The goalkeeper duel

A game is essentially down to how the goalkeeper performs, at each end of the pitch. The more goals one of them allows, the more likely their team is to lose, obviously! Ultimately, it’s a battle between the goalkeepers. Yes, but really any game (as I’d like to think!), it boils down to how well the goalkeeper at each end performs. If one has a bad day the office then they’re probably going to lose and lose out in points, and if the other does well, with the backing of their team, they can win and take home the three points with and for their team! But really, if you are struggling to find motivation in a game to play well, then perhaps you may want to think about mirroring yourself and your goalkeeping performance in response to the other team’s goalkeeper that you are facing up to?! And a simple yet potentially effective way of rethinking psychological inspiration and the ‘mental game’, is to consider the chance to prove yourself as a goalkeeper and pitting yourself against your opposite number, to encourage yourself to outperform them.

A game is essentially down to how the goalkeeper performs, at each end of the pitch. The more goals one of them allows, the more likely their team is to lose, obviously! Ultimately, it’s a battle between the goalkeepers. Yes, but really any game (as I’d like to think!), it boils down to how well the goalkeeper at each end performs. If one has a bad day the office then they’re probably going to lose and lose out in points, and if the other does well, with the backing of their team, they can win and take home the three points with and for their team! But really, if you are struggling to find motivation in a game to play well, then perhaps you may want to think about mirroring yourself and your goalkeeping performance in response to the other team’s goalkeeper that you are facing up to?! And a simple yet potentially effective way of rethinking psychological inspiration and the ‘mental game’, is to consider the chance to prove yourself as a goalkeeper and pitting yourself against your opposite number, to encourage yourself to outperform them.

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Goalie legends Vogels v.s. England’s Fair in a friendly match at Bisham Abbey. Don’t think I could have a career in promotional ads!

Pitting yourself against your opposite

In the blue corner, we have… and in the red corner, we have…! Ok, so hockey and goalkeeping particularly, isn’t exactly boxing or its promotional aides. But you may want to consider things like they’re the clash of the titans! Or a widely touted heavyweight bout! At least, when two of the world class best and arguable best in the world, greats like Vogels, Stephen Mowlam or Simon Mason, ever face up against each other, in goalkeeping terms, that is pretty much it! If you have turned up to a game and just aren’t ‘feeling it’ or are not too geed up on the idea of playing well, one way to trigger some amount of self motivation and encourage yourself to ‘up’ your play and play to your best, is the concept of outplaying your opposite number (goalkeeper!) at the other end of the pitch. If you want to prove who is best out of the two of you and want to inspire yourself if confidence is lacking or you’re just not ‘showing up at the races’, then imagining things like this and pushing yourself on to showing how good you can really play, you can starting showing your ability (perhaps just to show off to said opposite number!) and come out on top! Think about it; if you want to really show yourself up, now is the chance to, and thinking of it like that every game should inspire you enough to put in regular man of the match worthy performances!

Outdoing your opponent

When you’re pitting yourself against another goalkeeper, you want to be able to match them, like in tennis, point for point; save for save. It’s no good just thinking about it, you’ve got to do it! Challenge yourself to stop every shot as it happens and stop or limit every scoring opportunity that develops. Don’t just ‘sit pretty’ and be a ‘ball watcher’; an observer more than a goalkeeper! Matching them save for save and stopping everything that comes your way, you are looking to come out on top. Of course, facing fewer shots affects this, but still, quality over quantity! You may often see this in a very close game where the score is a 0-0 game or low scoring tie and every scoring chance and opportunity are as a result more important to the outcome of the game, which are being kept to a minimum, is decisive and therefore incredibly essential for the goalkeeper to stop. This year, I’ve been able to get along to a few games where this has happened in the national league, and it really has been a battle between the two goalkeepers to keep their team in it.

The following clip is a great demonstration of Reading’s Nick Brothers (at the time, he has since left the sport as far as I’m aware, sadly), going up against RC Barcelona’s Oriol Fabregas in the Euro Hockey League. The score line was incredibly close and both did the utmost to try and outdo one another and show their worth, making some quality stops and cracking saves:

Competitive but constructive rivalry

Of course, being a member of the ‘Goalies Union’, it’s not like you need to hate the goalkeeper you’re going up against! I guess if you’re battling it out with another goalkeeper in your club or classification group for international selection say, you may be a lot more emotionally engaged with the battle of fighting for a place or proving your talent, but ultimately, we’re all goalkeepers and we’re the only ones that fully understand each other! I don’t think outfield players really care that much about the intricacies of kit modifications, or how our positioning etc. resulted in the save that won the game and so on! They just want us to make sure win the game, or at least, we don’t slip up! It’s a good idea to pit yourself against the goalie at the other end, just so you have something to focus on regards to mentality, and at the end of the game, remember to shake their hand and say something encouraging (you’d want the same!); well played and all! So, really, it’s just a game at the end of the day (sure I won’t get away with saying that!); it’s what you put into life and sport that makes the difference. So, simply put, put everything you’ve got into a game and enjoy the efforts afterwards!

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Tom Skinner and Simon Mason are all smiles at the hand shake after a national league game between Bath and Guildford!

Out duel your opposite!

Ultimately, if you’re struggling for motivation and finding it hard to settle into the game or have conceded and are getting despondent, which is effecting your performance and therefore your team’s chances for a result, a quick trick for your psychology and ‘mental game’ is just to focus on how well the goalkeeper you’re facing up against is doing and outdoing them. It’s a simple but thoughtful idea! If you’re a little nervous, self doubting or lacking confidence to start the game, then reminding yourself that you are the better goalkeeper and pushing yourself on to prove it in your goalkeeping performance during the game, may just be handy for doing so!

Being a goalkeeper is boring

I don’t particularly think it is (although it can be very frustrating behind a team with a poor record), but at times you’ve got to be a little controversial to make a point, especially in writing. Those saves that make you look flash or superman aren’t going to be in every game and as your playing life develops, you’ll probably start to reconsider how you think about the position! In training you will often have a lot to do, but during games, you may not, commanding your defence and stopping chances developing before they come to fruition. But really, the boredom affects your game in terms of your ability to concentrate, pay attention and be able to make the important, decisive save as it happens, whenever it occurs time wise during the game (say early on to help keep your team in with a chance of taking the lead, or near the end of the match, to ensure you win!).

I don’t particularly think it is (although it can be very frustrating behind a team with a poor record), but at times you’ve got to be a little controversial to make a point, especially in writing. Those saves that make you look flash or superman aren’t going to be in every game and as your playing life develops, you’ll probably start to reconsider how you think about the position! In training you will often have a lot to do, but during games, you may not, commanding your defence and stopping chances developing before they come to fruition. But really, the boredom affects your game in terms of your ability to concentrate, pay attention and be able to make the important, decisive save as it happens, whenever it occurs time wise during the game (say early on to help keep your team in with a chance of taking the lead, or near the end of the match, to ensure you win!).

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Tom Millington looking a little bored as his team takes a short corner down the other end of the pitch!

Goalkeeping is boring

Well, to be honest, it can be. You may get games where you get to test your mettle and face a lot of shots, but otherwise, you won’t face that many shots. And it’s not about how many saves you make ultimately; it’s about being able to make the timely, crucial save at the right time! Playing behind a strong defence means you’re going to have little work to do but important work when you do; when something does get through, it’s potentially more dangerous to the score line and thus more pressure on you to ‘step up to the plate’!

At the highest level, the defence is so strong and team efforts so much and team work close knit, that you may only face few amount of shots or scoring opportunities to intercept. If you think about it, expecting to face lots of shots and being man of the match and showing your talent, is a quite a lot different to the expectations of having a single shot to save at the end of the game which could be the decision maker and yet we are expected to, have to, make the stop regardless! In ice hockey this is a lot different, with goalies expected to face up to 30 shots a game on a regular basis; in a match in the KHL (Russian pro league) this month, a goalie faced 60 shots, faced pretty much all of them and still lost! Heart breaking!

Hockey is a lot different in the way we face shots and are expected to deal with them. A lot like a premier league game in football where facing more than 10 shots is unheard of (Jaaskelainen faced about 12 for this seasons’ record recently against Tottenham!). Sorry to keep using football analogies! Yes, you still have to be ready for action as the speed of the game is such that you have to be keyed in to respond immediately, but maybe you can argue that you will have less shots to face, making it even more crucial (and demanding as a result!) that you make the stops despite how many you face. One shot and one conceded goal is all the difference it takes to change the game. And should be taken seriously!

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Ex-Old Louts goalie Stuart Hendy gets so bored he turns around to check his goal is still there!!

Reduced amount of saves to make

If you have started out on a team where you regularly face a lot of shots and find it helps you get into the game as you ‘build up a rhythm’, you may find it difficult to playing on a strong team where the defensive structuring and play is so great that you will only be called upon a few teams in every game. If, like me, you prefer to see more shots to get comfortable in a game, then it’s going to be difficult (to say the least!) to be able to mentally prepare and ‘come up trumps’ when you do eventually see some action. A heavy workload is different to facing only a few but decisive shots and scoring chances. The less shots you face, the more the opposition have to be careful in well executing and taking them to ensure they score, whilst having an impact on the way you play; with your confidence and trust in yourself to make the few but decisive saves when necessary.

Having little to do

With few shots, it is even more critical that you can concentrate and be alert to make the save when a scoring chance does happen; making it more stressful and pressurised! You have to be ‘awake’ all game for when you do eventually see a shot! When you are called upon you have to make that save. Goalkeeping is more than just stopping shots; it is being able to make the important ones when they most matter! Your one totally decisive save is going to be the game changer and needs to be made for your team to take home the three points.

So even if you can use stats and records to work out a goalkeeper’s performance and who is better at shot stopping, arguably to some degree, it doesn’t matter how many saves you make: if you can’t make the crucial one that keeps the score in your team’s favour, then you’ve let your team down, essentially. Harsh but realistic! Not for the weak is goalkeeping! But I think as you get older, begin to peak and grow into the position, you can overcome the nerves and tense mentality to be confident in knowing when you will be called upon and strong mentally to make that save.

Boredom and concentration

Elite goalkeepers have an amazing attention span. Imagine having nothing to do all game and then having to make an all-decisive save to keep the score as a win or prevent it from being a loss. To be honest, I can admit to (even though I probably shouldn’t!) having difficulties with staying alert if there is not much action down my end of the pitch and can get a little bored, only to be caught out by something happening unexpectedly for me to react to! Elite goalkeepers have elite concentration. If they slip up mentally, they’re pretty much bound to make a mistake because you expect opposition at that level to have attackers that will exploit these mistakes; if they didn’t you’d be thinking they’re overhyped! So as a result they’re obviously going to be paying full attention the whole game, no matter what.

The concentration levels are intense. Goalkeeping is intense. Sport is intense, so is competitiveness and playing at the elite level, it’s going to be as intense as it gets! And if you want a clean sheet, should be too (whatever level you play!). You really have to concentrate. And concentrate hard, with all of your being and mind. Just like Tim Howard, who actually has Tourettes (well documented in fact http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/06/16/goalkeeper-tim-howard-shuts-tourettes/), and is quoted often as mentioning that he has found that the level of concentration required to play in goal at the highest levels helps him overcome the negative side effects of this condition. At least, that’s what I’ve read and heard. This is in and of itself an amazing feat and not something to merely overlook or smirk at.

It also goes to show that if you want to achieve something badly enough, you’ll let nothing stand in your way! And self discipline (obviously very important if you’re a student athlete amongst other things and not letting anger boil over in a physical match say), much like concentrating, is especially part of this process. I thought I’d include that bit of lesser known goalie fact because it just goes to show how much you have to overcome to put aside the nervousness, pressures of goalkeeping and do all you can to focus on the game.

Ignoring the boredom and staying alert

The easiest, simplest and yet ridiculously difficult way is obvious: don’t think (removing any thoughts; positive or negative and eliminating worry), just read and follow the game and react to it. Don’t think, just do! I’ve been learning about Zen Buddhism (I’ve done a little of Buddhist meditation for personal reasons and also find it helpful for calming before a match, but nothing to this extent!) and how it can apply to goalkeeping. A lot like the way goalies across sports are looking at the mentality of golfers (who have an incredibly strong ‘mental game’ as expected!). When applied to hockey, the ability to think of nothing and just react and respond to the game as it unfolds is very handy. It’s refreshing and helps with focus, indescribably useful! So going from irritable or nervous or bored, I have taught myself to just totally focus on the game and nothing else. Pure focus. I recommend you research it! And it’s something I’ll hopefully write about in appropriate depth soon.

The idea is the ‘no thoughts thoughts’ way of thinking (yes Word that’s repetition, leave me alone!), where you abandon all thoughts to purely focus on what is happening in front of you, a lot like meditation in Yoga. By not thinking, you’re not over complicating things, you’re not over thinking (see de Gea’s struggles last season as a football analogy, can’t think of any goalkeepers in hockey struggling like that at the moment!), you just react and are able to make the right choices as a result. You take away the burdens and problems of nervous tension. Concentrating intensely without the chance to get bored; for the fully 70 minutes just focusing intensely on the game. Once you’ve finished, you can go back to random thinking and the generic stuff of whatever else goes on in your head! But in the game, you give it your all. It removes ALL distractions and thus will help you concentrate to play at your best!

Pay attention! Don’t get bored!

Not getting bored might be easier said than done, but if you teach yourself to eliminate thoughts or boredom and just concentrate totally, with all of your mind and focus, you should be able to do it every game. Concentration levels is something I tried to write about before when I started writing for the Keepers Resources site (it’s in another article somewhere!), but it depends on you as a goalkeeper. Some goalkeepers find it easy to concentrate with nothing happening, otherwise don’t and want to be stopping a lot of shots! Games don’t go that way all the time, so it’s a good idea on working out how to concentrate so when that scoring opportunity does present itself, you are ready to react accordingly.

Welcome to ‘the suck’

“The suck” as the Americans call it (I think I’m right there, please correct me if I’m wrong any would-be American readers!), is to do with things sucking and just learning to live with it, in the modern sense, I *think*! It’s something I read about somewhere recently in some discussion online between ice hockey goalies and thought it could be applied for understanding the ‘mental game’ and how we as goalkeepers need to be able to deal with the pressures and pains of playing the position we love, but more than; to manage the sensitivity of not letting things get to us. Without the ability to overcome the ‘suck’ in a goalkeeper’s season, it can have terrible affects on your team’s season. Just like the attempt to use ‘swagger’ as a way in to looking at self confidence, this is the chance to use a conceptualisation of dealing with adversity and a chance to do the flipside and look at how you keep it together when things are getting difficult. Especially so within a game (where you want to turn things around to tie it up or make a comeback) and also in a season (if it has derailed).

“The suck” as the Americans call it (I think I’m right there, please correct me if I’m wrong any would-be American readers!), is to do with things sucking and just learning to live with it, in the modern sense, I *think*! It’s something I read about somewhere recently in some discussion online between ice hockey goalies and thought it could be applied for understanding the ‘mental game’ and how we as goalkeepers need to be able to deal with the pressures and pains of playing the position we love, but more than; to manage the sensitivity of not letting things get to us. Without the ability to overcome the ‘suck’ in a goalkeeper’s season, it can have terrible affects on your team’s season. Just like the attempt to use ‘swagger’ as a way in to looking at self confidence, this is the chance to use a conceptualisation of dealing with adversity and a chance to do the flipside and look at how you keep it together when things are getting difficult. Especially so within a game (where you want to turn things around to tie it up or make a comeback) and also in a season (if it has derailed).

‘The suck’

According to Urban Dictionary (which is like trying to reference an academic paper with Wikipedia!), it apparently originally comes from the Vietnam War era, used by the US Marine Corps, defining undesirable conditions. But it also testifies to the enduring qualities of mental strength, the ability to continue on regardless in the worst of conditions to get the job done. Ok, so being a soldier and a goalkeeper are two different things and nothing alike really, but putting things aside from a moment, metaphorically, the analogy can be applied to those off days where the score line ends up particularly disheartening and embarrassing; the bad days at the office and the times our team mates are having a go at us or trying to tell us how to do things when they’ve never played in goal, or are causing goals through deflections!

Sometimes things suck

Let’s face it; goalkeeping is a pretty thankless task. Sometimes, when things aren’t going our way, obviously! We can win games only if they do their part and defend and score! It’s like life sometimes. Sometimes things don’t go your way and you’re really up against it. Pinned to the wall, backed into a corner, so maybe you just have to learn to fight back (with your goalkeeping performances and psychological stamina, no punching please, it’s not ice hockey where you actually get goalie fights!)! “Tough times come and go but only tough people stay.” That one is a toughie; but if you have to face bigger struggles, you’re practically the bigger person despite what people will say. “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you’ve stronger.” It does, but it leaves scars and can make you bitter. Alas! You’ve heard the clichéd phrases time and time again, but what of it? There’s a lot of truth about them, with the adages of perseverance and qualities of endurance. But can they apply to goalkeeping? I think so, at least when faced with the mental battles of confidence and performance.

You play really well to keep your team in it and they don’t acknowledge our efforts. The important but necessary things get overlooked and ignored, but you know that you had a game and kept them in it! That’s the irony of the goalkeeping insight and knowing how goals are scored on us and whether we were actually doing a good job of things or not. But without us, our teams would not be able to win (and there wouldn’t be much point playing as we are the person they need to score past!). And you can’t play a game without us (unless you’ve got a kicking back!)! So, really, it’s case of getting used to the mental frustration of ‘doing your part’ and the team sometimes not.

Not letting things get to you

Rather than actually let ‘the suck’ overcome you and beat you mentally, you can step away from negative thinking and reset the balance. Even if you’re starting to lose your grip on things regards confidence and confidence in your team mates, you’re doing your best; you play and lose as a team, so what else can you do but continue on regardless to ensure you put in the best performance they can ask of you? Positively affirmation and reminding yourself how good you actually are is going to be better than thinking your rubbish and then playing like you are! The tricky thing of psychology, self perception and confidence!

“Water off a duck’s back” as the saying goes. Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t turn up to a game not even bothering to try (like purposefully failing an exam or something?!), but, similarly, you shouldn’t let things get to you so much that you can’t play to your best. Ok, so you hold your hand up to it (you’d be surprised how that helps your team as you are admitting responsibility, which they seem to prefer as the onus is no longer on them!) and admit your fault. But then you move on from it. You can’t live in the past, like in life; it’s all about the present! Don’t think about how the game is in the other team’s favour; focus on how you can make sure you win! It’s important to be competitive and great to care about the game and your performance in goal, enough to get a little angry or miffed, but don’t overdo it! Doubt or overly critical self criticism can be a little corrosive psychologically and have the wrong impact on how you play for the rest of the game.

I used to get into a right sulk if I conceded, especially in a close game, where I felt I’d let my team down and could have and should have stopped it! And games where I did all I could but the defence wasn’t great (young time, inexperienced, that kind of excuse!) and the score line favoured the other side more greatly, it would lead to me chucking my gloves off at the end of the game in disgust and annoyance (I saw Ian Scanlon do it when he lost by a goal to East Grinstead a few weekends ago; the frustration shows we care and he wasn’t to blame, with a pretty much perfect performance!). I just didn’t want to let goals in! And sometimes, it would have a bad knock-on effect on how I played. So, the advice is: play like it didn’t happen and carry on regardless, so you can keep your confidence and thus performance up! That way, you give your team the best chance to win (via a comeback) or tie things up. If you don’t carry on saving shots well, it’s not going to happen!

Play like you just don’t care

Ok, this sounds a little contentious and bad advice, but that’s how hyperbole works! Whilst you want to be competitive and you do need to care about the score line (how else are you going to win?!), you should not get to the point where you don’t believe in yourself anymore or get annoyed at your team mates (that won’t help you either!). Don’t let it get to you. Don’t let the score line lead to a bad defeat because it has derailed your confidence in your true abilities as a goalkeeper. There are going to be times when things don’t go your way and you feel like you’re a ‘polo’ (as the outfielders may call you: shots go through you or something!).

So what? If you get niggled and irritated by things, your performance may disintegrate, but if you carry on like it didn’t happen, and continue to play on confidently and strongly, that’s better than the other option? Right! Goals are a fact of life for a goalkeeper: it’s how you move on from things (build a bridge and get over it as they say!) and ensure you still perform to your best and don’t make mistakes again after that goal has been allowed.

Keep calm and carry on!

As the popular saying that you can find on mugs, posters, pretty much everything these days (which seems to have reached its peak to be honest!) goes, “Keep calm and carry on”. Do it! Carry on regardless and stay confident like you were before! It’s no good getting put off by conceding if you can’t concentrate or believe in your abilities as a goalkeeper to change the game and make decisive saves, if it is really going to affect your play and in a negative way. Instead, concentrate on maintaining a strong level of play. Don’t get downhearted and lose interest. Double up your efforts and make sure you don’t allow another one in!

A lot of goalkeepers that play professionally can be quoted as saying that they put a ‘bad day at the office’ out of their mind and just focus on the next game, rather than getting caught up in the feelings of despondency and regret (over bad mistakes etc. that cost the team the game and such). Getting flustered isn’t going to help anyone and getting downbeat about things isn’t going to get you to ‘get into the game’ if you’re losing confidence and interest concentration can drift, your performance can end up sub-par when you were doing so well etc. These things happen and you need to readjust and reapply yourself from stopping anything else getting past you! The elite goalkeepers also have an elite mindset; they let their confidence deal with things and overcome it mentally to carry on playing to their best, doing all they can to keep their time in it. They’re elite for many reasons and in every expecting of goalkeeping they are among the world’s elite (otherwise they wouldn’t be there, in that position!).

Admittedly, I have been using this clip a lot (I guess that’s to do with how much I like it!) for representative of points and of different things but on the second corner that Vismaan (black jersey, black gloves and orange Brabo pads) concedes, he seems to ‘pull himself together’, you can sort of see the change in body language where he accepts the goal has been scored against him and shrugs it off:

Here, in the following photo, Stuart Hendy appears pretty non-plussed and relaxed about things after just allowing a goal! He won the game, making (so maybe that proves the point?!).

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“Meh… so what!” What I’d like to think Hendy was thinking at least!

Don’t let it suck!

If you give your all and don’t get dismayed by negative thinking, then that’s all your team can ask of you! Play your best, overcome the odds, do all you can and you can’t have any complaints from your team mates (even if they do, you still know they’re wrong, that’s most important!!). Off days and grumblings from your team mates, they’re just other things to learn to deal with. You can’t aggregate the importance of mental strength but it is so crucial; 90% psychology and 10% skill as the saying goes in sport. Mental strength is about the deep, entrenched strength of personality and mind and self belief to overcome significant challenges, whether in life or goalkeeping and so not taking things too seriously can help a little.

Goalie ‘swagger’

‘Swagger’ is not exactly what you expect to think of when referring to hockey. But when it comes to goalkeeping (which is a part of the sport!), then you might be open minded in reconsidering!

‘Swagger’ is not exactly what you expect to think of when referring to hockey. But when it comes to goalkeeping (which is a part of the sport!), then you might be open minded in reconsidering! I’m not sure how it will translate internationally with the translate feature though! ‘Swag’, without sounding trite (I’m not exactly the definition of ‘street’ and it’s not exactly something you expect in the hockey community!) is a phrase often used when it comes to ice hockey, with goalies talking about how they look, and how they can experiment with pad colours and set-ups to look better and stylish! Who said goalkeepers didn’t have style?!

Well, in ice hockey, they can specialise their kit (we still can; Obo obviously offer the chance for two tone pads but not many do, although Monarch are introducing it!) and ‘dress up’ to ‘look the part’ and ‘cool’. I did play it for a bit (bit of a goalie connoisseur trying my hand at most sports, although do play outfield occasionally!!) and still pay attention to forums and blogs etc. for thoughts and ways of ‘thinking outside the box’; Justin Goldman s a great goalie writer and inspiration and whilst ice hockey is obviously a totally different technique and way of playing in goal, has a great level of insight for the mental game and psychological aspects of sport.

But regardless, it’s just a way in to contemplating body language and how you appear to your opposition. Easy to beat or hard to beat? You may not have played them yet and you don’t want to give them the wrong impression! I wanted to write about the conceptualisation of ‘swagger’ as a chance to discuss self belief, and thought this would be a good way in to introduce exploring the mode of self belief that has to be learnt through experience effectively and that potentially cannot be taught. You have to play like it and have the personality to match!

Why?

It’s a great way of looking at how confident you are on the pitch. You NEED to be confident, because it’s arguably the most pressured position on the pitch and if you’re not confident, you want play to your best or ‘do yourself proud’ with your performance. Self belief is either natural and deeply inherent for the person, or is buffed up by things that make you feel confident. You have to really trust in this positive self perception, or things can go belly up as you doubt your abilities and back away from tackles etc. or plays where you need to be aggressive with your play. Thinking about ‘swagger’ is just a vehicle for contemplating how your confidence comes across, a way of establishing this in the ‘mental game’ of the goalkeeping world.

Looking good

Look good, feel good, play good. It’s something that Obo discuss and makes a lot of sense and may be useful for you. But it also affects how your opponents see you. Look like you are unbeatable and they may feel you are going to be hard to beat! And conversely, look like you are a bad, and you may just well let in a few too many (bad days at the office aren’t fun!). Plus if you feel like a nervous wreck and things don’t go to plan, you may end up probably playing bad as doubt creeps in, so better to look hard to beat and not let things get to you! Psychologically you want to endorse this self belief so that you can play like it. Mind games and that malarkey may well also come into play as you get the opposition to believe you really are that unbeatable and going to stop them every time!

‘Swagger’ in the way you present yourself

‘Swagger’ as previously discussed, can easily be considered in the way your kit looks. That are lots of goalkeepers in the elite leagues that have pretty nice looking set-ups, even if the look is pretty standard (all red for TK right now etc. but Obo allows for the customisation for ‘swag’!). David Kettle (Welsh international) had a particularly swish blue and black colour look whilst at East Grinstead (the blue tk rhp helping complete the look!) and is now back with a more blue look (orange inners) at Surbiton after playing with a more mismatching look so far this season. Whilst Richard Potton at EG has a more orange look throughout, with blue on the inners of his pads. Aside from having kit that is shiny and well looked after, I’m not really sure how else you can look the part! Goalkeepers who will always look to experiment with kit, so even then, if they decide to use different types of kit for playing style and technical reasons, then it isn’t going to be a complete picture or universal set-up!

But ‘swagger’, like the way the ‘kids on the block’ talk about, is a lot about how you hold and present yourself. Fashion wise and also looking rough and tough. In a game if you look comfortable and seem like you’re going to stop every shot that comes at you, then your opposition is going to treat you so with more respect. But in goalkeeping, along with the loud verbal commanding of your defence, you want to cut a composed and yet imposing figure, an impression of cutthroat last man back to shut down their attacks.

One example is when I went along to see England in some international games a few years back. And watching from the stands and observing the goalkeepers in the game, was surprised to see Brothers look a little poserish (not a word and don’t mean to sound condescending, just how I saw things at the time!). It was a weekender against India. ‘Fairy’ (James Fair) played the first game and it was Nick Brothers’ turn ‘in between the posts’. The way he held himself and the air and presence about him as if he thought he was the best in the world (or something like that, I don’t know how to phrase it; I’ll never be that good and I do rate him highly as a ’keeper anyway!).

I thought it a little odd and different. But it makes a lot of sense now looking back in retrospect. If playing in front of a large crowd (probably not as big as the crowd at the England game, unfortunately!) and the added pressure, you can let the nerves get to you a little and affect your performance or you can overcome it by ignoring it and come across confident. Oriol Fabregas at RC Barcelona also comes across pretty emboldened. In this way, you’re doing the opposite of letting things and the opposition get to you; you’re showing that you are not nervous (even if you might be, by a tad!) and actually raring to go and stop everything that comes your way. ‘Gigi’ Buffon for Juventus and Italy and all time legend is a great footballing example of this; the way he stands high at corners and just carries himself looking confident the whole game. And he’s one of, if not often, the world’s best, so who can argue against that!

To extend and twist the metaphor, you can also consider how you express your confidence in the way you look (when not in your ready stance etc.). ‘Standing tall’ as a phrase (generally applied to life!) when applied to goalkeeping relates to bringing your ‘A game’ and giving your all no matter how good your team is (i.e. if you’re being shelled, you still do your best to stop every shot!), but can also in a sense relate to how you appear and how confident you are. Outside of goalkeeper, it’s been well researched that if you are hunched up, you feel worse mentally. Physiologically and psychologically impacting how you act. If you look hunched and crunching inwards, yousay a last corner of a game when the whistle has blown!

So in this sense, with body language, you are coming across to the opposition as not particularly confident in your own abilities. Personally, I just think I know too much random stuff, but I really do think it has a lot of impact for psychology and thus worth considering when thinking about the ‘mental game’ as a goalie in hockey. I’m not sure how this is understood in sports science, but theoretically makes a lot of sense. A straight back is needed in your ready stance anyway, but if you hold yourself upright as discussed in the following, you appear more content (you should be happy to be there, you’re in goal after all and you’re supposed to love it!) with the pressures and confident.

For example, look at the way Tom Millington (blue/orange tone Obo pads) looks and comes across in this clip; and when the play is not in his half, he still looks pretty composed and (versus shaky about a breakaway!):

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Low gloves at short corners

Just like I wrote about a couple of years back about using high gloves to help make standing saves against drag flicks at corners, the opposite (low gloves) can be argued as well, for those menacing and difficult low placed flicks you cannot reach from your standing position. Thoughts and analysis on how gravity and holding them low equates to reaching such flicks, as well as a new trend that seems to be becoming popular at short corners.

Whilst I have written about a raised glove positioning at corners, to allow you to make high saves from a standing position and also to make bringing the gloves into position during a high dive easier, there is also a good reason to have your gloves down low at a corner. It all depends on the level you play at and the style of drag flicks or shots you face. Standing up with gloves high, it is easier to move in to save a high flick, but if you are facing a difficultly placed flick that you cannot reach with your legs down low, where you may have to dive low and with low gloves, is obviously easier to get closer to the ball more quickly from that position.

 

low_glove_stance_brothers

 

Lowering your gloves

Having low positioned hands equates to being able to bring your gloves into play to stop a low ball, where you are extending out wide against a difficult-to-stop drag flick that is not quite on the floor and not particularly off it. Whilst a lot flick takers do go to flick high, there is a lot of sense in having a low glove positioning in your stance to allow you to get nearer a low ball with your gloves when facing a low placed and very difficult to stop, tricky, drag flick wide, low and down, or into the corners, where you need to really extend and push out into making the save. Just like where you have your gloves high to move up or out, from a standing position. With your gloves low you can quickly bring them in to block the ball as you make the dive; already low, allowing you to drop them even quicker to stop the ball.

 

It’s something Nick Brothers did a lot when playing club hockey for national premier league side Reading and when representing England or GB internationally (he has hung up the pads, sadly). Nick Brothers had his gloves low in a general stance (which you don’t seem much of these days) to help getting low for a save more quickly (seen at 9:01 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2SeiavimsE) and Simon Mason seems to still uses a stance like this (well, his gloves are low at least!). But, he also kept this low glove stance when dealing with short corners.

 

low_glove_stance_brothers_ready

 

As can be seen at 1:29; although he gets his rhp on it, it bounces up and away, done to wrist rotation but a very difficult save to make regardless:

Saving low

As suggested, it should be easier theoretically for your gloves to be used from a low position when going up against low and wide flicks that you cannot stop from a standing position. With gravity coming into play and an incredibly fast drag flick being faced, the lower your gloves, the quicker it should theoretically be to bring them in to save the flick as you go down. Here’s the legendary Simon Mason making such a save at 2:01, getting the right glove and stick low to stop:

With your gloves already low, it should theoretically assist pushing out wide in extension in a low/mid-dive against flicks outside your reach when standing, as Brothers demonstrates:

New trending?

Unlike Brother’s stance where his gloves were outside the body than tucked beside, there seems to be a new trend in goalkeeping, which I wanted to comment on after the realisation! This alteration can be noticed if you watch Stubbings and Belgian goalkeeper van Rysselberghe (who’ll be mentioned later!). Diccon Stubbings (goalkeeper for Canterbury in the England Hockey League) has made an interesting change to the way he sets up at penalty corners, with a ready stance, that almost looks lackadaisical (edit: yes, I get to use an awesomely elongated word when discussing goalkeeping!) and kind of displaying an nonchalant  within the ‘mental game’ regards  to outside , unaware of goalkeeping technique and perspective! His gloves are just still by his side then pushed out into anything resembling a ready stance.

 

Here you can see his previous stance on corners whilst at Holcombe, where it has the gloves higher and around the body, in front:

 

http://www.holcombehc.org.uk/gallery/Kent%20Cup/2010%20-%20Mens%20Cup%20Final/PICT6900.jpg

 

Here is the new stance I’ve seen of him using at Canterbury, essentially just a very relaxed stance, with the gloves dropped to his side, ready to push out low.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12608538@N03/8502764329/in/pool-1375155@N25

 

In the following video, noticing how he gets low quickly to stop (he’s in the red TK pads and black shirt and black helmet) and generally reverts to a low glove positioning in his ready stance when shots are in close. At about 9:24 you can see this in practise. Richard Mantell likes to flick low and Stubbings has obviously gone with expecting him to and it looks like the ball goes wide, or he does manage to make a cracking save getting low with the stick.

On the consecutive corner, you can see how having a low glove stance makes it easier to block standing up against a flick near to the hips and around the body, or to dive into, if necessary.

 

Stuart Hendy, Old Loughtonians goalkeeper (again, another retiree, at least I think; not on the EHL web page team sheet anyway!) also used this set-up against short corners as of late, to help him deal with lower placed flicks. Here’s a photo of him making such a save a season ago against Oxted:

 

 low_glove_save

 

The photo below illustrates the stance where he would set up with his gloves low.

 

 low_glove_stance

 

But seemly unlike the other goalkeepers (mentioned and to be mentioned, see below!), he changes his glove positioning as and when at suits, which can be seen demonstrated here at 1:42:

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

And here at 9:50:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ICj9ODArkA

 

This is also something Belgian international goalkeeper (Vanasch has beaten him out of the starting spot, with Gucasoff now second choice and Leroy having been part of the training squad), David van Rysselberghe, does a lot of. Rather than keeping his gloves up at shoulder or chest height in his stance on the corner (the rest of the time for game, he retains a ‘normal’ ready stance with gloves up around chest/shoulders, a lot like Stubbings), he keeps his gloves very low, in case of the danger of a save that is down towards the backboard.

 

Ignore the goal but notice how low he keeps his gloves, and like Stubbings, basically stands there looking like he’s not really bothered, gloves dropped to the sides of his body!

High or low?

It all depends on the flicks you expect to face. Most of the time, I would expect flicks to be higher; around head height, wide of you, or wide of you outside the body (hip height say, where you have to extend out into a dive to reach). But some flick takers like the difficult positioning just above the floor and at the post or between you and the defender, which is tricky to defend and can cause confusion. Assumptions can be made depending on the places the flick takers look to go for. Scouting your opposition always helps and is essential for this approach. It’s still possible to get your gloves low from a raised position in your stance when you dive, but it depends on where you expect the ball to end up and if you need to extend as far out as possible to reach the corners etc. It’s something I’m going to write about in more detail in another article.

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!