Author: Dan Pilgrim

Following the injection

Following the injection at the short corner and being aware of dummies and set-ups will help make it easier to make the save.

When facing a short corner, it is a good idea to follow the ball from the injection to the shot. By maintaining your focus on the ball throughout the whole process, you are more prepared for making the save, able to watch the ball into your equipment, rather than simply reacting at the last moment, not able to be aware of space to put the rebound and such like. Locating the actual ‘castle’ that will be receiving the ball, and working out the potential shooter/drag flicker is also useful for being able to react to the shot.

 

Watching the outlet pass

One of the main ways of dealing with the threat of the shot on the penalty corner is to watch the pass from the line through to the actual shot; allowing you to prepare for the save by observing the injection into the D. The goalkeeper stands in their goal, watching the injector release the pass into the D. This way, you learn who will be taking the shot; this is especially important if the opposition changes their routine on the penalty corner (so you can tell where the shot is coming from as you can watch the pass being made to the shooter) and you are not sure who will be taking the shot.

 

When you watch the pass, you need to concentrate on the ball. The focus is on where the ball is; following it from the injector to the shooter. This helps in identifying the shooter, especially if the opposition has changed their penalty corner set-up. Concentrating on the ball from the pass, you can prepare your move out, before reacting to the shot itself, having stepped out of goal and got into a good position. In a way, it helps to ‘psych up’ for the incoming shot on goal; preparing you for the shot, through tracking the ball and maintaining focus on it. Watching the pass gives you the advantage of not committing on a shot if the pass fails. It also gives you the advantage of finding out who the shooter is, if the opposition are using multiple “castles” (where the ball is stopped), or if the shooter changes as the opposition changes their routine (if you are doing too well!).

 

 

Watching it from the injection

Focusing on the ball as I keep harping on about is just as important when facing a short corner. Some goalkeepers don’t bother watching the ball through and prefer to react purely from what occurs in front of them, but I would like to think that focusing in this way is more beneficial to being able to make the save. Losing track of the ball and not being fully focused means you are not giving yourself the best chance to make the save as you are not fully prepared or rely too much on your reflexes and reaction speeds (which may not be top notch!), when facing the expected incoming shot or drag flick. By focusing on the ball from the injection, you are ‘locking on’ to the ball, mentally focused and intensely ready for the ball to come towards you. Watching at the injection also helps with commanding your defence of the corner, obviously, as you are aware when the ball has been released, for your defenders to charge out from the goal!

 

A lot of goalkeepers set up this way; standing so that they face the injector, to watch the pass through. Once the injection has been released and the shooter identified, they then move out of goal to face the shot. Most coaches coach the method of watching the injection on the penalty corner; enforcing the need to watch the ball from the pass into the shot. Whilst some goalkeepers stand in the goal in a sideways stance, parallel to the goal post, it is possible just to simply turn your head to watch the ball being released by the injection, following it across to the receiver.

 

Dummies and castles

The importance of focusing on the ball from the injection and watching it to see who receives it, is incredibly important when dealing when faced with a short corner making use of various options to try and confuse the goalkeeper. With well drilled routines and the quality of shooters, at high levels, it is important to be aware of how you need to respond to their crafty ways! If you misjudge and get fooled by the dummy, then you’re not going to have much chance of making the save. Anticipation and reading the situation gives you an advantage as always, giving you that extra edge (even if slight), to react properly. By watching where the ball ends up, you are in a better position (metaphorically!) to make the save.

 

Multiple ‘castles’

A ‘castle’ as it is known is the set-up for stopping the ball and then flicking or shooting at goal. The stopper of you will and the potential shooter/drag flicker. In this case, a well crafted routine will often use one or more potential shooters and stoppers as well, setting up multiple ‘castles’ to try and distract you, confusing the goalkeeper as to which way to go and who will be receiving the ball and creating a scoring opportunity from it. It is therefore crucial that you follow the ball to work out which is the ‘castle’ that is going to create the opportunity on goal.

 

The following clip is a very well thought out corner routine, but shows the example of multiple castles!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7MQcP8Ax_Y

 

Dummies

Dummies can also be incorporated into a routine, which means the goalkeeper has to be more aware and conscious of working out the actual shooter. The dummy can vary, but generally involve another ‘shooter’ will pretend to shoot on goal, hoping to put the goalkeeper off and confuse them into going the wrong way. The receiver of the ball may slip the ball to another player to drag flick, or pass the ball into the D for someone to get onto and shoot. These are the types of routines you can see in the Euro Hockey League, but could also be utilised at other levels.

 

The following at 0:30 of the following clip represents this use of ‘castles’:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCO3arjJdzo&feature=related

 

Locating the shooter

Whilst both teams prepare for the corner, you will have time to look at the opposition and try and deduce who will be going to shoot at you. The more aware you are and the ability to follow the outlet pass to the actual shooter is incredibly useful. By watching the team set up their players in front of you, you can prepare yourself more readily. Noticing where the ‘castles’ are being set up, conscious of angles etc. and ‘pre-scanning’ the top of the D to locate shooters or runners in for deflections, helping you mentally address the scoring threats and organise your defence accordingly and prepare and anticipate for the save.

 

Anticipation

Ultimately, it is good to focus on the ball and also to ‘read’ the game in front of you, especially against a short corner. By being wary of the opposition’s routines, you are more likely to make the save. Being aware of things like this in a game situation will improve your save percentage and ability to make the stop.

Solid foundations

Having a solid grasp of the basics and fundamentals will help you to play well as you move up the levels and improve as a goalkeeper.

In order to provide consistent performances for your team, you need to be proficient college paper writing service in your technique. That is to say you need a strong technique to base your save making from. For example, if you have weak positioning, then being caught out of position, shots are more likely to sneak by you, or you will have to dive or desperately over extend at every given opportunity. If you have a poor imbalanced ready stance, then it will be difficult to control rebounds on the save or will end up on your backside flailing around against a secondary shot! The more you work on improving technique and developed a strong core foundation to make saves from, the better your match performances will be.

 

Ensuring you have strong foundations

The key to strong performances as a goalkeeper, other than a confident mindset, is obviously down to technique. The stronger your technique, the better placed you are to make first and then secondary saves, to break down scoring attacks through rebound control and aggressive interceptions and so on. But your application of technique filters down to a strong foundation, which is a good ready stance, positioning and understanding of angles. The better your foundational technique, the better equipped you are to stop everything that comes your way. You don’t build a house on sand, unless you want it to slip away! Like the metaphor, you need to work on having solid foundations so you don’t have a poor season (one excellent game does not a good goalkeeper make!).

 

Of course, unless you have the privilege of having a goalkeeper specific coach to work with, or the help of a more experienced goalkeeper (who actually knows what they’re talking about!), it’s going to be difficult to work on improving your technique. However, there are some things you can work on without a coach, like positioning and your ready stance, making a self enforced effort to practise it in training. There are also useful guides like Kathleen Partridge’s goalkeeping manual (http://www.kathleenpartridge.com/book.aspx) or you can learn something watching high level games in person or on sites like youtube.

 

Identifying weak traits

If you have the ambition and desire to play at the highest levels, then you need to be able to filter out poor technique and work to develop solid save technique. In order to play to the highest level, you need to have well defined basic technique. If you don’t and you get the chance to play at a higher level, then this will quickly be exposed and you will be torn to shreds! For example, poor rebound control, by not turning the shot away, can lead to another unnecessarily allowed shot on goal by redirecting it to a free attacker. Scrambling around unnecessarily, or ending up on your backside from a save are sure signs of poor positioning and poor balance. As much as those laudable amazing saves are fun to do, you need to .

 

Over used ‘flashy’ saves

Aside from obvious weaknesses in technique, there is also the danger of being too or over athletic. That’s not to say you won’t be required to pull off those spectacular, mind boggling saves every so often to keep your team in it! Of course as goalkeepers we need to be very agile and athletic, but being so when it is not necessary is not needed. Rather, I’ve heard stories of goalies that changed the way they played to try and get noticed when looking to play national league, making those dramatic saves to try and get the attention of the coaching staff. By changing the way they played and looking to make the amazing saves rather than focusing on basic technique, they hampered their ability to perform consistently well. Of course unfortunately some coaches are privy to selecting such a goalkeeper but it is better to be known for providing a strong, consistent performance with no mistakes. Think of Gomes at Tottenham; do you want to be known for your awe inspiring saves and then inability to make the basic ones or string of mistakes? Playing at the top level is obviously a mix of the high end and basic saves, but ensuring you don’t make easy mistakes and let easy ones through you is more important than stopping than unstoppable in most cases.

 

Let the difficult saves take care of themselves   

A good football (soccer) saying is “take care of the easy saves and the difficult ones will take care of themselves”. Whilst making those amazing saves is great fun, if every save is overdone, such as having to dive around unnecessarily (that is to say diving at every shot because you are not set on angle or out of position) due to being off angle, then you probably need to rethink the way you are playing. That’s not to say these saves aren’t important, but there’s a time and place for them. Those “flashy” looking saves actually come from good initial positioning and then good footwork and agility to get behind the shot and then strong athleticism to reach the ball. In truth, you’re only really going to be diving against short corners, deflections, or a secondary shot where you are at the other side of goal and have to scramble across to block. Once you have got strong technique, the intangibles of reaction speeds, athleticism and mental strength come into play. You can’t really know how you will perform at a higher level, which is why building strong foundations will help your development and enable you to play to the best of your ability. It is the faster speed and better plays that will draw out these qualities (or not as the case may be!).

 

Strong technique

A strong technique is based around strong understanding of angles and positioning and a good ready stance. The natural ability of reactions and reflexes then come into play, as do athleticism and agility. However, without the ground works, you cannot expect to make quality saves against difficult shots. The following are a few possibilities of areas that you demonstrate good basic technique:

 

  • Strong ready stance applied throughout the course of the game, from which the goalkeeper is able to react
  • Strong awareness of angles and positioning
  • Obvious first save reactions, but also the ability to control rebounds
  • Good foot work to move into position for the save
  • Strong centre of core balance to help control the save and rebound
  • Good recovery and agility to get back into place for the second save
  • Patience in reacting (i.e. not going down too early)
  • Ability to ‘read’ the play and strong decision making

 

The following is a good example of a goalkeeper with a strong ready stance and positioning making well executed saves:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxdtR-hIYuc&feature=relmfu

Strong foundations lead to success

Ultimately, for you to have a strong season in between the sticks, you need to have solid foundations within your technique. It is obviously difficult to work on improving technique without the assistance of a goalkeeper coach, but focusing on the basics like positioning, angles, ready stance, balance and focusing on the ball and reading the play will help lead to greater success. Remember that it is more important to get behind the shot and stop it, than it is to have to dramatically dive in extension to reach the ball even if at times you might have to!

Dealing with drag flicks

Drag flicks can be difficult to deal with, but learning to make use of reactions and athleticism will make them easier to stop!

Drag flicks are quite an important type of shot to face, with the speed and accuracy of elite masters of the art of drag flicking being a deadly thorn in the side of even the best goalkeepers. Greats like Taeke Taekema, Sohail Abbas and others on the international scene are reminders of how influential their talents are by scoring on the set play of a short corner through the specialist art of a well executed drag flick. However, that is not to say you should merely throw up your hands and accept defeat, saying great goal, if you want to really push your standards of goalkeeping! By learning to read the flick and how to react to it with quick reflex and athleticism, you can start to combat its deadliness, and make yourself more unbeatable.

 

What makes the drag flick so special?

The difference between a normal shot and a dragged ball is the way it reaches the net; a flick will push the ball up in a circular route, whereas a strike will knock the ball skyward along a raised diagonal line or a slap and hit across the floor of the pitch. With the drag flicker holding their stick far back behind the body and then pushing with force into the flick, the drive of the motion creates a massive momentum from which to raise the ball. The way the ball travels in this way makes it significantly harder for the goalkeeper to deal with, as it is harder to tell whether the ball will be pushed up really high into the upper echelons of the goal, or simply raised off the floor to make it difficult for the goalkeeper to stop it.

 

The direction is often unknown, especially if the drag flicker is able to hide their intentions; when disguised, or pushed out to the side off the shaft of the stick, forcing the goalkeeper to react more to the flick, rather than being able to have a better idea of where the ball is headed. The ability to analyse where the ball is headed is also made more difficult by some drag flickers’ abilities to disguise their intentions. With the shoulder in front shielding the ball’s intended path and unorthodox techniques like Ashley Jackson’s, the goalkeeper has a harder time dealing with a drag flick. Combined with the speed of a strongly pushed flick, it becomes a deadly weapon for the opposition. As a result, you must have good, quick reflexes to react for the save (with the speed of the flick requiring you to be just as speedy with your reaction times) and properly watch the flight path all the way through into the save; reading the flick well, in order to stop it.

 

Dealing with flicks

Whereas you can play the percentages against a straight strike and go into a barrier to cover more against a low struck hit, you aren’t able to control the chances when faced with a drag flick, instead you have to be more proactive with your reads and reactions. By using your upright stance to readily cover more of the goal and having to react to the flick rather than exposing more room, you can still challenge the flicker. Dealing with drag flicks is more of a case of reacting at the right time, staying patient until the time is right to use your reflexes or athleticism to make the save.

 

Reading the flick?

Working out where the ball is headed is more difficult when faced with a drag flick. Whereas it is easier to make an educated guess when facing a shot, the flick is more difficult to read. The important thing is not to over complicate things by guessing wrongly. By being aware of the opportunity to be scored on from any area, it is easier to combat the flick; moving into the save as the ball comes at you. With the drag flicker looking to expose available space, there is more of a chance of the flick going low where it is difficult to reach, or to the tops of the goal, in the corners. With an upright stance taking up more room, it is often easier to react from your standing position. If you like to make saves against flicks from a standing position, then raising your gloves to around the height of your shoulders, in front of you to react more easily as you push into the save, will help you react against a high flick around you and push into the save.

 

Focusing intently on the ball

Again, as I have written about before, focusing on the ball is incredibly important. From the injection to the save, you need to be totally focused; the more focused you are on the ball, the better chance you have of making the save as you are more set on its movements. Watching the ball is so important to making the save against a drag flick. If you try to see the ball at the last minute, then you won’t have a chance at stopping the ball. Make sure you start focusing on the ball from the moment the shooter receives the pass from the injection, right through to the save itself. You need to keep concentration and keep your eyes locked on the ball; by concentrating on the ball, you will be able to successfully move your glove or pad into the right place to block.

 

Athleticism

If you cannot reach the ball standing up or reach a low ball with your feet (although you may like to use the splits as an option to get to the ball, like Stockmann often does), then you are going to have to leave your foot to be able to make the save. The better your athleticism, the more readily you can deal with flicks acrobatically to make the save as you push out to reach high and wide (or low!) flicks. Diving high, wide, or low, improves your chances of getting behind the ball and turning it away.

 

Difficult flicks to deal with

Knowing that the goalkeeper should be good enough to stop most flicks, at the higher levels, the flicker will really look to expose your potential weaknesses. A flick straight down the middle of the goal and between the legs should be a good scoring opportunity, with a goal definite if the goalkeeper stumbles with their footwork and opens gaps for the ball to go through, and if not, a rebound scoring chance if the save is made. Flicks around the gloves that are difficult to reach if they are close to the body, with indecision and crossing over of hands are also a problem area for the goalkeeper.

 

The following clip shows examples of difficult flicks:

 

 

Leaving your feet too early

When trying to stop a drag flick, goalkeepers can be the victim of going down too early, expecting a low flick and end up being beaten by a high flick instead. By not guessing or leaving your feet before the flick arrives and reacting on time, rather than too early, the goalkeeper has a better chance of making the save and stopping the ball. Being patient but also ready to act instantly when the destination is clear, is important to making the save. If you are faced with a drag flick for the first time, there is a chance that you won’t know what to do and be more inclined to ‘log’ anyway, putting you out of the game of save making entirely!

 

Going the wrong way

When faced with a drag flick, there is also the problematic of going the wrong way and guessing which way the ball is headed, only as a result to be unable to reach the ball and end up conceding. The key to prevent this is again not to guess or try to predict where the ball will end up, but to react and focus on the ball’s flight, getting your timing right to be able to stop the incoming ball. Expecting the unexpected, instead of trying to second guess the situation, helps to prevent getting beaten!

 

The following goal scored by East Grinstead displays a goalkeeper going the wrong way, with the Bowdon goalkeeper going the wrong way and then consequently being unable to reach the flick as it goes in:

 

In the following clip, you can see Dan Vismaans going to the right rather than left against a well executed Bram Lomans drag flick at about 0:48 playing time:

 

 

Reacting at the right time

Being able to react on time is in itself an elite skill to have. It’s difficult to get a good read on flicks all the time, so being able to react to it as it approaches you is more important. Reacting appropriately is quite essential to being able to make the save. Not going too early and taking the bait of the drag flicker, in the sense that you may go the wrong, is essential. The better your reaction times and reflexes, the better you are being able to deal with fast drag flicks. Which is obviously why goalkeepers at the highest levels have remarkably fast reflexes, so it is no wonder why they are so quick, making last second saves, making use of their natural talents!

 

Patience

Staying upright and then reacting appropriately will help increase your chances of making the save. Whereas committing early can leave you looking silly, being patient and trusting your ability to react with your reflexes will obviously help you with potential problems of going too early. It’s something I’ve written about before and probably need to link to! The better your reflexes, the longer you may be able to leave it, theoretically, reacting at the last minute (figuratively!) to stop the ball as it finally reaches you.

 

Challenging

One way of proactively challenging the drag flicker, is to challenge with your positioning by having a higher ‘line’. Challenging the flick means you need to react quickly to it as it comes in, but forces your reflexes to do the work (theoretically!). I think by having to react you do not have time to over analyse or over think or get fooled into going the wrong way, being forced into going the direction of the ball as it comes in. ‘Quico’ Cortes (Spanish international, formerly at Egara and now Den Bosch), can be pretty good at this technique, challenging well and then reacting athletically to stop the flick. Not over challenging and not over doing will be better for you as it still gives you the chance to react.

At 2:34 playing time of this clip, you can see Cortes making an unbelievable stop against Zeller (one of the world’s best players) using a combination of proactive depth and athleticism:

Staying deep

Alternatively, you may prefer to have a lower ‘line’ and rely more on your athleticism instead of cutting the angles. A modern trend in facing short corners, discussed before, is to play very deep within the D. Staying deep is a new technique used by a lot of goalkeepers at the international and Hoofdklasse level. You will now see a lot of goalkeepers at the top level staying very deep within their D, in order to give them more time to react to an extremely fast drag flick. If you watch Vogels, Stockman, Veering, Jenniskens or Blaak, they all stay deep in their D when facing a drag flick on the corner. They stand literally a foot off the goal line once they have stepped out of goal on the corner. This is because it gives them an advantage of having extra time to react against the flick. By being deeper, they have slightly longer. In comparison, if they were to be much further out, then they would have less time to react. By being deep in their D, it gives them longer to react (even if a millisecond extra!) to the flick; giving them the chance to watch the flight of the ball and get a better ‘read’ on the flick to move into the save as they see the ball into their equipment.

 

However, this is at the risk of exposing and opening up more space to shoot into, as they are not challenging the angles. The cost of staying deep is at the disadvantage of giving more shooting space to look at, with the drag flicker able to see more of the goal. Whereas challenging angles and ‘playing big’ helps you cut down space, you are obviously exposing more space, leaving more room to flick into. So if you are going to play like this, you need to have good athleticism to extend into the save!

 

 

 

Practising

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Like any technique, it is good to practise facing drag flicks. The more you practise you get, the better you will be come game time as you will be confident in your ability to make the saves at short corners, whenever your team concedes them. Goalie coaches often use a lacrosse stick to copy the speed and accuracy of a drag flick. Obo’s training tool for drag flicks is useful because it can more easily replicate these qualities and is designed to make it harder to read, unlike the lacrosse stick. The best type of practise is to practise against the best! Training with good drag flickers is obviously going to help improve your ability to stop drag flicks. Try and find the best drag flicker in your club to train with, is an idea! Working on your reaction speeds and eye co-ordination in your spare time away from the pitch will also obviously be very useful in helping you when you have to face drag flicks.

 

Pointers:

 

  • Stay on your feet for as long as possible, so that you don’t get wrong footed or go too early
  • Like any type of shot, focus intently on the ball to get a good ‘read’
  • Leave your feet and dive high or low as appropriate if you cannot reach it from a standing position
  • Play according to your strengths; challenge or stay deep as you feel works for you, reacting with reflexes or athleticism according to your abilties

Mistake making

Making sure you don’t make regular mistakes and are able to bounce back from them is important for consistently good goalkeeping.

Making mistakes as a goalkeeper is quite an important issue to deal with. With the prospect of upsetting your whole team by a bit of mess up can make the experience of playing in goal a whole lot more traumatising. As they say, sport is 10 skill and 90 psychological, so being able to overcome a significant blip in form is incredibly important in providing your team with confidence in your ability and chance to backstop them to victory. How you deal with mistakes and bounce back from them you illustrate how well you handle adversity and compose yourself.

 

Oops! The sight of the repercussions of a goalkeeper ‘fail’.

 

Making mistakes

Starting out as a goalkeeper, it can be easier to make mistakes more readily because of inexperience and lack of training and confidence. But as you develop, you want to be providing solid goalkeeping for your team, with them expecting a good, consistent level of goalkeeping where you make the important stops and more importantly don’t give away easy, avoidable goals. As you look to provide consistency within a season to help your team push for a league topping performance, you also need to work on your consistency within games, making sure you don’t slip up and give away a goal because of poor decision making or the ball squeezing through you. Well executed, practically unstoppable goals are forgivable, whereas your team won’t take kindly to a goal effectively caused by you.

 

Types of mistake

Allowing shots through you is a good example of a mistake made in field hockey. James Bailey let in such a goal between the legs against the KHC Dragons in the recent Euro Hockey League games and is the kind of example of where you don’t want to be allowing goals through you. Shots wide of you are more forgivable, but through you, which are just as difficult to stop, your team mates don’t want to see, whilst this is down to good footwork and balance. Other mistakes can be caused by wrong decision making; rushing out at the wrong time to tackle or going down too early on a 1-on-1 for example. Coming out for an interception and missing, leaving the post at the right time or messing up a rebound and sending it out to another to attack to drill it home are others.

 

Causes

A simple explanation for regular occurrences of mistakes is a lack of mental strength. As soon as you make one big mistake, your whole game can fall apart leaving you wondering why you got out of bed to play the match! A mental collapse in confidence often leads to further goals as you question and doubt your shot stopping abilities and needs to be readdressed, so you need refocus and forget about the goal, moving forward and making sure you do your best not to concede in a similar way. Similarly, over thinking and over analysing can lead to mistakes as you are unsure what to do, like De Gea’s run last season at Manchester United. Instead, going with your goalie heart and reacting to events rather than trying to hard will make up for this. Wrong decision making can equally be caused by lack of understanding of how to deal with a situation, which requires experience and also awareness of what a goalkeeper should do in a certain situation, so asking coaches and team members advice, as well as looking for information on what to do should help you out.

 

‘Bloopers’

Howlers and bloopers: the ones where goalkeepers are humiliated for a pretty awful slip-up, compiled for video and internet viewing; the types of goals that are every goalkeeper’s living nightmare and which cannot be easily erased. Ones like football’s Rob Green letting the ball squeeze through him against USA, a similar gaffe by Scott Carson, Paul Robinson’s miskick and the list goes on! Some goalkeepers, like Manuel Neuer (one of the world’s best right now in soccer) are amazing shot stoppers and make few mistakes, but the ones they do, are pretty catastrophic. I guess in some cases it’s better to make as few as possible, even if they are more worse when they happen!

 

Of course these are football related, and in terms of hockey, there aren’t many I can think of that come to mind, but Max Weinhold’s goals through him at the Olympics stand out the most. But because a goalkeeper makes the occasional ‘blooper’, if they can make the important saves to keep the score close and win the game, does that mean they shouldn’t be playing? ‘Bloopers’ can ruin a career, with people remembering them more than good performances and can be a goalkeeper’s downfall, so it is best to make sure they never happen!

 

The following clip, whilst of football, shows considerable errors such as this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1KoGMfhC5w&feature=related

 

Eliminating mistakes

Making mistakes as said earlier can often be a mental (psychological) game problem as much as it is a technical one. Not getting too weighed down with the pressures of goalkeeping and learning to play ‘in the zone’ should help, whilst ironing out technical errors through practise and training should translate to performing well during games. Sometimes training well does not translate to good games, but working hard will pay dividends eventually. The need to iron out making mistakes is important for regular success as a goalkeeper. If mistakes are all too common and a regular occurrence, then something needs sorting out! To be considered an elite goalkeeper (at whatever competitive level), you need to give away mistakes which are few and far between because your team relies on you to not give away easy goals that considerably affect their chances of winning.

 

Being reliable

In football, they call it being a ‘safe pair of hands’ i.e. you’re not going to cause a calamity when you go out to catch a cross or a save, safely collecting or catching the ball instead. You may be able to make outstanding, spectacular saves to deny the opposition, but it is also the goalkeeper’s job to not mess up and give away a terribly easily ‘giveaway’ to the opposition. Gomes in his early days at Tottenham is an obvious example: a goalkeeper who can make the amazing, unbelievable saves, but is prone to letting in howlers like in the Champions league game later in his career (which decided his fate, with Friedel coming in as a replacement). Being an elite goalkeeper is a mix of the incredible and the mundane; you need to be able to do the basics well and also make the cracking saves your team don’t expect you to make!

 

Avoid mistakes!

Ultimately, you want to do your best to avoid making mistakes that could cost your team and gift the opposition a win. Working on technique and getting strong mentally, playing confidently even if such a goal is scored, is definitely important to being consistent throughout a match and the total season. Not over thinking and being able to bounce back from such a goal will ensure that you provide good goalkeeping for your team.

High ‘diving’

High diving, extending out with a jumping motion like a dive, helps you reach those high balls you cannot get to when standing.

Diving high and wide is a key example of athleticism in field hockey goalkeeping. ‘High diving’ or dives where you leave your feet and jump diagonally into the save are a useful option when facing short corners where you need to push into and extend to reach a high ball wide of you. Based on your positioning for the corner defence, you may not have a man on the right post, which will mean you will have to be ready to push out in extension against a wide flick. The save technique could also be used when faced with tips and deflections where the ball is redirected high at goal, now more regular and difficult due to the new ‘own goal’ rule, with the opposition looking for a redirect from a ball smashed into the D.

 

The technique

It’s useful to watch football goalkeepers make similar saves as a way of following the correct procedure to make the save in a game (if you have no access to proper coaching etc.). Without having an illustrative example, it’s difficult to explain! Plymetric exercises and leg strengthening should also help to improve your reach and power as you push off with momentum.

 

The following is essentially a breakdown of the method:

 

  • Push from the lead foot, energetically driving upwards to push up in order to reach the ball
  • Turn at the hip to move your body behind the incoming ball
  • Push out with the appropriate glove, turning the wrist to help rebound control
  • Extend into the save, diving out high and as wide as needs be as you make the diving action and leave the ground

 

The second save in the following clip demonstrates how to make such a save successfully:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hZYpMguwew

 

Whilst a poor quality video, the following also shows how to make the save process:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOtbZ-5Jid4

 

You can watch Stockman (Holland’s number one) high diving well in this clip:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezhKR476MVk&feature=relmfu

 

The following shows the appropriate push and how to save to the left, but again, not sure about going down onto the knees:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn-c2Biqxg4&feature=related

 

Here’s a soccer goalie demonstrating the required level of athleticism and agility, really pushing into the saves to make the stops, along with a demonstration of the barrel roll. Not sure about the landing though, as needs to be more cushioned:

 

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

 

Although this is more of a ‘parade’, it shows the process from start to finish:

 

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

 

Tips and pointers

It is important to remember that, like diving, the high dive is purely the method to reach the ball: it is the process, not the action of saving. The save is made with the glove or stick, diving merely gets you into the position you cannot reach from a standing position. The following should also be helpful in developing the technique:

 

  • Ensure you have a well balanced ready stance to start off with, so that you don’t fall back during the save attempt
  • Make sure your land horizontally on the pad rather than on the knee, so that you can recover more quickly if faced with a rebound or secondary shot
  • Make the glove the focus of the jump: it is this that is making the save, the high ‘dive’ is merely the vehicle for getting you in position to stop the ball
  • You may find it useful to ‘stamp’ (pushing into the ground to drive into the save) or get lower in your stance like football goalies to get more power into the movement
  • The higher the ball, the more of a high angle you want in the diagonal push and extension
  • Make sure you don’t land on your elbow or wrist, you want to absorb the fall through the whole arm and body. Football goalies often ‘barrel roll’ to help absorption but I’m not sure this would work in hockey (although I’ve found evidence of Jaap Stockmann doing it, so depends on how quickly you feel you can recover!). Try to make a smooth transition, ending up in a line

 

The following clip demonstrates the concept of the dive as the method to reach the ball and demonstrates the focus being on the appropriate glove to make the save (ignore the land which is wrong!):

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BIqT9KIF_c

 

Copying football drills and exercises should be a helpful way of learning the process. There is a specific drill starting off with catching the ball on the ground, then making it higher and higher until the goalkeeper is high diving, in order to build up the practising goalkeeper’s confidence, but cannot find evidence to place it in this article unfortunately.

 

Here’s a clip with a good drill and great example of the save making process (although the goalkeeper did actually break their wrist – ouch – so only the exercise is useful for explaining the process as he landed wrong, thus causing the injury):

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5vWqr8pkLM

 

Short corners

Short corners are the main scenario where you will have to make such saves. A lot of corner defence set-ups do not have a man on the right post, since the defender comes off the post to protect against the slip pass to the injector coming in for a deflection. With more room to cover, the goalkeeper has to be ready to defend more of his goal wide to the right. With the drag flicker looking to take advantage of and exploit the extra room to the side of the goalkeeper, you may find yourself having to extend for the save. With the speed and height of drag flicks, it is harder for the goalkeeper to move across from a standing position for the save, so high diving gives them the extra reach needed to make the save. Thus, high diving and use of athleticism becomes incredibly useful.

 

The following is a great save by Australia’s first choice Nathan Burgers as he makes a high dive to stop the ball with his rhp:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlYMJZMy054

Saving with the rhp

Making use of the rhp to make saves to the right will obviously help with shot stopping but also with rebound control.

With the ever improving production of developed right hand protectors (rhp’s) with an increased blocking surface and better rebound properties, the modern goalkeeper has a better chance of making saves to their right hand side. Without the need to bring the left hand glove across, the goalkeeper can make use of their rhp to block shots. With a larger surface to block the ball than the shaft of a stick, you should look to actively make a strong technique of saving to the right side appropriately on raised shots and flicks.


Manu Leroy saves a shot with his rhp in a warm-up.

Why use the rhp?

Making use of the rhp is done for obvious reasons. With an increased surface area than the stick to block with, you can actively turn the rhp to turn away the ball to safety, whilst making the save. Also, when trying to make a save with the glove on the right hand side, you can end up over rotating as you turn to reach the ball; effectively taking yourself out of the play as you turn too far. By learning to make saves with the rhp instead, you increase your chances of making the save, as you turn in to face the ball, as well as making it easier to control rebounds. It is possible to make saves like this with a tubular style glove, but there are more, larger surface area rhp’s out there for goalkeepers to utilise. Making independent saves like this means you are not in danger of over rotating and makes you harder to beat!

Eye contact and focus

Just like any save, you need to be focused on the specific piece of kit you will be making the stop with. As much as you concentrate on your glove for a save there, you need to be just as intensely focused on the shot going to your right. Rather than focusing on the stick, you need to focus your attention on the larger blocking area of the rhp. As the ball comes in, this sustained eye contact will make it easier to see the flight of the ball into the rhp and away to safety.

Attacking the ball

As discussed before, attacking the ball helps cut down the time the ball takes to reach you, and helps with a forceful push away on the save. Having your arms forward so your gloves are upright and facing the shot makes it easier to move into the save. By pushing into the save, from a 30 degree angle, rather than passively reacting helps with you when turning the glove to control the rebound. If the ball is high, then you will be looking to push up, whilst if it is to the side of your body, then you are obviously going to be looking to push out to the side in extension to block the ball.

The following clip (from the middle onwards), demonstrates strong application of attacking the ball when saving to the right with the rhp:

Turning the rhp

Turning the rhp allows you to push the ball away to control the rebound, like you would when stopping shots with your glove to the left. The angle would almost be about 70 degrees, but you also want to turn at the wrist, so it blocks to the side, rather than simply blocking to the front. Rather than the ball simply bounce off your glove and down, into a dangerous area for a secondary chance at goal, turning it away on the shot, to safety, effectively kills any rebound opportunities. You need to aim to push into the block, turning at the elbow and wrist, for the redirect. If it is to the side of you, you can turn the ball away wide. It is possible to redirect a high shot over the ball, although this takes practise and a second sense of where the goal and crossbar is!


As the crudely drawn diagram illustrates,
an angled rhp gives greater redirection
on an upright shot, for rebound control.

The following shows a goalkeeper practising the technique in training:

This clip demonstrates a goalkeeper making good use of turning their rhp on the save for rebound control:

Saving low

When making low saves, it is also possible to turn the ball away with the rhp as you stop the ball. When diving low (as well as high), in extension, or diving at around knee height on drag flicks off the floor, employing the same technique will help control rebounds. In this clip you can see Pirmin Blaak actively using the technique, but at 0.54 playing time, you can watch him turning the glove as he dives against a low shot to the right:

Stick inclusion

In case you miss the ball, the stick is a back-up option. Your focus should be on making the stop with the rhp, so should not over rely on the stick. Whilst you should prioritise making saves to the right of your body, the option is there to save your blushes if needs be. The technique remains the same; focusing on the ball and turning at the wrist as you move to block.

This clip shows a save made with the stick, with the wrist turning to block as an insurance policy, and the stick making the save, with good coverage since the shot has been missed with the rhp:

Decisiveness with the save

Confusion over which glove to use can obviously cause problems when aiming to stop the ball to the right, which is another reason you should practise saving solely with the rhp. By crossing gloves and being indecisive, it is obviously harder to make the save. Instead, by restricting yourself to using the appropriate glove for the appropriate side, you will be better suited to making the save.

The following goal comes from the goalkeeper committing with both gloves rather than a focused save effort:

Active with right hand saves

Ultimately, you want to be just as strong and active with your saves to the right as you are with those to your left. Improving technique and getting more proactive with blocking to the right will help you against shots high to the right, being able to make a controlled and active save with your rhp. The more you enforce this in training and in games, the better you will get at having an active rhp.

Pointers:

  • Actively push into the save and attack the ball
  • Focus on the ball and rhp to exercise concentration
  • Turn the rhp into the save, to help redirect the ball away to safety
  • Don’t over rotate or cross over with the glove, making sure you choose the rhp rather than glove for the save

Attack the ball!

Actively acting the shot helps challenge and will improve your save percentage.

When we think about goalkeeping, there can often be perceptions of reacting to a play or shot rather than increasing the save chance by challenging in the situation. Since we are saves and actions are a result of reading of the play, it is therefore easy to think that because the play comes to you, that your job is to simply react and therefore get caught in the trap of not taking control of the situation. However, showing aggressive qualities and confidently challenging shots with our depth in the D, will increase our chances of save making.

 

‘Saving’ and not attacking

It is easy to become passive with your efforts when you are learning to play in goal, especially in training (which isn’t the most effective place to improve your goalkeeping!); creating bad habits in game situations when you need to actively challenge the shooter and dominate the play. By ball watching and reacting to the game as it happens rather than involving yourself and challenging shots, you make it easier to get scored on. By merely reacting and making the save in reaction to the shot, you are actually making it harder to make the save.

 

Attacking the ball

By attacking the ball you challenge the angle of the shot and give away less shooting space, as well as reacting to it more quickly. The quicker you are to react against a well struck shot, the better chance you have of making the stop! With the save being made in front of you, it is easier to track the ball from their stick into the save (as discussed recently in another article). You are also cutting down the angle the ball can travel through, so you are effectively reducing the time the ball has to reach you; therefore getting into the motion of save making more quickly and with less movement. As a result of attacking the ball in front of you, you are putting you weight through the ball as you make contact, meaning you have more power of the rebound, which should effectively result in better clearances.

 

The following video is a great example of aggressive goalkeeping where this technique is being taught. Watch how the goalkeepers are being taught to push into the save rather than ‘sitting back’ and waiting for the shot, both with the legs and hands:

 

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

 

The Thirty degrees

When attacking the ball, you want to be driving into the save, that is, pushing into it. The best way of visualising and thinking about attacking the ball when saving is ‘the thirty degrees’. If someone was shooting at you from the top of the D, you should be pushing into the save at roughly thirty degrees. An easy way of checking this is to measure your finishing position against pointing towards where the 25 yard line meets the side line. When pushing into the diagonal, it doesn’t just apply to kicking, also diving and glove saves. This theory can also be applied to short corners where you want to challenge the shot and possibly against flicks (although I think I need to check what the umpiring rule is!).

 

 

The ‘thirty degrees’!

 

 

With no angle of attack it is harder to make the save and you make yourself easier to beat.

 

 

In contrast, by attacking at the thirty degrees, you are able to attack the ball and challenge proactively.

 

Driving from the head

As you drive forward to push into the save for the stop, you need to push forward from your head; essentially moving forward as you locate the ball with your forward vision. With the head being the centre of balance within the stance, you need to push forward against the shot. In doing so you can retain your balance, which is obviously of great importance. Keeping your head forward and your weight forward, you are not going to fall or lean back as you make the save, making it easier to move into the second save or control your rebound.

 

Pushing into the save

Pushing into the save requires concentration and an agile approach and strong footwork. As a result, to gain better rebound control, it is also important to angle the redirect; by which, you can get greater control and distance on the rebound. As you push into the save looking to control the rebound on the save, you will be pushing with your foot or glove angled to control the rebound. It is important that you get your weight into it, driving forward to really attack the shot.

 

As this goalkeeper accurately demonstrates, you need to be pushing from the head to get better control on the redirect and ability to make the strong save.

 

Attacking with your gloves

Just as you are focused on attacking the ball with your kickers and pads or dive (as they rightly teach in football), an obvious point of notice is that you can similarly challenge with your gloves. An active ready stance with gloves up and forward will help you to actively challenge. Try not to ‘swat’ at the ball, pushing in as the ball comes at you.

 

Attack the shot!

Ultimately, you need to attack the ball at every given opportunity. The more you actively attack shots, the greater chance you will have of denying scoring opportunities. Although it is a difficult skill to master, it will drastically improve your shot stopping making you harder to beat. Rather than being a passive respondent, work hard to actively attack the ball, increasing your chances of making every save!

Learning from the ‘sweeper keeper’ myth?

Looking ‘outside the box’, I think something can be learnt about goalkeeping from the soccer ‘sweeper keeper’ myth.

The mythological concept of the ‘sweeper keeper’ comes from football (or soccer to those outside the influence of the British Isles!) where playing a more attacking and fluid passing style means the goalkeeper has to be more active in their defensive role. As last line of defence, they become more essential to ‘sweeping up’ (I don’t think that’s what it’s meant to mean, but I feel it’s appropriate to the explanation!) back passes and start outlet passes via strong distribution to set up attacks on the opposition’s goal. Whilst it may not be the idealised version of a goalkeeper you would expect in (field) hockey, I believe something can be gleaned from the methodology and applied to the way we ‘keep’ our goals.

Stuart Hendy comes out to intercept a pass.

 

The theory

The myth and theory originally comes from the pioneering playing style of Gyula Grosics. The Hungarian goalkeeper playing in the 1950s is credited with the revolutionary approach. With a high defensive line, the goalkeeper is often left with a large gap between them and the defensive line. The goalkeeper essentially acts as an extra defender, coming off the line and sometimes out of their area to quash attacks and also calmly distribute the ball to their defence. The ‘sweeper keeper’ has all the desired attributes of a modern goalkeeper; agile, quick, and comfortable on and off the ball. Victor Valdes of Barcelona is seen as the atypical modern version, comfortable with the ball at his left or right foot and able to make pinpoint passes, is said to look so comfortable with the ball at his feet to be able to play in midfield! Hugo Lloris (who has recently joined Tottenham) is said to be the missing piece of a puzzle AVB is putting together, centred around fluid, passing and attacking play.

 

Here you can see Valdes operating as an extra defender, giving his team options as they are pressed by the opposition:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SboOtGN-Kvc

 

The following link gives better insight from the soccer perspective:

 

http://backpagefootball.com/hugo-lloris-avbs-missing-link/48954/

 

How can it apply to hockey?

When it comes to looking to apply this style to hockey, thinking outside of the box to reflect on can be a good way of new ways of developing the goalkeeping approach. The new penalty shuttles have shown how pro-active and aggressive the modern goalkeeper needs to be. The more a team pushes forward and plays an active, aggressive press deep into the opposition’s half, the higher the defence plays and therefore the more open to attack the goalkeeper becomes. By stepping off their line and treating the D as theirs to control and defend, the goalkeeper is more able to shut down scoring chances. With the change in free hits to allow aerials, the goalkeeper needs to be prepared for more aerial threats into the D at the higher level, which become more dangerous when the defence is playing a high press.

 

Acting like a fifth defender is not as uncommon in indoor hockey, with a mobile and aggressive style befitting the fast paced game. Peter McNally in the 80s of Australia acted like an extra player, able to trap with the glove and then play the ball with his stick, along with Scott Kovacs and now Andrew Charter, demonstrate the aptitude of aggressive goalkeeping to shut down scoring chances by working in unison with their defence. However, in terms of the outdoor game, there is little to comment on, but there are some who show a more attacking style in the way their defend their goal. The French style of goalkeeping in hockey often follows the indoor style, with a pro-active and aggressive style which sees the D as the goalkeeper’s role to protect. Julien Thamin was famous for his pro-active approach with the French international team and St Germain HC. I have noticed examples in the England Hockey League of pro-active goalkeeping, with Andrew Isaacs at Havant comfortable coming out his goal to punt away aerials thrown into his D, whilst Stuart Hendy regularly comes off his line to intercept passes in the D.

 

The following link (didn’t want to plagiarise the photos!) demonstrates Isaac’s style, with pictorial evidence of a goalkeeper active within their D:

 

http://www.cbosports.nl/fotos/20120826_T-Trophy/index4.html

 

Comfortable with the ball at your feet

Whilst hockey goalies aren’t expected to hoof the ball up the pitch to set up a goal (although I’ve seen it done at the national league level!) we can learn a lot from football in the need to be comfortable with the ball. In essence, as goalkeepers we should be comfortable with our kicking enough to act as a passing option. A couple of times I have had to bail out my defence and acting like an extra defender, was able to pass the ball back to them or rush out to kick away a pass into the D and save their blushes. Like a football goalkeeper with strong kicking ability, the field hockey goalkeeper should also have strong kicking skills; able to kick with both feet strongly to distance with strong technique. The ability to come out off the line to intercept or kick away a pass into the D with distance to the sidelines, is an important part of goalkeeping.

 

Actively out to challenge

When faced with a lack of defensive support and having your team push up to push for a goal, you need to be ready to come out and challenge the play. By acting like an extra defender and coming off your line, you offer your team mates the chance to slow down the play; challenging the ball carrier, which in turn gives your team mates extra time necessary to get back into position and provide support to defend the goal. Similarly, whenever a ball gets through, you should be prepared to come out and clear it, like you will soccer goalies do. Just like Casillas rushing out of his box to knock away a high ball with his head, or sliding out with the feet to block (we would have to use the stick!), hockey goalkeepers can sometimes be seen shutting down scoring opportunities by sliding out with the stick to prevent a one on one. This is an elite skill and needs confidence and practise, but if executed well will shut down a potential goal.

 

At 5:08 you can see Manu Leroy (of KHC Dragons) pulling off such a feat:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z38daR6NR_8&feature=player_embedded

 

 

Hendy comes out to challenge.

 

Pro-active positioning

‘Sweeper keeping’ like an extra defender revolves around aggressive positioning: able to read the play well, the goalkeeper can respond to what occurs in front of them from active positioning at the top of the D. Closer to the edge of the D, you will be quicker out to aerials or long passes into the D, ready to challenge a breakaway player or unchallenged players coming into the D. By being prepared to come off your line actively, you stand a better chance of shutting down scoring chances and preventing goals through pro-active goalkeeping involved in the play.

 

 

On their goal line, the goalkeeper gives away too much space to go through on goal.

 

 

Off their line, the goalkeeper is more able to challenge a pass or player.

 

Whilst it is a basic example (and not off hockey!), the following illustrates a goalkeeper challenging the angles and pushing up off their line:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YaBvrHoGUw

 

Protecting your ‘house’!

The American phrase often used in field hockey refers to the need to dominate your area. It complements the theory of sweeper keeping, with the recognition that is more than just your goal, but your D, that you are guarding. The idea that you need to protect more than just your two posts is essential to strong goalkeeping and a more broadened role of supporting your back line. By ‘protecting your house’ in an active way, it helps reassure your team with a commanding, dominant presence, knowing that you are ready to come out and shutdown scoring chances yourself.

 

Playing as a ‘sweeper keeper’

Playing like a ‘sweeper keeper’ will obviously as listed previously, involve acting like an extra defender; prepared to come out and play the ball away or shut down attacks. The more active you are in the D, the more agile and physically fit you will need to be. As soon as you go out and down to block or intercept, you need to be up on your feet as soon as possible, before getting back into position to stop further shots at goal. Strong decision making and confidence in your ability will obviously be important as you don’t want to be giving unnecessary goals or getting stranded and out of position.

 

At 3:24 you can see a great example of pro-active goalkeeping:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37L0toHH7yI

 

The following are examples of ‘sweeper keeping’:

 

  • Aggressively challenging breakaways
  • Making interceptions against passed plays
  • Coming to the edge of the D to sweep away the ball with the stick, or using the stick to intercept outside the D
  • Attacking base line runs with slide tackles
  • Coming off your line to deal with aerials into the D
  • Being alert to rebounds; actively coming out to kick clear a deadened rebound etc.

 

Being a ‘sweeper keeper’

Ultimately, considering the role of the ‘sweeper keeper’ should cause you to rethink the goalkeeping position. Whilst the buzz phrase of ‘sweeper keeping’ is a good way of attributing the skills of a commanding goalkeeper, it is a good way of reflecting on your activity within the D. In essence, the theory acknowledges the need for goalkeepers to be more than shot stoppers. A key part of goalkeeping is to deny scoring chances through interceptions and the like, rather than allow shots to come in. By recognising this you can develop into a stronger and more commanding goalkeeper that your defence has trust in.

Focus on the ball!

Focusing on the ball will increase your success rate in saving shots.

When setting for the save, you need to be watching the ball. True eye contact allows you to focus on the ball and react accordingly to make the appropriate blocking action. Obviously this is not always possible in every situation, like tips and deflections where you see the ball at the last minute, but on point shots and at short corners, you should maintain a strong focus on the ball. By being pro-active and alert, you are in a better position to make the save; so whenever you make a save, or kick clear, you should always set your focus on the ball and maintain it throughout the save process, so as to maximise your efficiency.

 

Focusing on the ball

When watching the shot, you should focus on the ball from the ball carrier or shot all the way into the save. The way you watch the ball goes back to the fundamental skill of reading the game; not over committing and reacting to what happens in front of you. When the potential shooter becomes obvious, you can then focus on the ball’s positioning, setting up on the angle and in your stance ready to make the save. Watch the path of their hit or flick; watching the ball from the stick all the way into your equipment; putting a strong emphasis on focusing on the ball from release to reaction. Self discipline is the order of the day, with you needing to remind yourself every time to give 100% focus on the ball and the shot.

 

Watch the ball ALL the way in

In order to make a strong save with good execution, you need to be focused on the ball. If you react at the last second, you can’t expect to be in a good chance of stopping the ball! When some goalkeepers will close their eyes or flinch at shots (which is a problem we can all face, not helped by poor equipment), you instead need to be confident in your kit and confident in that you will be able to make the save unharmed.

 

When making any save, you want to be watching the ball ALL the way into your body – the specific piece of equipment making the save. In each case the basic principal remains the same: by focusing on the ball’s complete flight, you stand a better chance of making the save than if you only caught sight of it at the last minute. It terms of concentration and focus of elite goalkeepers, you can find photos of soccer goalies facing penalties where they are clearly following the path of the shot even if they have been beaten.

 

Remember, it’s fairly simply; the more you focus, the more chance you have of making the save, so do your best to give it a hundred per cent.

 

 

The ‘quiet eye’

Research and sports science studies has shown that the more a goalie focuses on the object coming at them (depending on the sport played!), the more they save. In ice hockey, the concept of the ‘quiet eye’ has been developed. It has been scientifically proven, that the more focus the goalie puts on the puck, the better chance they have of saving it. This link between eye contact and reaction is important to realising the need for total focus on the ball when goalkeeping in hockey.

 

The following clip is a good insight into the understanding:

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

 

‘Well watched’

Watching professional soccer (football), you will often see the goalkeepers raising their hands up against a shot that goes wide. This asserts that they have been paying attention and know the ball is not going to end up in the net! When Vogels was playing (he is obviously retired now), he used to put his hands up when the ball had gone off, to show to the umpire and team that the play was dead and the ball had gone off. Similarly, you can show that you are certain the ball is wide of the goal or going over (by knowing your angles), by raising your gloves. If you feel it helps, calling “Wide!” will also help your defence know you are leaving the shot. It takes a bit of experience and practise though!

 

 

 

Glove saves

The glove save sounds the most obvious form of save involving eye contact, with the goalkeeper watching the raised ball from shot to finished save, moving the glove into touch to block the incoming ball. However, you still need to be focused on the saving process and the ball, maintaining it throughout the saving motion in order to execute technique properly and help focus on the redirection for rebound control.

 

Stick saves

Stick saves are a little trickier due to the width of the stick and the reduced stopping surface that the stick offers. Nevertheless, it is important that you read the shot off the shooter’s stick and move the stick in to contact with the ball as required.

 

RHP

Using your RHP to block the shot, rather than relying on the stick (if ), gives you a better chance of making saves to your right given the larger surface area the new styles of right hand protectors provide. Turning at the wrist and pushing into the save, your focus remains the same: making prolonged eye contact with the ball into contact with your rhp.

 

Pad saves

The pad save may not seem like an area needing a write up on, but eye contact with the incoming ball will allow you to concentrate on the initial save along with the following rebound. As the shot comes in you will obviously be lowering your view to the ground, following the shot low into your pad.

 

Kicker stops

In order to make a well executed stop with your kicker, you need to watch the ball into your foot; looking down to the pitch, to focus on being able to react appropriately, just like a pad save. When kicking clear, or making the save, the focus is the same: watching the connection with the foot to make sure the angle is correct and the clearance is sufficient. For the ball to be effectively cleared on the play, you need to be paying attention to the angle of the incoming ball and then set up the redirect to match.

 

Chest/body

Though it’s not always orthodox or best (though I have seen it being taught by Dutch coaches and is good for blocking against deflections and killing rebounds), body saves still need your focus (and trust in your kit!). If you are forced into blocking the ball, you need to be aware of where the rebound goes in order to respond with your repositioning or clearance, forcing you to make eye contact with the ball.

Diving

When diving, the concept remains the same, and watching the ball all the way into the save betters your chances of making the save, as well as getting a look at the incoming ball, for a well placed redirect to steer the ball to safety. Diving into the save puts the focus on the stick and rhp or glove; changing your focus to a lowered state to watch the ball into the save.

 

Jumping saves

When jumping, or high diving to reach the ball, your focus translates to the ball’s position, with your eyes ready watching the distance between you and its destination, so you are set to make the save with your equipment as you get closer to the ball through the jumping motion. With the ball away from you from the beginning, you need to watch with great awareness; judging the distance of the ball as you move in to block it.

 

Blocked view

Sometimes you will be faced with situations where your view is impinged and you may struggle to see the ball. Here, the need is to locate the ball holder and react to the situation as it develops. This obviously makes life difficult. Whilst you may not get the chance to be totally focused, you can still prioritise your focus to react on the instant you catch sight of it, making sure you made the effort to focus on the incoming shot.

 

Pointers:

 

  • Give a 100% in your efforts; focusing on the shot ALL the way in
  • Use training and warm ups as a chance to focus on each shot in this way to reinforce good habits for game time
  • Try not to block your view of the ball unnecessarily during the save process; using your gloves independently when bringing the glove across to the right could block your vision

 

On short corners

Short corners are a time when you see goalkeepers losing their focus on the ball, even at the elite level. Instead of watching the ball from the injection to the flick or shooter, they simply choose to react to the corner as the play unfolds. However, I feel that short corners are an important time for goalkeepers to be focused on the ball because of the score rate of corners. Focusing on the ball at the injection right through to the drag flick or shot will help provide you with a good focus for making the eventual save, as well as helping you to track the ball to the shooter (if there are multiple ‘castles’ or dummies) or slip pass for a routinely planned redirect.

 

At flicks

Penalty flicks are another time when it is important to have good focus on the ball. Players can easily wrong foot you and send you the wrong way with a dummy or using their eyes to pretend to be going one way (and go the other!) as you play against better quality opposition. Instead, make sure you focus on the ball and nothing else; going the right way as it comes at you in order to stand the best chance of making the save.

 

Focus, focus, focus!

Ultimately, the most important thing to remember is the need for focus when faced with making the save. The more you focus, the more likely you are to stop everything! In training and practise try and set your targets on focusing on every shot without fail; the more you force yourself to focus totally on the ball for the shot, the better goalkeeper you will be.

Quantity versus quality?

When analysing performance, quality of saves versus quantity of shots is a point of interest.

Having played on teams where I got regularly shelled with shots, I often wondered whether being able to save the vast majority of them meant I was a better goalkeeper than those opposing ’keepers who had less work to do. However, as I moved up the leagues and changed teams, my opinion changed as I realised the importance of being able to make key saves at important times. Making that all important save can be a game changer, influencing the outcome of the game if the current score is close or the game is tied. By being able to make crucial saves when it counts, you are going to give your team a better chance of winning the game.

 

Quantity of shots

The strength of your defence and the way you organise it (as I wrote about recently) will have a big influence over the number of shots and scoring chances you will face in a game. Whilst you don’t always want to be facing a lot of shots, it can actually have a positive knock-on effect depending on how you play the ‘mental game’. I personally found myself to be a ‘rhythm’ goalkeeper (a term used for ice hockey goalies which refers to playing in a rhythm) as I would find it easier to concentrate better and play better when facing a lot of shots. If you consistently face a lot of shots, don’t take it personally and think of it more as a training session so you don’t get disheartened. I found it a quick way to learn the position being thrown in the deep end!

 

Quality matters

If you have strong technique and are a good shot stopper, then you are obviously going to be able to stop shots that are otherwise going to beat you. Whilst having more shots to stop looks better on paper, since your shots saved versus shots will obviously be a good representation of your ability, it is important to remember that the quality of shots is a better way of seeing how good you are. If the shots are easy (i.e. ‘soft’ goals if you fail to make the save), then a lot of easy saves aren’t going to test your core foot work and save technique, for example.

 

Quality over quantity

When playing competitively at good levels of hockey, you will notice that when playing behind a strong defence you will obviously face less scoring opportunities, which in essence makes your life harder! Any scoring chance therefore becomes more important because when the opposition does break through they are more likely to produce a shot that really tests you because they cannot waste opportunities. This in turn means that you are going to have to be prepared to stop it! With less shots coming your way, you also have to be much more alert because losing your attention and ‘dropping off’ will mean you make yourself beatable.

 

The following clip demonstrates this, with a close game and few shots:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xcjj4WnyXYU&feature=relmfu

 

Strong mindset

In contrast, facing few but hard to save shots is going to test your ability. Every shot is essentially an opportunity to prove yourself and focusing on a closed mindset of ‘one save at a time’ will help you direct your efforts and continue playing to a high level. Playing like it’s ‘0-0’ will also direct your attention away from worrying about the score line and help you focus on stopping those shots.

 

Quality not quantity

Ultimately, however many shots you face, you need to be able to stop shots no matter the quality. It could be argued that no matter the number of shots you face, when it comes down to the crunch, you need to save them! I think it’s harder to be a goalkeeper on a strong defensive team because if you only face one goal and you fail to stop it, you are going to under more scrutiny. Whilst it’s not really that fun to face a ridiculous amount of shots (as it can be disheartening over a long period of time), as you improve and get the chance to play on better teams, you’ll recognise the need to perform at key times in the match when it matters the most.