Blogs Are So Last Year!!!

Guys, most of our news and updates are now done via Twitter so please follow us: @MINDSi.

Thanks,

The MINDSi Crew


MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

How Do You Explain Away Your Sporting Success.....and Failure?

How performers explain or attribute their sporting performance has a significant impact on their expectations and emotional reactions, which in turn influence future achievement.

In order to achieve sporting excellence it is imperative that athletes demonstrate and focus upon positive attributions; ones that are stable, such as their ability.

Attributing performance to these stable factors has a positive impact on performance and has been associated with expectations of future success. Focusing on these factors can be carried from one event to another; they are a constant and because of an athlete’s awareness of this then this should provide a similar outcome in future sporting events.

Alternatively, focusing on negative, unstable or external factors outside of an athlete’s control will have a detrimental impact on their sporting performance as all of these will mean that an athlete will not expect sporting success with any degree of frequency due to the variable nature of all of these factors. This will lead to the athlete feeling that their performance is out of their immediate control and as a result their motivation and confidence levels will be less. In the long term this will have a significant impact on the athlete’s enjoyment and success in their chosen sport.

Gavin Wilson
MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

What Is Motivation Exactly?

Sports psychologist Ian Lynagh, father of former Australian rugby league captain Michael Lynagh describes motivation as “The development and maintenance of a drive to succeed".

He goes onto explain that the most mature reason why people do sport is because of the challenge of wanting to establish control over a task. He then adds that it becomes more of an intrinsic striving, an internal challenge, than the desire for status or other extrinsic things such as prestige and rewards, getting a medal. He continues “Sport provides a process of learning to grow as a human being. Most sports are stupid or meaningless. But we identify a difficult challenge in sport so that we need to train and develop skills, which involves self-discipline and self-management and taking responsibility. It’s all about factors that help humans grow to become more than we are”.

For me this is an excellent definition of the term “motivation” and he goes onto explain it well. The fascinating thing that Lynagh gets at is that he sees motivation in sport as not specifically about sport or its external rewards, such as trophies and medals, but more about motivating oneself to improve as a person.

This links into Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the five different levels that can be attained. I believe to be motivated in sport, you have to have that drive, that determination in other aspects of your life too – it needs to be intrinsic and you must focus on the task in hand, and not the final outcome. And vice versa.

An athlete’s values and beliefs also link into this and a need to take a personal responsibility and pride in their development and what they want to achieve, in sport and in their everyday life.
​
To conclude, motivation in sport can be taught although a person’s general personality traits, beliefs, values and strive for personal intrinsic improvement heavily influence future sporting success.

If you, or your team, would like some help with the complex area of motivation please just get in touch with us and one of our Peak Performance Consultants can arrange a one on one session or group session.

Thank you,

Gavin Wilson
Senior Sports Performance Coach
MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

IZOF - Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning

Or, getting "in the zone" as it is commonly known. If this doesn't do it for you, nothing will.

DFTBA! (That stands for DON'T FORGET TO BE AWESOME!)

Gavin Wilson
Senior Sports Performance Coach
MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MINDSiOnline.com

MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

"David!! The Ball Is Over There!!"

David de Gea's erratic first season at Manchester United has taken place with the talented but error-prone goalkeeper suffering from an eyesight problem that may necessitate laser surgery at the end of the season.

De Gea, dropped from United's past three matches after making a succession of mistakes, is long-sighted and plays in contact lenses. United employ a full-time optometrist, based at their training ground, and the Spaniard has been recommended for treatment to restore his sight to normal as he tries to cut out the mistakes that have cost him his place as Sir Alex Ferguson's first-choice goalkeeper.

Having worn glasses for most of his life, De Gea was going to have laser surgery last March when he was at Atlético Madrid. At the time, however, the Atlético medical staff told him to wait at least another year because he needed a stable prescription.

United were aware of the issue when they signed him for £18.3m in the summer. De Gea has had regular check-ups since replacing Edwin van der Sar and held off the challenge of Anders Lindegaard until one mistake too many in the 3-2 home defeat against Blackburn Rovers on New Year's Eve.

De Gea has been at fault, to different degrees, for as many as six to nine goals in his first five months in the team and, though there have been times when his goalkeeping has been exceptional, his first season in England has been a difficult one. Whether there is any link to his vision is not clear, but wearers of contact lenses often find their eyesight is strained when watching football under artificial light, and the priority at Old Trafford is to make sure it is not even potentially a factor.

United still have high aspirations that De Gea, at 21, can demonstrate he was worth the money and become a great goalkeeper for the club.

The hope is that he can be booked in for laser treatment in June, when he could take advantage of the summer break to have the four-day period of rest that is advised. He is then expected to be selected for Spain's Olympics squad if, as expected, he misses out on Euro 2012 behind Iker Casillas, José Reina and Victor Valdés.

(Article courtesy of www.guardian.co.uk)

MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

BELIEVE!

MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

Go and Be a Super Hero!

Why does the incredible Superman stand the way he does? Why are all super heroes standing with such massive size and great confidence?

Remember the Super Heroes from the 70s and early 80s? When they stood together they looked like one huge force? Why? Why do they stand like that?

A colleague sent me an article on “power posing” the other day and I thought I would get it out to you guys. Is it a half-truth? Is it mental mumbo jumbo? I’ll ask you a question after you read the article and we’ll see what you think.

(The article is courtesy of Miller-McCune.com)

POWER POSES REALLY WORK

Researchers find that assuming a powerful body position helps you feel powerful, act more self-confident and raise testosterone.

How strong is the power of suggestion? For researchers in the field of embodied cognition as it relates to and influences the body — suggestion is a force to be reckoned with. Rooted in psychology, linguistics and neurobiology, embodied cognition has established links between movement and the mental state. A 2008 study published in Discover magazine, for example, found a tie between facial expressions and emotive perceptions. A recent report on a study from the Netherlands found that upward motions elevated mood.

New research published in the journal Psychological Science continues this discussion. A team led by Dana R. Carney, assistant professor at Columbia University, examined the psychological, physiological and behavioral effects of body positioning.

The researchers studied 42 participants (26 females and 16 males). Subjects were assigned poses that indicated either a high or low display of power and were told to hold positions for two simple one-minute intervals. Feelings of power were measured through self-report.

By collecting saliva samples from test subjects before and after body positioning, researchers measured levels of hormones linked to displays of power.

Cortisol, a stress hormone, often increases with feelings of powerlessness. Testosterone levels rise from cues that encourage or reflect dominance.

After they finished posing, participants were given some money and a chance to gamble to assess risk aversion. Handed $2, subjects were told they could roll a die to double their money or lose it all. Feelings of power were measured again through self-report.

The researchers found that high-power posers were more likely than low-power posers to focus on reward. Eighty-six percent of these participants modified their behavior by gambling, while 60 percent of low-power posers took the risk. High-power posers also reported feeling significantly more powerful than their low-power counterparts.

Hormone levels also indicated a difference between high- and low-power posers. High-power posers showed an increase in testosterone and a decrease in cortisol; lower-power posers saw a decrease and an increase, respectively.

These findings push the understanding of embodied cognition into the realm of physiology and motivation, as body movement is linked to mood and behavior. This also suggests that psychological constructs, like power or introversion, can have roots in a pattern of nonverbal physical cues. Rather than mind over matter, perhaps we should think mass over mind?

So do you believe it? I sure do, and so did Superman. So there must be some truth in it.

Here is my question… How many successful athletes stand with their arms held close and their bodies slouched downward?

Let me think about it. Uh, NONE! You never see positive, confident people slouching, looking down, hands wrapped around their mid-section, do you?

So what to do? Start standing with your head high, your chest out, hands on your hips and show the world your confidence.

Do you want to psych your competitors out? Well go and be a Super Hero.

PS. Cape and knickers worn over your trousers are optional!!!!!


Jessica De La Souza
MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

The ART of Goalkeeping

MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

David James On The War Path

Interesting article in today's Sun newspaper with David James expressing his views on English goalkeepers, and specifically goalkeeping coaching. And he asks a question that has always perplexed me - why do you need to qualify as an outfield coach (Level 2) before you can take the goalkeeper coaching level 2 award? Madness! I am going to lobby the FA and ask some questions!

Anyway here is the article:

DAVID JAMES has blasted the quality of goalkeeper coaching in England.

The No 1 at last year's World Cup insists that is why there is a real lack of English top-flight keepers.

He said: "I'm frustrated with the situation. Time and time again, I've looked at our keeper coaches.

"If you do basic work, you get basic keepers. What they are doing is wrong. As a result, the players are not coming through.
"English clubs have had goalkeeper coaches for a long time. Inhad one at Watford as a schoolboy and although I signed for Liverpool in 1992, they had one in 1993-94. Down the years we've not had the English keepers to show for it."

Bristol City keeper James got 53 England caps and is taking his coaching badges.

He insists there are only a couple of top keeper coaches in this country.

James said: "Asmir Begovic at Stoke is a great lad. He is Bosnian but had a top coach at Portsmouth in David Coles.
"David also got me back into the Prem. Paul Barron, who was at Newcastle and Villa, was also great. He trained Shay Given and Mark Schwarzer. Good coaches make good keepers."

"Most of our English keepers in the Prem come when Championship clubs go up. It frustrates me nothing has been done. You have to become a qualified outfield coach before being a qualified keeper coach. It doesn't make sense."


Gavin Wilson
MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

The Development of Young Goalies

The following article was featured in the Scuola Calcio Magazine. Was written by Marco Stoini, Director of Coaching for San Luigi Calcio Trieste and Techncial Director of the Ascoli Soccer Academy from the Italian Professional Soccer League and translated by Antonio Saviano.

It is been said that the role of the goalkeeper is a single role, but as we know it is always a child that is in the goal and that will become a man through the frequent goalkeepers development stages. The program of the goalkeeper’s technical work can be divided in two great age groups:

1. From 6-12 years old
2. From 12 years old up

From 6 to 12 Years Old

In reality the very young goalkeeper is not a complete goalkeeper yet. The child playing in the goal does not have the mental and physical structure characteristics in order to be a goalkeeper as an adult would. We are dealing with a child that must be developed and we must stabilize his motor and coordinative abilities, which in many cases are harder for a goalkeeper than a field player. Example of some coordinative abilities:

- Trajectories to save
- Agility
- Relation – ball – ground
- Relation – body – ground
- Relation – eyes – hands
- Relation – eyes – hands – body
- Etc.

Furthermore the physical structure can often prevent the correct execution of many technical fundamentals (sometimes it can also be impossible): for example, the simple size of the hands will not allow easy stops, it will not allow an easy re-start play and so forth.

With these premises it is logical that under the 12 years of age (and in particular until 10 years old) the goalkeeper follows a program integrated with the team, therefore the program should have a general broad activity necessary to all the players on the team and that has objectives to reach based on the age we are working with.

Perform normal practices that all teammates benefit, one of them should be using the feet, which in part is very important under most useful ways. However, at least two times per week the activity should be provided, in specific part, to the particular of the goalkeeper and divided in groups of at least 3-4 goalkeepers and for a duration of approximately 90 minutes. As for all the roles of the soccer players as well as for the goalkeepers the techniques must be placed in first place when training. When speaking about goalkeepers, especially “strong ones” we often refer to goalkeepers with solid technical bases developed from a younger age, and that are like a strong foundation for the rest of their career.

The young goalkeepers psychological side is also very important. Much attention goes to those activities that should not exceed the actual abilities of the student, in order not to create failure feelings, having the young goalkeepers overcome fears that begin with the contact body-ground and development of body movement.
To free their strength is a physiological necessity of the children, but to let them have fun and satisfaction, but also have a feeling of authority and prestige, it is a primary task of a good instructor.

The young goalkeepers see and admire some champions on TV who rise to be their idol, they may have and wear their jerseys, may be their caps or gloves, but for sure will not be able to copy the technical movements, because their mental and learning abilities will prevent them from making does decisions. The instructor should remember this important information and convey to the young goalkeepers in a simple way.

From 12 Years Old and Up

At this age the young goalkeepers begin to assume the abilities of the “true goalkeeper”. Now the techniques can and must be learned and without any limitations, they can and they must be repeated to the intend to create the complete necessary development that will stabilize the specific abilities. Now, the mental and the tactical aspect of the development can also be trained:

- Concentration
- Subsequent choices – understanding the game

At this stage, the athlete training will be able to assume greater weight in the activity: for the role of the goalkeeper the strength is the base to support the major part of typical body movements (jumps, quick sprint, executions, etc), the agility, the flexibility and the acrobatic training are an integral part of the development.
The aerobic component should cover the importance of general conditions.

Regarding Strength:

- High expressions: (fast – maximum resistant)
- Under expressions: (flexible volatile – reflected flexible volatile – resistance to the maximum strength – resistance to the instantaneous strength)
- Types of reduction: (concentric – eccentric – isometric – ply-metric)

All of the above has to be taken into consideration with a specific development, but at the same time we should be careful to the structure of a body that is still unbalanced and in a developing stage. In fact the speed or the rapidity is influenced from the strength level of the goalkeeper and are naturally unavoidable qualities. In the training the complete development aspect of the goalkeeper can not be neglected: it is true that the standardized repetitions are important for the reflex, but is also true that if we work in different situations, it will be possible for the athlete to decompose the technical body movements and to use only those parts that time to time will be necessary for that specific need.
I would like to point out that with two-three weekly training sessions of approximately 80 minutes each, we should attain good results.

With the goalkeeper who by now, at this age has exceeded the evolutionary phase, it is moreover fundamental to work on the specific errors. The instructor must maintain a direct contact with his own goalkeeper students. Because it is important to have a direct contact, it is better not to have many goalkeepers for training. But the instructor must also be careful, along with the head-coach, not to isolate the group of goalkeepers from the team, something that happens more then we think.

This article was featured in the Scuola Calcio Magazine.

Scuola Calcio Coaching Magazine is aimed and dedicated to providing first class soccer information for instructors at all levels throughout the North America and the World.

Gavin Wilson
MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

The World's Most Underrated Keeper and Why He Hated Playing

Victor Valdes became a goalkeeper because his brother needed someone to practice his shots on. He started in a team because his dad thought he was good and he joined La Masia when he was 10 because they saw a talent in him. He left because he hated being a goalkeeper but came back because he wanted to be on TV.

Victor recently said that Josep Guardiola taught him to enjoy playing football, to enjoy being a goalkeeper. Before that, Victor Valdés had always hated his job. As a child he used to dream about another life where he didn’t have to be a goalkeeper. Every week he felt bad knowing that at the weekend he would have a game where he would stand in the goal. The only reason why Victor kept on was because he was born to be a goalkeeper.

He was a hard worker even if he hated his job; he always trained hard to get better. In the 2002/2003 season, when he was only 20 years old, Victor made his debut for Barcelona’s first team. By the time the season was over, he was the first choice keeper and he has been ever since. His dream of being on TV had become reality, but his nightmare as a goalkeeper kept going.

For all that he has achieved, Victor Valdés remains one of the world’s most underrated goalkeepers and he deserves some real recognition.

A lot of football fans can’t see how good Victor Valdés is; they often say that he would never be good in any other top European football club, that the only reason he let in so few goals is because Barça has a fantastic defense and that they often have 70-80% possession. And then they can never forget the mistakes a young Victor Valdés made in his first years at the top level.

I have no idea how good Victor Valdés would be if he played at another club, but I know that he is the perfect goalkeeper for FC Barcelona. This has to do with the possession, that the anti-Valdés people often use as an excuse, saying that anyone could be a goalie for a team that keeps the ball so much. In their recent history, FC Barcelona has always had that kind of possession in their games and yet still they have always had huge goalkeeper problems. That’s an equation that doesn’t fit. The fact is that the kind of possession FC Barcelona has actually makes it harder to be their goalkeeper. Just like the other players, a goalkeeper needs to be warmed up, but what if he doesn’t get to touch the ball for 80 minutes? Doesn’t get to make a single save? It will then have been 80 minutes since he warmed up. When suddenly the shot comes, the keeper who hasn’t had a thing to do will need to be there and he will need to be ready. This can be a very complicated situation and had given Barcelona a lot of problems until Victor Valdés came.

Another thing that is different for a goalkeeper in Barcelona as opposed to other teams is that Valdés needs to be a extra outfield player. Which means he needs to be really good at passing and at seeing where to pass. Victor is basically an outfield player that can use his hands. When Victor was younger, just 20 years old, he didn’t have the same level of confidence as he does now. It happened that he failed with his outfield playing duties and this led to huge mistakes like giving the opponents the ball. These kinds of mistakes don’t happen as easily for goalkeepers in other teams because they don’t need to play with their feet as much. Often Victor did a great job, but it so happened that he failed on occasion too. The people who didn’t understand the difficulty of Valdés’ job as Barcelona’s keeper started to complain. On youtube, videos went up with names like “Victor Valdés, the world’s worst goalkeeper”, highlighting his mistakes.

But in Barcelona they never stopped believing in the young keeper, and he would make important saves. Like in the Champions League final in 2006 when Victor was only 24 years old. He made it impossible for Henry to score and was probably the best player in the game. Later on, no one talked about Victor because no one ever talks about the goalkeeper for Barça.

Just as he hated to be keeper as a child watching his teammates celebrate a goal without him, or the team’s sadness every time and when he let in a goal: it was the same now. No one talked about his amazing saves but everyone remembered his mistakes.

He hated his job and all over the world people complained about what he was doing, saying he was Barça’s weakest link. Still he kept on doing what he had always done. Because he knew he had people believing in him.

When journalists criticized him, he would say: “I find it very hard to take any criticism from someone who has never been a goalkeeper.” The only thing the criticism did was to make Victor work even harder, to show everyone that they were wrong.

At the age of 24 Victor had won La Liga twice as well as the Champions League. He had also won the Zamora trophy as the keeper having the lowest “goals-to-games” ratio in La Liga. Still he had never played a game for the Spanish national team.

The reason why I think Victor wasn’t a part of the Spanish national team, even after he had won all those titles, was because people only saw his mistakes. The comments were that he would fail in any team other than Barcelona, and he was lucky to play for Barça because there he didn’t need to do much. But they didn’t even give him the chance to perform well for the national team and show how good he was. I’m not saying that he should have been the first keeper in the national team, because back then Casillas was better then Victor. I’m just saying they at least should have given him the chance as third keeper.

Since Guardiola took over at Barça three years ago, Victor has changed. He himself says that for the first time, he is actually enjoying being a goalkeeper. That has shown on the pitch where he become better than ever. The mistakes Victor Valdés is famous for have disappeared for three years now. He has won the Zamora every year since Pep’s arrival. For me, Victor Valdés has these last two seasons been the best goalkeeper in the world. I know that many agree with me on that, but sadly, most still view Victor as a goalkeeper who makes mistakes. For the World Cup in South Africa, Victor finally got called up for the national team, he was third keeper and didn’t get to play a single minute at the tournament. But still, the fact that he finally got called up shows that Spain couldn’t hide anymore the talent of Victor Valdés.

Why will Victor never be the first choice keeper in the Spanish National team? To start with, you just don’t change a first choice keeper, as the team needs to have someone they trust and feel safe with. Spain’s keeper today is Iker Casillas, and even if Victor has been the better keeper the last two seasons, Casillas is the team’s captain and you just don’t change your captain either. The third factor may have more impact than we’d like to believe. That is the fact that Spain’s National team today has a lot of Barcelona players. To change the keeper from a Madrid player to a Barça player would pretty much make the team FC Barcelona and that wouldn’t look good for Real Madrid. I know it sounds a bit cheeky but I sadly believe this point has an impact.

Victor Valdés, whether a Spanish national team player or not, is still one of the best goalkeepers in the world and the only thing I wish for is that people around the globe would forget about the mistakes made by a young boy standing terrified in the Camp Nou goal almost a decade ago. I want people to forget about that and see the fantastic saves this man now makes with confidence while proudly standing in the Camp Nou goal today.

Honours

Zamora Trophy 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011
La Liga 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011
Champions League 2006, 2009, 2011
Copa del Rey 2009
Spanish Supercup 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011
European Super Cup 2010
World Club Cup 2010
World Cup 2010



Gavin Wilson
MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

Krul vs. Vorm - Interesting!

Following on from the previous post about Krul and Vorm we now know that the score ended 0-0. Anyone that saw the match would know that Vorm was the busy of the two Dutch keepers; something backed up by the two charts below showing their distribution in the game (blue arrows are successful, red arrows are where distribution has gone to the opposition).

Interesting.






Gavin Wilson
MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

Merry Christmas

Guys,

Merry Christmas from the MINDSi Team to all our clients, wherever you are in the World.

Looking forward to a successful 2012.

Enjoy!

Gavin, Jessica and Tom

MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

Krul vs. Vorm

It is probably safe to assume that Roma's Maarten Stekelenburg will be taking an acute interest in events at St James' Park on Saturday. Although the 6ft 5½in Stekelenberg is still widely regarded as Holland's first choice goalkeeper he knows he is coming under severe pressure for his place at Euro 2012 from Newcastle United's Tim Krul and Swansea City's Michel Vorm.

Arguably the two outstanding goalkeepers in the Premier League this season, Krul and Vorm will be at opposite ends of the pitch as Newcastle's aim to rediscover how to win and Swansea seek an eighth clean sheet of the campaign.

It is interesting to remember that, when Vorm arrived at the Liberty Stadium for £1.5m from Utrecht last summer, Brendan Rodgers, Swansea's manager, was seen as taking a gamble as, at a mere 6ft, the 28-year-old was regarded as rather small for a keeper. Similarly Krul, who joined Newcastle for £200,000 from Den Haag nearly seven years ago, prompted considerable raising of Geordie eyebrows when, back in August, it became clear that he, rather than the experienced Steve Harper, would be Alan Pardew's No1 this season.

Pardew's decision has been vindicated by a series of quite brilliant performances from a 23-year-old whose progress is reportedly being closely monitored by Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Two inches shorter than Krul, Vorm did not have the benefit of the sort of loan spells which saw his Newcastle counterpart toughened up by stints at Falkirk and then Carlisle. Instead Swansea's last line of defence works regularly with rugby tackle-bags in a bid to harden him for Premier League combat.

"It's so different from Holland," he says. "In your head and, of course, physically. After playing Premier League games you feel broken. You can get battered and I'm not that big so I have to be smart."

Boasting excellent footwork, Vorm's sure touch, incisive distribution and, on occasion, willingness to leave his area, not only earn him a "sweeper keeper" label but are a big part of Swansea's build-from-the-back style. Big on psychology he has further burnished a reputation for saving penalties begun in Utrecht where he was known as "the penalty killer". Apart from devoting hours to studying penalty takers and their habits on his home collection of DVDs, Vorm also aims to psyche out his opponents.

"The secret is in the eyes," he says. "I like to look at penalty takers straight in the eyes and then I can tell what they are thinking. Then I leave it [the decision as to which way to dive] as late as possible. In training Danny Graham [the Swansea striker] almost always scored penalties against me but I've told him that he wouldn't be able to do it if he was up against me in an actual match."

Incredibly agile, Vorm's height has long since ceased to be an issue. "People said we were taking a big gamble with Michael because he wasn't 6ft 4in," says Rodgers, who reckons the Dutchman will probably earn Swansea at least 10 extra points this season. "But his agility is such that he makes saves most 6ft 4in keepers can't manage."

If Krul had not made it as a professional footballer he intended to train as a pilot and the articulate, supremely calm Dutchman certainly seems to possess the sort of unruffled, unfazed, temperament which would be ideal for coping with mid-air emergencies. Having made his full international debut for Holland by keeping a clean sheet against Brazil in June, Krul hopes to follow in the glove-prints of his hero Edwin van der Sar, who now serves as his mentor and with whom he is in regular telephone contact. Krul's prized possessions include one of Van der Sar's old shirts and a pair of the former Manchester United and Holland star's gloves.
He was marked out for great things when, at the age of 17, he made an impressive Uefa Cup debut in a 1-0 win at Palermo in Sicily after being thrust into the first team at the last minute by the then manager Glenn Roeder due to injuries. Shortly afterwards a knee injury required two operations and six months on the sidelines but Roeder, who engineered his arrival from Den Haag, never had any doubts Krul would make the grade.

"From the moment he joined Newcastle's academy, it was obvious Tim was a fantastic talent," he says. "In my opinion Tim is now Newcastle's most valuable player; he has been in unbelievable form this season. He is now one of the best keepers in Europe."

Such praise is widely echoed. As Martin Jol, the Fulham manager and a compatriot of Krul, puts it: "Newcastle have a young goalkeeper who is a great talent." Yet if his reflexes, capacity for acrobatic saves and polished handling were never in doubt, until this season, Krul was, albeit sporadically, prone to making some bad decisions under pressure. Now, though, it appears that nerves rather than major technical flaws were primarily responsible for those, admittedly occasional, moments when he ill-advisedly left or stayed on his line, showed off some uncharacteristically clumsy footwork or misjudged a cross.
"Tim still had a lot to do when I came to Newcastle this time last year," says Pardew. "When he played in the first team last season he looked a bit nervous." Things improved radically when he began working with Pardew's specialist goalkeeping coach, Andy Woodman. "We've given him self belief," says Newcastle's manager. "Tim's been outstanding this season."

With Rodgers equally complimentary about Vorm it promises to be quite some beauty contest on Tyneside this Saturday.

Gavin Wilson
MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

Tom Fawdry Joins The MINDSi Team

MINDSi Sports Performance are delighted to announce the arrival of Tom Fawdry to our team of experts.

Here is a bit about Tom:


TOM FAWDRY
Sports Performance and Goalkeeper Development Coach



Tom successfully completed a full time degree in Football Studies (BA Hons) at Southampton Solent University and as a result his approach to coaching combines academic study in tandem with practical coaching experience. Tom’s range of skills includes performance analysis, applied sports psychology, and more specifically, goalkeeper coaching.

Tom has specialised in goalkeeper development for several years, implementing his ideas and philosophies at all levels of football. Tom has successfully gained several coaching qualifications including FA Level 2 in outfield & goalkeeping, FA Youth Module 1 & 2, and various other qualifications, including SAQ & futsal.

Tom has a very modern approach to goalkeeping, through the study of goalkeepers and coaches at the highest level, and he looks to frequently apply new techniques and coaching methods. Furthermore, Tom has been given the opportunity to study goalkeeping all over Europe, learning from coaches and goalkeepers from Norway, Sweden and Spain. Additionally, he has written goalkeeper development programmes for various different football clubs and has undertaken specialised research in the study of goalkeeper development.

If you would to book an appointment with Tom, please contact us on 01752 696756 or email us at info@MindsiOnline.com


MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com