Question:
I was wondering if you had any drills or simply advice on how to train my keepers. They are young, freshman (college) and they have some basics. They are definitely improving but they are not very aggressive or quick…mostly not aggressive. I was a keeper myself and was a natural. They are not. How can I teach aggressiveness? Can I? Do you have any suggestions? I have tried to talk with them about the mental aspect but talk doesn’t seem to be doing it. Help!
Answer:
Aggressiveness is a problem, especially if it’s not natural. I think the best way to develop it is to put keepers in situations where they see a reward to being aggressive. We use a lot of man down situations, 2v1, 3v2, etc where we encourage the keeper to try defend passes as well as shots. There are a couple of things that encourage keepers to be aggressive, one is making sure that they’re adequately protected. A keeper isn’t going to be very aggressive if she’s afraid of getting hurt. In addition, make sure your keepers are athletic enough to play an aggressive style. The biggest thing that will draw a keeper to a more aggressive style is having success playing that way.