Product info
The BOBBLA ball will launch on December 1st 2009 and should be available from your local OBO stockist (keep an eye out for pricing details soon!). The balls will be available in bags by the dozen… they look like eggs get it! Sorry no more yolking around – for more info check out this post.
Tips on using the BOBBLA ball
The OBO Training BOBBLA ball is great for stripping down a goalkeepers kicking technique. It also encourages the fundamental of getting your body behind the ball and using forward body weight transfer.
High density foam technology means that goalkeepers can sometimes get lazy and simply swing their leg to kick the ball and rely on the bounce of the foam and not worry about their body weight distribution. A goalkeeper with good goalkeeping technique will try to keep their head and chest over the ball to stop the ball rising up, and have a follow trough with forward momentum to get a good clearance.
The ball has been designed to stay low and sometime bobble/pop up occasionally replicating what may happen in a match situation. This allows a coach to simulate repetition training to build muscle memory and helps to keep reactions sharp for the unexpected bobbles.
It has been a busy year for the Australian Hockey Team and it is now almost time for the biggest test of 2009 – the Champions Trophy in Melbourne. Since Ric Charlesworth took over as coach at the start of the year the Kookaburras have played 31 tests, with 23 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses. During this time 31 players have pulled on the green and gold shirt, including 14 debutants. Ric is trying to build a deep squad and this means that competition will be very intense for the final 18 that head to Champions.
Since my last post at the end of our European Tour, the team won a 3 Nations / 4 Team tournament against Malaysia, Canada and Australia A in Canberra. After that we were off to Invercargill for the all-important Oceania Cup and World Cup Qualifiers against New Zealand and Samoa. The first game was a 26-0 win against a very inexperienced but enthusiastic Samoan team, a game that will remain in my memory for that fact that neither myself nor fellow goalkeeper Nathan Burgers were in the 16 that played! Defenders Kiel Brown and Luke Doerner played a half each in the net for the first time and were certainly talking up the fact that they kept a clean sheet afterwards. Burgers and I resumed our spots in the two games against NZ, and it was a great relief when we won the final 3-1 to take our place in next year’s World Cup. I’ve attached a photo of the team after the game – I’m the one wearing the beanie (it was pretty cold in Invercargill, although none of the other boys seem to be feeling it).
More recently we took a relatively inexperienced side to KL for a 5 Test series against Malaysia, who are themselves preparing to head to Invercargill to try and win a World Cup spot ahead of New Zealand. We won the series 3-0 with two draws, and it was great to see three new faces make their mark, namely Jono Charlesworth, Matt Swann and Matt Gohdes (see photo attached). Jono is a team mate in the WA Thundersticks side and Gohdesy plays in my club team, Hale, so it was good to play a test match with both of them. Over the next couple of weeks there are three intra-squad trial games that will be the playing group’s last chance to impress selectors before the team is named for Melbourne on November 10. For the keepers it’s a case of 3 doesn’t go into 2, so Burgers, George Bazeley and I will be doing our best to earn selection in the upcoming games.
Hopefully I’ll be back soon with some good selection news in my next post!
Here at OBO we want you to get as much use as you possibly can from your kit. We often get asked whats the best glue to use on foam…we used to advise contact adhesive, but we have just discovered a great glue made by Loctite for “hard to bond materials”. Its called Loctite Plastic Bonder and bonds to OBO foam like a bad boy! The consmer pack contains an activator and glue and bonds to OBO foam superbly. You should be able to get this product from your local hardware store..here is a link to product on the Loctite website. If you cant find this the Loctite code is 770 primer and 406 glue.
Hey guys. Here’s my final report on the last of the three products in Obo’s new training product range, the Bobbla. To be quite honest, when i first started using this unusual product i was not very impressed with it. I thought it a little simple and not as valuable and relevant as the Flicka or D’flecta. However after using it for a bit longer and talking with my coach about the use i discovered that skills used with the Bobbla were actually more relevant than either of the other two training products.
Pictures of the Bobbla. The egg shape gives it its trademark bobble.
When using the Bobbla, the idea is to look at and practice the basic kicking techniques which are essential to goalkeeping. The Bobbla is rolled at the goal and the keeper kicks it away from the goal. Just like in a simple warm up. However the Bobbla makes each part of that ‘simple’ warm up much harder. Instead of staying on the ground as an ordinary hockey ball would, the Bobbla bounces and spins as it rolls giving an unpredictable bobble as the keeper goes to kick. This means the keeper is forced to concentrate much harder on their timing and basic kicking technique. By using the Bobbla my coach was able to pick out that my left foot was not as skilled as my right foot at kicking, a common problem for a lot of keepers, i have since corrected this and both feet are fairly even.
Here is a beautiful picture of the Bobbla in action. The egg shape has made the ball bounce up as i am about to kick.
The unpredictability of the bobble also speeds up the reaction time of the keeper and keeps them focused on the ball. Because the final direction of the ball was always uncertain i found that the best strategy was to wait until the last minute to kick. This improved my reactions, foot-eye coordination and my timing. Because the ball was traveling slower and moving about i had to focus on the ball the whole time and this improved my concentration. A weakness of mine has always been the slower, bouncy shots and the training with the Bobbla was perfect for erasing that problem from my technique.
From my experience, i found that the Bobbla is most useful for correcting and reinforcing the basic goalkeeping kicking techniques. The flaws in my technique have been somewhat ironed out and the constant repetition has improved my kicking muscle memory and confidence. I believe that this product has a lot of potential for coaches and goalkeepers everywhere. I found it extremely beneficial to my game and was able to make much better use of my coaching sessions.
As part of the Beta Testing Program i have been training with the Flicka extensively and have a range of feelings about it. I found it most useful for increasing my hand-eye coordination and my ability to track the ball through the air at different rates. The Flicka is designed to simulate aerial saves such as flicks and dragflicks. The ball is caught in the hook and flung so that the ball flies off towards the goal. Its a lot harder than it looks but when you get it it works great.
I found the Flicka a very good training product for increasing my confidence and ability when making glove and stick saves. Focusing on clearing the ball wide also improved my basic save technique and skill as a keeper. The Flicka was not as much use to me as it could be to others. I am already technically proficient and i was able to handle most of what the Flicka could throw at me. I found it more useful for creating muscle memory for getting to the ball, saving the ball and clearing the ball wide. I also found it very useful for increasing my skill with stick saves. By standing off to my left and trying to use only my right hand to save the flick i very quickly increased my stick save confidence.
I think this tool would be most useful for improving younger, less experienced goalkeepers who perhaps have slight flaws in their technique. The Flicka is better than a player flicking as quite often the player telegraphs which direction the flick is going. With the Flicka this is impossible to judge and so makes the save purely reactionary. The emphasis on making the save and clearing the ball also incorporates a degree of muscle memory which further enhances the keepers technique.
I also think the Flicka would be very useful for goalkeeper coaches. The coaches ability to control the speed and direction of the flick would greater allow them to control the training of the goalkeeper because sometimes field players cannot quite understand what the coach wants. This would allow the coach to individually tailor each flick to get the desired effect and get the desired reaction.
Defenders often like to pass the ball around the back of the pitch, in order to open up pitch space and allow for an attack through the middle; holding the ball and passing it amongst themselves to force the opposition to press forward (and thus making gaps appear). For this to happen, the goalkeeper must play their role in stepping out of the way!
If you do watch high level domestic (like the Hoofdklasse, Bundesliga, England Hockey League National Premier league games etc.) or international hockey, or happen to be able to, then something you will often notice the goalkeeper stepping into their own goal, as defenders stay deep, passing it amongst themselves, as they like for space in the midfield. At first this seems a little odd; why would the goalkeeper be intentionally stepping into his own goal during open play when their team has possession? Often, with a high press at work limiting the chance of moving the ball forward, or wanting to move the ball around at the back to the sides and start a play, your full backs will look to slap the ball between each other across the back of the pitch, in the attempt to entice the opposition forwards to come forward on attack and therefore open up space.
Although it sounds insignificant, it’s a very simple and effective tool that you can add to your game, to help your team; allowing your defenders more room to play the ball around, using the time and space available by staying deep to play the ball hard and fast across the field to test the centre, or begin an attack.
The ‘back-line’ pass
The back-line pass is essentially a pass made near the back line, with two defenders far apart, in each corner, knocking the ball back and forth amongst themselves (England’s international Richard Mantell, who plays his club hockey for Reading, is a great example of this, and was influential with it in the recent EuroHockey matches). A good slap hit allows the defender to move the ball with speed, power and accuracy a great distance; maintaining the team’s possession of the ball by playing it back and forth around the back of the pitch. Looking for a gap to open up in midfield, two defenders will often hang back and play consecutive long passes between themselves to take their time over opening up space for an attack, before releasing the ball to allow the moving forwards to penetrate the D.
However, for such an option to be available and successful, the goalkeeper needs to work with the team; if they are standing on their line in between the defenders, the option is not available! If you are standing on your line, you will end up being in the way! For the defenders to be able to maximise the space available to spread out a pass and open up playing space, they need to be given the room to do so. By stepping out of their way, you can give them the option to make pass across the back-line.
With the goalkeeper standing in the way of the passing option, the pass cannot be made.With the goalkeeper out of the way, the defenders are now free to make the pass; maximising the greater space provided as a result.
Moving out the way
To get out of your defender’s way, you can step backwards past the goal line and into the goal. Standing inside your goal will give your defenders more room to manoeuvre, playing the pass as near enough to the goal line as possible, to keep it deep. If they like to play it further away from the line, then you can just stand on the line if you wanted, out of their way. Once the pass has been made, you can obviously step back out of the goal and out to your normal standing position within the D. If your defenders want to pass the ball to each other again in this way, then all you have to do is repeat the process!
Some ideas and examples of using the OBO FLICKA Stick in action plus a few ideas on repetition training for aerial shots.
Some ideas and examples of using the OBO FLICKA Stick in action plus a few ideas on repetition training for aerial shots. (Please note the stick is an early prototype and all FLICKA sticks are green.)
The curve in the stick allows the coach to disguise the direction of the shot and also mimics more of a hockey movement than a lacrosse stick.
Please note this stick is not for use in a game – its for training and having fun!
I think this bag is the best which was ever been created by OBO.I really love the colours.But in my opinion it should have more pockets to seperate things like hockeyshoes, the throat protector or the shirt, from the smelly stuff.
Throughout this year i have been given the opportunity to train with and test the D’flecta, one of the new training products that Obo is bringing out on the first of December this year. I have used it in many different drills and using it has improved my reactions and confidence in making deflection shot saves.
In basic use the D’flecta sits on around the penalty spot area. It can face either way (one side giving more height that the other) and a field player or coach hits or pushes a ball along the ground at it. When the ball hits the D’flecta it goes in any direction, sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes wide and sometimes it stays on its original course. You cant judge this so its all about reactions. The trickiest part of the D’flecta i found was when the ball missed the D’flecta but was still going for the goal. Often i would get caught waiting for the ball to move and forget about making the basic save. This keeps you thinking about your angles and the basics.
When i first started using the D’flecta i was astounded at how many i was missing. However this was soon fixed as i started to train using the D’flecta regularly and incorporate it into more drills. By the end of the month i had improved drastically. I was stopping most of the deflections from the mat and was playing much better. Regular use of the D’flecta speeds up your reactions and agility. It is an excellent product to both warm up and train goalkeepers. It teaches you that the ball can come towards you from any direction at any time.
In this photo the ball has deflected high and left off one of the D’flectas.
The D’flecta can also be moved around the circle to simulate different deflections from different angles. It can be incorporated into drills to simulate game scenarios. E.g. a straight shot from the top followed by a push at a D’flecta mat set up around the circle somewhere simulates a save then a deflected return. These sort of drills improve agility and basic positioning.
This photo shows a ball recently deflected off the D’flecta, i have to move to my left to make the save.
In summary, i have found the D’flecta mat to be an excellent training product and also a lot of fun. It has improved my game in a short space of time and i recommend it to any other goalkeeper or coach out there who wants to improve. if you want to see the product in action take a look at the Obo Training Product Introduction on YouTube at the URL below .
Pictures of the Bobbla. The egg shape gives it its trademark bobble.
