goalkeeper (who is actually in the U21s set-up as much as I know) stepping out of goal and not taking too long or a fuss to sort out his defenders and the defence at 0:57, under the watchful eye of the umpire:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmNsZjHlCcs

 

Psychological advantage?

One other interpretation is that it is to do with ‘mind games’ a goalkeeper can play with the opposition. Just like at flicks where a goalkeeper might take off their kit and then put it back on again before setting on the line, or banging the posts and making a lot of noise, that sort of thing! The idea is to put the team off their attack. It is a simple concept: the more time you waste, the more agitated and annoyed the opposition get; putting them off their ‘game’. Rather than allowing them to get on with it, they will probably get annoyed at the idea of you running down the clock!

 

By doing this, you ‘get into the heads’ of the opposite team; playing mental games like this will disrupt their concentration and therefore disrupt the corner routine, getting them to hopefully miss. If they have a set routine they like to use, then they may end up changing it, or the drag flicker could mess up, having had his concentration dented. But, at the end of the day, if like all the posturing done at penalty flicks (like the penalty shootout in football; and there are some bizarre routines!) and you don’t make the save then it’s better just to set and get ready and ensure you do make the stop!

 

Using it?

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide how you play. There’s nothing wrong with experimenting and trying things out to work out how you play best and develop your own style. There are a lot of things you can learn about goalkeeping that you won’t pick up from coaching, but rather normally from seeing other goalkeepers play and how they approach the game and this is one of many of them. I personally would rather just set up behind the line, focus on the ball at the injection and try and analyse the corner set-up to expect what type of shot is heading my way, but have sometimes done it in the case of team mates needing a ‘breather’ after a tough half or feel the need to talk through a defensive change.

Goalkeepers ‘are like wine’

Goalkeepers are always told they will reach their peak at a later age and though some defy this expectation with their abilities, it is often safe to say the goalkeeper has a harder time of getting first eleven game action! Like wine, mature and develop as your career goes on.

Although it is not impossible for a goalkeeper to play strongly at a young age, goalkeeping isn’t exactly a ‘boy’s game’. This is in the sense that it takes a lot of talent, a mature attitude, and experience of the speed of play and scenarios at the highest level, to really make it. Whilst there are many extremely talented goalkeepers who have got their break early playing at a much younger age than a mature veteran, maintaining this level takes experience. A goalkeeper with more experience should perform better as they can work off their experiences to develop awareness and ability to deconstruct the game. If you have been ‘around the block’ more you already have a head start. Whereas climbing the ladder is based on gaining crucial experience at each stage, experience of play at the highest level is undeniably important for making the switch to elite starter.

 

Why?

A good metaphor for the goalkeeping journey is wine; wine gets better with age and the best wine is theorised as a mature wine. Or whiskey if that’s your tipple! This is the same with goalkeepers: goalkeeping is all about experience and the ability to know what to do when something happens in the game, so gaining that experience is all important to achieving success. Like wine, goalkeepers need time to develop; the older they get, the better they get thanks to their game experiences. Playing 2s as a reserve is not the same standard as a 1st choice premier league starter, so there is quite a jump to be made.

 

Experience is so important to allowing a goalkeeper to perform at their best. Whilst reaction speeds and cannot be taught, experience needs to be learnt through playing (obviously!). And thus, the more a goalkeeper plays the better they should get as they grow accustomed to the rigours and tribulations of a season at the highest levels of hockey. Whereas a forward can come on as a replacement and come off the bench to play, a goalkeeper is there for the full 70 minutes, meaning they come under a lot of pressure to perform well week in week out, relying on their previous experiences to follow onto the next.

 

Wine gets better with age

 

Experience is like the maturing stage of wine in this metaphor. Goalkeepers are players that need experience and wisdom, so that they can make the timely save and play with consistency. Without it, they cannot succeed: they will not be able to know how to react to a bad game and end up letting their team down. Like wine, goalkeepers need time to get to their best. Outfield players are expected to have more of an immediate impact at a younger age breaking into a 1st XI, but goalkeepers often have to wait their turn.

 

The best goalkeepers are theoretically the older goalkeepers: they know what’s coming and they know how to react to it and deal with the play. They know how to get the job done and they know what it takes to compete. With all their experience, they can put it to work during the game when it becomes a tough match. Once goalkeepers reach their peak they will potentially be unstoppable, even if it will only be short lived; everything else up to that point is the work done to reach that level. Michael Mahood from Canada, considered one of the world’s best, was 36 or so before he retired. Of course, eventually reaction times will wane and you can become more prone to injury as you age.

 

If you look at the average age of most national league and international goalkeepers, you will see a common trend of older aged goalkeepers. As in older than 20 at least, but generally are nearer mid-20s and older! At home in England, Simon Mason (who was obviously GB’s no.1 for a long time) is currently playing National League at an old age; that says something about his ability to read the play and dominate the game. Chris Hibbert is going strong in his late thirties at Southgate and Simon Mason is nearing the big 4-0. If you take the National Premier League in England, 3 starters are 21 or younger, whereas the youngest in the conferences is about 23 (Phil Carr or Tommy Alexander), although Andrew Miller is 22 and Chris Rea 21; Old Loughtonians’ Chris Naven 22, whilst George Ratcliffe (21) is benching at Doncaster, though given a chance in indoor, as far as I know, but could be wrong about the general age range!

 

Reaching your peak

Goalkeepers aren’t really expected to hit their prime until their late 20s now, although the early 30s is what it is generally considered to be the time for that. Repetition of actions makes decision making easier as the goalkeeper should know exactly what to do for specific situations as a result of their experience. Positional awareness comes from the experience of being in the right position on multiple plays over time, so being on angle all the time and knowing where to be when at the right time is also a bi-product of game experience. Consistency develops as the goalkeeper gets used to playing at the highest level on a regular basis. Mistakes are made and you can learn from them to improve.

 

With confidence being the most important skill bar the technical side of things, a young goalkeeper tested too early can have their confidence crushed after a few shaky performances and may struggle to refind the form that got them to that position. 24 seems to be the bar that is being set for goalkeepers to be old enough to stand the rigours of being the starter, the age where they can be expected to take the reins. David Kettle for example is settling into a starting role at Surbiton and I don’t think Potton started as the first choice for EG until he was about that age. John Ruddy and Joe Hart in football really started to become elite goalkeepers at this age (Hart having a crucial season at Birmingham). So whilst I think there is a lowering of the age for a starter, they will still potentially and theoretically still hit their prime in their late twenties or early thirties as a result of game experience and improved ability to ‘read’ the play and what is about to or going to happen in front of them. Which is a good thing as they aren’t playing to their best just yet!

 

It is a good point to know that goalkeepers theoretically won’t peak and play at their best until they are about 33 years old; that seems like a long time if you’ve been playing in goal since you were 12 or so! Take Vogels for example; if you saw him before he retired, playing internationally, he played like a wise veteran and arguably the world’s best, whereas Stockmann was struggling a bit against teams internationally as he took over but has been recently finding great form and playing up to expectations as of late, to dramatic effect. Not that he isn’t any good but it was his first real experience of taking the starting spot at international level and experiencing the struggles of competing against the world’s best, like Nathan Burgers in his early days. Without sounding overly critical (they are the world’s elite after all!).

 

The exception to the rule

It’s not uncommon for a prodigal goalkeeper to be able to play at the elite level from a much younger age. Obviously it is important to get noticed early and prove you have talent, because making attempts at a later date to jump to the top is obviously much more difficult! Technique can be taught and experience can be gained but god given talent is not. A young goalkeeper with exceptional athletic ability and composure within their D is a rarity and yet not impossible. Like Niklas Sakowsky at Crefelder HTC, Antoni Kindler for Canada or Pirmin Blaak at Rotterdam. But everyone is unique and develops at different stages and times. The reasoning for getting recognised early is that coaching has developed enough for goalkeepers to get good access to developing their skills to the highest levels. Diccon Stubbings, Harry Martin and James Bailey are the latest crop of mercurial youngsters, with Patrick Smith waiting in the wings at Cannock, in England, for example

 

If elite athletes get the right coaching and are pushed properly they can quickly ascend the ladder rapidly if given the chance to shine, with the experience of higher level hockey increasing this development significantly. However, with the pressure to perform consistently and to a high level, the goalkeeper has to be incredibly mentally strong. Young people are often overly confident, so maturity and composure at a young age and not getting carried away with your own success is as true of goalkeeping as it is anything in life. A young goalkeeper with the correct level of mental strength and ‘cockiness’ and the play to back it up will go further than if they begin to self doubt. And good performances can be the assurance for psychological benefits.

 

Maturing like wine

Ultimately, your best goalkeeping years will be later on in your playing career, even if you show promise early on. Hard work, dedication and commitment will pay off eventually. If you have your heart set on playing the best you can (whether that be internationally, in national league or whatever else), be prepared to have to wait and be patient but retain that edge and drive to be able to get the chance and run away with it when it comes. Goalkeeping is something you need to work at it and learn from your experiences. Don’t think that you will suddenly become amazing, but be accepting that you will need to work for your opportunities and give it your best, so that one day you will be unstoppable! It is human to want everything now and be impatient, but you need to wait your turn. Like wine, let yourself develop with time and then grasp the starting job with all your might when you get the chance.

Looking to win

If you want to win the league or a tournament, you’re going to learn how to win. Here’s a rough guide!

The object of any game (whether you feel that way or not or otherwise!) is to win. And as a goalkeeper we hope that we can consistently play in such a way that we can lead our team to victory time and time again. But it is not always that easy, with the elite goalkeeper able to carve out a reputation for success by rising above the challenges they face. Whilst some goalkeepers potentially get an easy ride by playing on a strong team, the great goalkeeper will be able to find ways to win even on a mediocre or poor team, aware of what they need to do during a game to secure the points. Take Julio Cesar at QPR. Yes, different sport and they haven’t won many (Green got their first win ironically!), but he is able to consistently put in mind blowing performances to keep a clean sheet and earn a draw, like the recent game against Chelsea, helping them come out on top at 1-0. What more can you do than not letting any goals in week in week out?! So in this vein, you should look to emulate this success in your own season, being able to battle through adversity to earn the points and be the hero!

 

Making the routine stops

Even though the art of practice and training tries to boil down the art of goalkeeping and sport in general into a series of routine actions, it is not always that simple. Get set in your stance, be on angle, react to the shot and make the stop, that kind of thing. But a lot can happen in a game and it won’t always go to plan. So it is important to be able to control the controllable. Getting the job done means being able to make the simple easy looking saves that are just as important as the spectacular, breath taking ones; make sure you are able to stop the ones coming straight you and don’t give away those ones that make you blush.

 

Making the big saves

The goalies who are really the crème de la crème are the ones that can make the game changing saves; they know it’s happening and they pull it off nonetheless! In other sports this may be more obvious, like ice hockey where a big save changes the whole momentum as the time rushes up the ice to counter-attack after a big save, but they can be just as game changing in our sport. Breakaways, interceptions against a forward through on goal or decisive penalty corner saves when the game is tied, that kind of thing. These kinds of saves can happen at the start of the match when the opposition could gain the lead or at the end when they could tie it up or win. You need to have the mental strength and level of concentration to be intensely aware of the need to pull this off, keeping your team in it with a chance to take the full points. The time to change the game is in your hands and the best goalkeepers will be able to do it on a consistent basis!

 

Consistency

To win on a consistent basis it needs to become a regular habit, almost a routine. Whether or not you have little to do behind a forward pressing, attacking team, or end up facing a lot of shots behind plenty of defensive breakdowns, the best goalkeepers will find a way to win the game. All the great goalkeepers will win behind high scoring (5 to double figures) or low scoring games (1-0). This is the consistency: the ability to perform well game in game out to allow your team to win. It is the ability to win no matter how many shots you face, to be able to make the game winning save on its own, or the multiple saves that will deny the opposition a comeback. This boils down to not getting to high or low emotionally as things start to rattle your cage as you have to battle against it. Play the full 70 minutes to the best of your ability, not being mentally affected by the score line and give yourself the chance to do your best. Don’t get dismayed, just focus on shot stopping: the team is the one who wins the game, not you, by scoring (well, that’s the way I see it!)! You just have to make sure you keep it that way!

 

Exuding confidence

Being confident is an essential part of goalkeeping aside from the technical aspects. To win you have to believe you are good enough! Think of Roberto Mancini’s comments about wanting Hart to be cocky. To make those saves and change the game, you have to really believe in your abilities otherwise you will doubt and make mistakes that gift the opposition. Often it comes from within, whilst it may take time, encouragement and strong performances to prove it to yourself. It’s something I intend to write about: be cocky, not arrogant because if something happens you didn’t expect as you said you wouldn’t let it, then you’ll end up looking a wally and your team might doubt you or it could damage that confidence!

 

Confident goalkeepers believe they will win the game no matter what and make the tough saves look like no big deal. Like Patrick Roy’s brand of confidence (Google for some of his Stanley cup quotes!). They are so confident, they know they are going to stop everything, rather than just ‘can’! This confidence comes from hard work and performing well. Self belief is not about whether your coach thinks you’re good or your team does; you believe you’re good! Taking every step (mental preparation, stretching etc.) to ensure you’ll win helps this.

 

Being confident is great because it has a knock-on effect you might not have thought about. If you exude confidence, everyone else will play confidently as they reflect on their own ability to play well and do their best. Confidence rubs off! A team is confident when they know they don’t have to cover their eyes when a shot comes in, they know the goalkeeper is going to bail them out so they don’t worry as much! Think about being a team mate of Gomes when he was playing badly. Play well and your team will appreciate it!

 

Fighting for the win

Goalkeepers who don’t have to prove themselves in my opinion won’t do as well.  If you’ve got something to prove, you’re going to work harder and be more competitive. If you don’t have things handed to you, then you already have motivation to outdo your competition. BUT even those that have proved themselves will continue to work hard as they push their abilities to the limits, if they are the elite, because they don’t want to just want to be good, they want to be the best! Tenaciously battling in training and more importantly in games, to play the best they can and give their team the best chance of winning is where it’s at. They’ll outwork you and fight to make sure they stay first choice, it means that much to them! Battling against the odds is a lot of fun if you want to show you’ve got it as I found in my time as you are the underdog: what do you have to lose?!

 

The stronger-willed goalkeeper will be the top of the pack. The goalkeeper who is determined to win and passionate about goalkeeping will be the best and their desire is noticeable and easy to spot. Taking extra shots in training, doing fitness outside of organised training, the things expected of an elite athlete anyway! Time not doing this is time wasted to them. This is an aspect of your ‘mental game’ you need to work on if you want to get up the ladder of hockey.

 

Do your best

It’s a hard task to win on a regular basis and takes time and effort and the passion to win to pull it off. Even if you are on a team stacked with talent, take De Gea at Manchester United, you still need to make important saves as theoretically the less chances a team has the more they will take them as they are limited by the defence (i.e. they will be of a higher quality as they can’t waste the chance on goal and aren’t merely ‘throwing’ shots on goal). And make sure you don’t have ‘a bad day at the office’ if anything else because that won’t help your team out! Be strong, be bold, believe you’ve got the ability and go out there and prove it!

 

Play to win!

Ultimately, you want to play to win. From the outset of a match, you should be totally focused on the game and winning and nothing else. This is the level of intense concentration of the elite goalkeeper and you have to match it if you want to win that badly! Love goalkeeping and love to win and find ways to win and you’ll be alright! Just make sure you can do it consistently!

 

Feel I should reference Jeff Lerg’s article for this as there is a lot of influence obvious in the article:

http://mihockeynow.com/2013/01/from-the-crease-the-winning-goaltender/

The ‘No goals rules’…

With easy goals not encouraged, the ‘no goals’ rules can be a useful reminder of how not to get scored on!

When it comes to goalkeeping, there are a few basic rules when it comes to potentially allowing the goals you do. Not necessarily ones based on technique or style of play, they are focused more on how the goalkeeper allows goals; whether they give away easy goals or if they play as hard to beat. By following these simple and seemingly obvious rules of playing in goal, you can improve your play and challenge shooters to really step up their game to earn their points against you (that is if you give up any goals!).

 

The rules

Any goal going in against you that breaks the rules laid out, means you aren’t forcing the shooter to beat you. They don’t have to work hard for their goal, as you allow a ‘softie’! All that is happening is you are forcing the shooter to merely put the ball ‘on’ the goal rather than pick a spot that you would be difficult to beat against. A lack of time as the shooter gets a defender coming in to oppose them, is going to make their mind up for them as they simply shoot towards the goal, rather than targeting a specific spot to beat you at. Rather, a shooter ‘working’ the goalkeeper will look to exploit the corners or spots difficult to reach, trying to get around the barrier that is the body in front of them as they shoot. And this is what the goalkeeper wants, to be tested and consequently test their shot stopping abilities!

 

The following are the rules that cover how you should focus on not giving away easy goals, and will be explored further:

 

  • No goals through you
  • No goals above or underneath you
  • No poor angle goals

 

No goals through you

The first rule and most obvious one, is to not concede through you. Not letting a goal go through you and humiliate you is quite important to showing you can get the job down against weaker, less challenging shots. This can be straight through the legs where you struggle to close your legs in time, possibly against a corner or strike from the top of the D, or possibly gaps in your stance, like the holes under your shoulders, with space between gloves and body, against a tip-in for example. This is the same for ice hockey, where goalies are taught to close gaps as they go down to block and play the percentages. In football they really do focus on the adage of never allowing a shot to get through you, teaching the need to get your body behind a shot so that you get as much coverage as possible if you fail on the initial block (wherein they teach technique to bring the chest in to play to help out, as they go to catch a low ball for example).

 

I couldn’t find a suitable hockey example, so here’s Scott Carson’s mistake against Croatia and reinforces football’s teachings:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxefXTqeVi4

 

The following clip does show a hockey example, where at 4:51 playing time, Whitchurch’s Williams unfortunately concedes a squeaker that gets through his legs as it rebounds off the right pad:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUBtktHtL-k

 

Or this one where the goalkeeper again unfortunately allows a goal between the legs, against a flick straight down the middle at a short corner:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYTWzYUkhsM

 

No goals over or underneath you

Again, just like there should be no goals through you, you should aim to not allow goals squeezed under or over you. Essentially, even though you should work hard not to allow them, shots into the corners are ones that if there are any, are the least embarrassing. Lobbed shots, when you are off your line and beaten by a chipped ball aren’t as regular in hockey as they are in football, but should not be given away so easily against the opposition. And balls squeaking through underneath a kicker not firmly placed on the pitch, or when ‘logging’ against a shot or sliding out to block, should be avoided at all costs. Technique and balancing saves should prevent such occurrences.

 

Though it’s not necessarily an accurate representation, this video illustrates getting lobbed (not sure how else it would have been stopped as the shooter is in total control of the ball and you can’t tackle on your feet!):

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmZsS2BeI10

 

No poor angle goals

Just as you should not allow goals through you as a result of poor footwork or a not very efficient ready stance, you should not be giving away easy goals as a result of weak fundamental angle play. Making sure you are on the angle and covering space is essential to any save, but conceding through a poor angle is not great! Allowing a goal inside the gap between you and your near post is considered another no-no. A goal where you concede through the acute angle on year near side is not what you want; if anything, you should be conceding on the other side where you have more work to do to cover more space, rather than your near post which you should be covering properly. A goal allowed on the ‘short side’, like the other goals, is more unforgivable because it shows problems with your fundamentals. Work on your angles and making sure you have them covered, in training and then in games.

 

In essence, a goal allowed, like this:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZLW3ardwyc

 

It’s also possible to get caught out on the short, acute angle as you charge out to challenge the shooter, where you should be making more of an effort to carry on the line of ‘hugging’ the post. A goal like in this clip at 2:56 playing time:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6nLJt8uaRA

 

Follow the rules!

Ultimately, it’s a good idea to put these rules to work in your own game. Whilst it’s fun to think about conceding in a different light and making light of goals allowed, these ‘rules’ draw attention to how you should play and what goals you should not be giving up, even if you can make those breath taking stops. Try and focus on them game in game out, so that you give your full attention to being the best shot stopper you are capable of. At the end of the day, make the shooter make the difficult shot, not the easy one!

Control your rebounds!

Rebound control is an important part of reducing the opposition’s scoring chances.

When considering shot stopping abilities, other than a pro-active style limiting chances through active interceptions, a more developed goalkeeper should think about controlling their rebounds to prevent any further chances during an opposition’s attack on goal. The less chances a goalkeeper faces, the more they are doing to reduce the rate of attacks and thus scoring rate. A goalkeeper who faces a lot of shots may do so because they lack the ability to control their rebounds, allowing the opposition more scoring opportunities by not getting rid of any further chances properly (although the shots faced could be down to a leaky defence!), so it is important to think about your rebound control and how it affects your performances.

 

Controlling your rebounds

Unlike other sports, a hockey goalkeeper’s kit mean they end up blocking pretty everything shot at them, making rebound control more complicated and a delicate process. Hockey is special in that rebounds cannot be ‘deadened’ or eliminated, preventing any further scoring opportunities in close because we have nothing to catch with! Whereas these goalies are predominantly more able to catch and hold on to the ball; in football they are taught to catch, in ice hockey they can catch with the glove and even in something like floor ball they can catch shots, in (field) hockey, we are unique in having to using blocking surfaces to push the rebounds away for us. As a result, you have to be more pro-active with your rebound control, thinking ahead to where you can see the space to put the ball into and striving to drive through the ball to get distance on the clearance.

 

Redirecting on the save

To actively control your rebounds, you should be redirecting during the save, rather than blocking a ball and letting it go back out directly in front of you, which hands the opposition a golden opportunity at goal. To actively get rid of a second chance after the save, you need to be directing it away from any close-in attackers, finding a space to put the ball to, to make the opposition’s chance to poke away or slam home a rebound, harder. This is difficult in itself, relying on you pre-scanning the space in front of you and your awareness of what is going on and who is where. Physically, you want to have active hands and legs, pushing in to the save and turning your kit as it hits you to angle it away to safety. Again, as harped on about before, driving through with an attacking motion will improve your ability to control your rebound as you work on actively pushing through the save.

 

A shot that hits you square will go straight back out to the shooter.
A shot that hits you square will go straight back out to the shooter.

 

A shot that hits an angled glove or pad or kicker, attacking the clearance, will go out with distance away from danger.
A shot that hits an angled glove or pad or kicker, attacking the clearance, will go out with distance away from danger.

 

 

In the following clip, you can see the Kamong goalie, an elite ’keeper in the Hoofdklasse level, clearing a ball through a crowd of players, which is a skill in itself!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPJblaHaSZE

 

‘Dead rebounds’ and clearing after the save

A remember that has not been sufficiently ‘killed’ and you have simply deadened the shot or not put far enough away to safety, obviously puts you in a precarious position. If this happens, then you want to react intensely with an active mindset, rushing out to reach it and kick it away. Kicking away seems the safest option; charging out to clear and attacking clearances as written about in the past will give you a better chance of getting rid of the ball. Similarly, if you do your best to make the stop but can’t get rid of the rebound, then get as close to the ball as possible and kick away with distance to stop any further scoring opportunities.

 

Diving as an emergency

If you don’t have time to reach the ball but it is close to you and you want to push away the ball, then diving in to clear could be used as an emergency procedure. I may be wrong to make a sweeping statement, but using the stick seems more popular in Holland and Belgium, but I have seen footage of Russ Meadows, the Australian goalie, diving away to clear a rebound off a Pakistani shot in the Azlan Shah tournament a while ago, although they did put away the rebound. It’s more of a last ditch move as you’re putting yourself out of the play by going to ground (and it will be difficult to get back to your feet quickly enough!), so should be used when you feel the chances are stacked against and unable to get your defenders help. Dive in as close as you can and then use your stick to sweep away the ball as far away as you can!

 

Control rebounds!

Ultimately, you want to do your best to control rebounds. It is no good simply stopping shots and blocking them, you really have to be active in getting rid of the ball! Reducing rebounds and getting them clear will reduce the chances of being scored on as you limit the shooters to a few chances, improving the way you play and increasing your chances of a clean sheet!

 

Pointers:

  • Drive through the ball to get power behind the save
  • Turn your kit as you push into the save, to redirect the ball away with force
  • Pre-scan the area to look for a place to put the rebound
  • Have active hands and legs in front of your body to push away the redirect
  • Attack clearances to get rid of another chance
  • Dive to clear only in an emergency!

Experience is important!

Experience is a quintessential aspect of goalkeeping but making use of it to ‘read’ the game matters the most.

Unlike a forward or outfield player who is supposed to start young and impress early on to break into the first eleven, a goalkeeper is more of a slow burner, having to bide their time until the opportunity for such action presents itself. This reflects the nature of a goalkeeper; using their experience to analyse the game play in front of them and react accordingly to break up scoring opportunities and deny the opposition their scoring chances. As a result, it is important for a goalkeeper to make the most of their game experience going into their next game, or throughout the season, to play a more prominent role in the defence.

 

Experience matters

Experience is important in anything really, work, life or driving perhaps! And goalkeeping is no different and the goalkeeper’s job is driven by experience. The depth of game experience at a given level can have an important influence on your chances of developing and playing to your optimum best. Experience of games where you are up against it often helps calm the nerves in a tight game that will have a decisive impact on your team’s table positioning, or in a top of the table clash, for example. Not only does experience have an effect on how you perform mentally, but also helps you analyse games and dissect your performances in tactical awareness, so that you can breakdown a scoring opportunity firsthand in the next game; such as positioning against shots, or when to come off your line against an attack. Able to expect where a shot is headed, or where and when a player will break through onto the D and your goal, will help you make important interceptions or points winning saves.

 

The importance of experience
Game experience is more invaluable than any training session or coached session that you can do. You can practise and practise any given scenario, but if you cannot put it to work in a game, it hasn’t come to fruition. This is obviously often done to mental strength and personal confidence, but also an ability (or lack of) to ‘read’ the game in front of you and diagnose the potential opportunities for a scoring chance during the game. Some goalkeepers are great at performing well in training, but this does not translate to game performances. Like in life, some people are great at the theory but struggle to put it into practise in reality! To be able to develop to the highest level, you need to be pushing yourself to get this kind of experience and more so, to be able to pull it off in games.

 

You may be getting a lot of training and practising with a higher level squad, but you are not getting game experience. The lack of regular games can affect your chances of improving or developing as a goalkeeper, which is why goalkeepers in footie often loan out their reserve goalkeepers to a lower team for the chance for them to get game experience rather than ‘riding the pine’. This is obviously more difficult in hockey as there are no loans systems, but in a bigger club playing for the second eleven and biding your time is just as useful! This is why young goalkeepers getting high level game experience early on is so invaluable in some ways, as they are acclimatising to the elite level and exposing themselves to more testing and challenging games, rather than simply bench warming or playing down a level. A goalkeeper with more experience at this level is going to have a longer career and beat off other competition as they are already on the right track to getting a shot at the highest level. The more you test yourself during games, the more likely you are to develop more quickly, if your confidence stays intact!

 

Working off past experiences

The most obvious time in your playing career when you cannot rely on experience, would be when you start. In this case, you are basing your play off of each game experience, slowly but surely getting used to angles, positioning, depth, and reactive saves. But moving up the levels and playing at a higher speed and facing different shots or routines and play styles, you again build up an experience to base your play off, developing as a result. That aside, experience counts for a lot in goalkeeping, with you able to draw on previous experiences and tactical knowledge to counter attack an opposition’s assault on your D, commanding the defence to react appropriately or when to come off your line for a smart interception.

 

Like the wise old owl, the veteran keeper can draw on all of the games they have played to help them in their ability to dominate their D and command their defenders to increase their chances of low scoring (or conceding!) games. A younger goalkeeper might be able to get to shots more quickly than their older counterpart, but the older keeper has the advantage of countless games that offer them a wealth of experience for them to pick up the opposition in their in-game analyse of the opposition’s attacks. As they get more experience, the shot stopping abilities and athleticism start to combine with this ability to know when to do what or be where, at the right time, during a game and the goalkeeper will start to be more of an incredibly dominant force in the games they play. Kind of why a goalkeeper takes time to mature and peak later on in life!

 

Getting experience

The simplest and most obvious way to get game experience is to just get out there and play! Even if it as a lower level than you want or expect, you are still getting chances to build your experience and confidence in your abilities. Summer hockey in the off-season over in the UK is great for this, where there is an opportunity to get starts when other goalkeepers may be relaxing or off on holiday and such, and you can also prove yourself to other members of the club who might play for a higher team. ‘Doubling up’, often more possible when playing for a larger club who are without regular goalkeepers, is another way of doing this, playing more than once at a weekend.

 

Use your experience!

Ultimately, the crux of experience is how you make use of it when it comes to game time. By being able to ‘read’ the game better, you can have a greater impact on the games that you play. Make use of your experiences to think through how you should have reacted better when you allowed such and such a goal, so that you don’t make the same mistake twice or in the next game! You can be the most athletic and acrobatic awesome goal defying shot stopper, but if you don’t have a good, grounded level experience to base your understanding of how plays work or develop as you ‘read’ the opposition, then you are consequently going to make timely saves or interceptions.

Playing yourself out of a ‘slump’

‘Slumps’ can derail a season but going but to basics and working on your mental strength should work wonders!

At some point in everyone’s playing time, there will be a time where they struggle to make saves or deny the opposition, maybe even feeling like a ‘polo’ or leaking goals like a sieve as outfielders often call it! The elite goalkeepers have elite skills as well as an overpowering mental fortitude that ensures that they happen very rarely rather than perhaps more so, for the case of us mere mortal goalkeepers! But it’s no good falling into the trap of feeling the ‘slump’ is unstoppable, it takes guts to realise you can halt it and overcome it, but it’s doable! To beat the ‘slump’, the simplest way is to go back to basics, to relearn things and focus on the ball and compete and go through things with a purpose. You need to realise that you are capable of being a great goalkeeper and need a bit of work to remember that!

 

The dreaded ‘slump’

Ah, the dreaded ‘slump’. When you’re playing as if the ball is more like a golf ball than the basketball it used to seem when you were seeing everything and stopping it all. When your confidence is shot to pieces and you can’t seem to be doing anything right, letting in weak goals and making mistakes left, right, and centre, that would otherwise not be happening. Every goalkeeper will go through them at some point in their playing career, but the key here is to reduce its effect on your overall performance within the season! The more it drags on, the more it will affect your ‘mental game’ and have a knock-on effect on your overall team performance as they can’t do much in front of what used to be the rock in the team defence.

 

What is it?

In some ways, by definition, it’s a psychological thing. You’re not confident in your abilities, put off by niggling worries or nervous that you’re going to get scored on by an own goal or made to look silly somehow, that prevent you from performing to the best of your ability, which your team obviously needs you to be doing, so that they have the best chance of winning! You need to work on building your confidence back up again so that you can play as well as (or better than!) you were before. You may be struggling with some of the basics and working on these should make moving around the D and positioning against shots more manageable as you work to improve your rate of saves made.

 

What to do

The ‘slump’ could often be the result of forgetting the basics or struggling with a certain aspect of them. Going back to basics is the best way to deal with anything, helping you find the area you are having trouble with and working to improve hard to improve on it. Every save is the result of good angle work, strong positioning and challenging depth, and then the correct save motion to block the ball appropriately.

 

Use training as a chance to immediately go back to basics and you should be able to isolate the flaw or error in your technical game. Something has probably gone wrong and become part of your goalkeeping make up. Work on getting centred on angles for each shot, movement, basic positioning and getting ‘square’ and the right depth. Without a goalie specific coach this is obviously harder as you may not be able to analyse the root of the problem that you are specifically struggling with, but in training, you can use the opportunity to go through the motion of the basics against every shot. Maybe even ask for another goalie at your club to see if they notice anything when you’re ‘taking’ shots.

 

Have a purpose!

The more in tune you are with the game, the better you will perform. Focus is key; be alert and have your head on a swivel and know where your team mates are and what’s going on around you. Always watch the ball, even pretend that you are a camera man filming the game; that’s how focused on the game you should be! I’ll continue to harp on about the importance of focusing on the ball throughout, into the save, as I’ve written about previously. You can focus on making the save properly on every single save to push yourself to get it right, whether in practise or in an actual game.

 

Have self belief!

The more you think about the slump, the worse it can get. So don’t! Sometimes it’s best just to ‘call it a day’ and put it beyond you and move on and focus on the next game at hand. As it can be a struggle with the psychological aspects of the sport, think of how you can overcome things mentally. Self talk is what they call it: tell yourself you’re unstoppable, you’re amazing, you’re unbeatable and as a result, you may just go out there and prove it to everyone else! It sounds a little trite and obvious, but have belief in your abilities, be confident that you can and more importantly will stop the ball! The more saves you get and the more in tune with the game you feel, you’ll get into the swing of things and start playing well again.

 

Keep going!

Even if at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again! Keep at it! Persevere and eventually you’ll succeed. Keep plugging away with your efforts and you’ll be able to be in a better position to reap the benefits. By working hard and putting the effort in, you should be ‘up’ for games and ready and raring to do your best in the next game.

 

Get out of it!

Ultimately, you want to make sure you do your best to get out of a slump, whether it be short term within a game as your confidence starts to crumble, or if it something more long term that could derail a season. It may take time, so be patient with yourself and don’t beat yourself up about things even if that sounds obvious and a little patronising! If you struggle, just go back to basics and think about what’s going wrong. Focus on the ball and be alert in matches and you should be on the road to recovery ok!

Intense goalkeeping

Playing with an intensity and determination to battle will help you to perform to your best.

With the goalkeeper having little to do behind a strong, coherent defence, the battle there is more about being able to stay mentally aware and keep a high level of concentration to make that important save that could mean the difference between winning and losing easy points as your team dominate. It could be said that here the goalkeeper exerts all of their energies in the mental battle of keeping alert. But with little physical activity, the goalkeeper theoretically has more energy in reserve to call upon when the opposition gets opportunities to break through and on and into the D. And as a result, the goalkeeper should always combine this mentally ‘switched on’ approach with the ability to battle no matter the easiness of a win.

 

Intensity in goalkeeping

It is my thinking and theory, that a goalkeeper should be intense in their concentration as much as with their physical actions. Rather than be passive and ‘react’ to the game as it happens, an intense approach will looking to take charge of all situations, as with attacking the ball and controlling your zone through voice and action, I feel a goalkeeper should actively involve themselves in the game through an energetic approach. By reacting to the game with intensity, the goalkeeper is more likely to pounce on rebounds or deal with scrambles and secondary scoring chances than otherwise, if more passive with their goalkeeping.

 

Excuse the examples of different sport (ice hockey), but they are very capable of illustrating and demonstrating this form of an almost ‘hyperactive’ goalie! Dominik Hasek was seen as the pinnacle of recent years, whilst Tim Thomas, whilst seemingly lacking in technique, is just as erratic at times. In the following clip, you can see a more active goalie, in the form of Pekka Rinne. Here, Rinne really pushes into shots and is active with positioning and challenging. Even in warm-ups, his movements are sharp and hands and legs aggressive in his shot stopping. You can see that this is the difference maker in a hard working and active goalie:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQViLiVevrY

 

High energy shot stopping

But more than that, a ‘high energy’ style of goalkeeping will see the goalkeeper react instantly to a shot, with them prepared to fully extend or dive out for example, to reach into the shot as it comes at the. And afterwards, recovering straight back up to get to the next shot, once the save is made or the ball has hit the ‘woodwork’! Intensive shot stopping combines acrobatics and athleticism: getting up as soon as physically possible to deal with the rebound or secondary chance on goal. This style mixes acrobatics and athleticism, combined with a desire to stop the ball (or whatever else it is!) no matter what; a determination to never be beaten and the athleticism and alertness to be able to pull off those world-class, unbelievable saves that only the elite can achieve. If you are beaten, then you are ready to react, because it may hit the post or woodwork. The following example shows this approach of Lloris at Tottenham (in football this time!), who will extend as far as possible to try and get a fingertip save on a shot, whilst ready to get up again for the next shot on goal. Although Lloris is beaten by the rebound chance, he first extends to attempt the (which is more than amazing!) and then recovers instantaneously to try and stop the second, which he is unfortunately beaten on.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMiHTZSuBOU

 

Hyper intensity

If you are intent on an energetic style, then you call almost end up in a hyper intense state. Rinne as , is often called a hyper intensive goalkeeper, making movements that can use up energy and may not always be required of him to make. Jonathon Quick also plays like this, but a Stanley cup ring proves its importance! This style of goalkeeping will require a strong stamina to be able to go the full seventy minutes (in field hockey’s case) without pause, as it puts a strong on your body and mind, requiring you to eat well and have a strong pre-season and continued approach to fitness. If the goalkeeper is facing a lot of shots (this could be in the range of 50-80 in a sport like ice hockey, but in hockey, may be up to thirty perhaps), the goalkeeper is in danger of burning out and ending up giving away goals through loss of energy, unable to keep up with the pace of the game and therefore slipping away in their battle to keep the score line down.

 

‘Battling’

Other than battling to keep or earn your position in a squad (as I have written about before), the battle within the game is with stopping every shot. Here, you do whatever it takes to see and read the ball and then make the remarkable save at the end of the sequence. You have to want it, to really want to win, competitively desiring never to be beaten! In comparison, if playing behind a weak team and getting ‘shelled’ a lot, you may lose confidence in your team and your desire to win. Here, a true battler with a strong ‘mental game’, will illustrate and demonstrate the difference between looking good and playing good, with an unbeatable desire to stop every shot! In ice hockey, they call it fighting for the puck, with the goalkeeper often literally fighting through traffic to get to a shot stopping position, just like a football has to fight opposition players in his box to come and collect a cross. In screens, the goalkeeper battles to find eye contact with the puck (or ball in this case!) to set themselves up for a strong save.

 

Mental determination

The ability to battle with in a game often coincides with the mental approach to goalkeeping. Rather than being defeatist and letting a goal hamper your confidence, the mentally strong battler approaches the game with an optimistic viewpoint, content to carry on regardless, to give their all no matter the score line. Here, the goalkeeper continues to fight in spite of the score to keep their team in with a chance of scoring more goals and reducing the deficit or bringing the game to a tie. In my opinion goalkeepers are the difference maker, but the goalkeeper who battles to stop every shot is far better than the one who has little work to do and doesn’t do it well. Just my thoughts though!

 

Bringing intensity to your game

Intensity does not include over exaggerating movements or diving for the sake of it, it is about being proactive and aggressive with your movements; challenging with positioning and challenging shots with an attacking saving motion and such. To do this, you have to mentally ‘fire’ yourself up, motivating yourself with a desire to win and play the best you can. Spending time before a game to psych yourself up and mentally prepare yourself, along with positive self talk as they can it to build self confidence and put away self doubt about not performing well will be the difference maker as you push yourself to play at your best.

The following clip shows a goalkeeper that ‘fights’ for every shot and really battles, getting a lot of clean sheets as a result!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1JUBqHEwH0

 

Be intense!

Ultimately, it is good to be intensity into your goalkeeping. Attacking the ball and challenging the opposition shooters confidently is going to improve your goalkeeping efforts. Tied in with commanding your area and making a dominant presence, you need to ready for those second chances on goal, to leap up onto your feet to try and get something on it to deny the opposition! With little work to do in an ‘easy’ game, you should be prepared to make up for it by involving yourself in the play and game like this that shows your desire to win.

Always challenging the shot

By stepping further out and narrowing angles, you can more readily challenge shots with aggressive positioning.

When possible, it is useful to challenge the shooter. Playing a higher ‘line’, not too deep within the D, the goalkeeper is able to challenge the angles and cut off visible shooting space against their attacking opponent. Whilst it takes confidence and trust in your shot stopping abilities and reaction times, being aggressive with your positioning will effectively make it harder for you to be scored on as the shooter looks to shoot around or through you in order to score.

 

By standing further out, the goalkeeper is able to cut down the angle and shooting space.

 

Playing deep

By tentatively waiting on your goal line, you are making it more difficult for yourself, so instead of ‘sitting back’ and making it easier for the shooter, work at stepping out and proactively challenging. Instead of trying to make the save behind you (which is very hard) or directly to the sides of you, you should look to attack the ball to improve your save making. There can be a tendency from nerves or fear of the ball (thanks to poor equipment or lacking in confidence in it or personal ability) not to challenge shots and to stay deep in the D, with a ‘line’ that is very close to the goal line. Against a packed D this is more of a necessity, with a smaller ‘D within the D’ making lateral movement easier, but when faced with an obvious shooting opportunity from distance, it is good to get more control of the situation through challenging the angles.

 

Staying on your line gives the shooter too much space to choose from on the play.

 

Challenging

Challenging the angles is the concept of stepping off the goal line to cut space; the idea of moving up the triangle of the established angle to reduce the shooting space available to the shooter. Setting up the angles and cutting the down, by moving out to challenge, is most important when charging a penalty corner, or when the shot is coming so fast at you: you can’t just rely on reflexes, but have to read and react, diving, or moving across, putting a bigger wall in front of the shot. Angles give you the starting point of the save, cutting them down makes them easier, so you still need to move yourself across in some way to make the save, otherwise you’ll have given away an easy scoring chance. However, just because you’ve cut down the space for a shot, it doesn’t mean you don’t have to make the save (i.e. by passively blocking); you’re reacting to where the shot’s going, not where you think it’s going. You’re already on the angle, but now you have to respond, by putting a pad, kicker or glove on it, or putting your body in front of the shot. It all depends on the type of shot you face.

 

Obviously an exaggeration to prove the point, but the following diagram illustrates this:

 

By challenging off your line, you can dramatically reduce the shooting options.

 

The following clip demonstrates a goalkeeper challenging their angles, with the goalkeeper confidently stepping out to challenge shots, rather than relying on a deep positioning and athleticism to make the save:

 

 

Narrowing the angle

One of, if not, the most important skill of angle play by the goalkeeper is narrowing the player’s shooting angle to make it harder for them to score; bringing the goalkeeper closer to the shot, to make the save easier, whilst taking away valuable shooting space at the same time. As the attacker comes in to for the shot the goalkeeper steps out onto the angle, getting in position to cover the shooting space, thus reducing the shooter’s options. By challenging the shooter, you make it harder for them; having to take time to choose the shot, by which time you are ready and waiting.

 

 

Looking ‘big’

Playing big is used in conjunction with angle play to cut down shooting space. Looking ‘big’ is the result of playing the angles and challenging them. By stepping further up the angle and off a deeper line, you create more of an imposing figure. By ‘playing big’ you can impose yourself on the shooter, making the goal look smaller as you appear bigger; playing with a wider stance will cover more of the net, whereas standing tight and rigid will make you appear easy to score on. Playing big is making use of playing the angles; it’s reducing the space the shooter has to shoot. And it depends on the style you play (if you play a reactionary style, you’re more likely to have your hands nearer your body), but again it’s using the techniques we have to our advantage. Like goalies in soccer who come further out, with their stance wider apart and their hands far out to the side, ready for the shot, we are very similar, with our legs apart to move more easily, and hands mid-height.

 

When he is on his ‘game’, Quico Cortes (Spanish first choice), is a great example of this aggressive style. He is very good at playing an aggressive, challenging style, coming off a deeper line to cut down the angles and really challenge the shooter. This clip demonstrates this technique, with his counterpart Johannes Blank also making saves from an aggressive based position:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6nLJt8uaRA&feature=relmfu

 

Getting centred

Before you go about challenge a shot, you need to be at the centre of the angle so you know whether to cover the near or far side of you, and to ensure you are not ‘off the angle’, but ‘on’ it instead, for your chances of making the save. Being central to the shot in your positioning, in that you are centred on the ball, so that you are not too far over to one side, is essential to challenging angles effectively. By being aware of your positioning, it makes it easier to step off your line and move forward to challenge the angles more effectively. You can’t successfully challenge the angles with aggressive positioning, if you are not centred, as you will give away too much shooting space to one side!

 

A good example of attacking depth and centred positioning.

 

Not too far forward

Obviously, there is a problem with being too far forward. By being at the top of your triangle on the angle, it is obviously very easy to pass the ball around you, or score around you, in a backdoor pass scenario. If you are challenging very high on a corner, then you don’t give yourself ample time to react, as you will see the ball but not be able to get a glove on it quickly enough (well, if playing at the highest levels!). You need to find a balance that suits; a philosophical ‘middle way’, able to challenge and react to the shot or play at the same time. Potentially, you want to be a few steps off the goal line, able to step forward when a direct shot becomes obvious, where it is suitable to challenge. Cortes is a great example of this and is a good example to learn from.

 

Challenging in the D

Sometimes, however, it is not possible to challenge shots so aggressively. Faced with a packed D, or where there is a need to face scrambles, then you are going to be playing deeper, making use of a deeper ‘line’ within the D. Obviously there is not much point wondering around the D past the p-spot, because of leaving a gaping space to shoot into and because lateral movement would be difficult, but when it is possible, stepping further out allows you to challenge a shot and make use of angles to make a more controlled and theoretically easier save. Instead, be aware when to challenge as such and do so well!

 

Penalty corners

Penalty corners are another good opportunity to make use of aggressive depth, other than facing clear scoring chances from the top of the circle. If the goalkeeper is not expecting a slip pass or deflection involved routine, then they can step out of the goal and step forward into the D, high, to challenge a flick or shot. By being closer to it, they can challenge it more suitably.

 

Again, Cortes is a good example of attacking the shot with positioning at the short corner, and is a good one to watch and learn from. As the following clip demonstrates:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4br72pAhdA&feature=relmfu

 

The following save illustrates the ability to still react athletically even if challenging , increasing the chances of making the save by making it easier so you don’t have to be at full stretch!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9N4JYqZS_o

 

Always challenging?

It takes a bit of confidence in your ability to stop shots and read the play, but ideally, the goalkeeper should challenge on every shot and every opportunity. This obviously depends on personal preference, style and ability to get around the goal, but when the opportunity to challenge a clear shot arises, then the goalkeeper would hopefully step out to aggressively challenge to make the save. By being more aggressive with your positioning, you make it harder for the shooters to score on you as you give them less room to shoot into, and combined with an attacking technique, increases your chances of save making!