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

Wear Green and Don't Be Seen!

Ignore the blatant plugging for Nike (and Manchester United!) in this video and what they say makes sense for all goalkeepers.

Whilst wearing red is proven to boost your confidence, goalkeepers should wear green....and it is a bit old skool!!! Am I showing my age, or what?

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

Basketball and Goalkeeping - A Common Connection

As an avid follower of both basketball and football, I have for some time believed their to be a close links to the skills and demands of basketballer to those of a goalkeeper. My theory has been further enhanced by watching my 11 year old son develop so promisingly at both basketball and goalkeeping. Then I found this fascinating article courtesy of American basketball coach Brian McCormick:


"I jumped into a twitter discussion this week between soccer coaches because I felt that the coaches were settling for obvious explanations that ultimately affect our understanding of sports and talent development. The coaches were discussing goalkeepers, and the ability of the United States to develop several world-class goalkeepers while not developing any true world-class field players.

The soccer coaches latched onto the familiar answer: children in the U.S. grow up playing hand-eye sports like basketball, baseball, football and more, so they naturally gravitate to the goalkeeper position and excel with their hand-eye coordination.

I suggested that the explanation ran deeper into the development of the players. Because of European transfer rules (work visas), U.S. players have to prove themselves with the U.S. Men’s National Team or major League Soccer before transferring to a prominent European league, like the English Premiere League. Therefore, players are essentially near their professional peaks when they finally transfer, somewhere around 26 years old.

For a goalkeeper, this is no problem, as goalkeepers mature later and maintain their peak performance for longer because it is a position that relies heavily on perceptual-cognitive skills like reading angles, anticipating movements, and choice reaction time developed through experience, while field players rely heavily on physical qualities like quickness. A goalkeeper that transfers to an English club at 26-years-old has time to learn the league, fail, rebound and perform at the highest level for a dozen years. USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard transferred to Manchester United, played well, played poorly, lost his job and transferred to Everton where he was given a second chance and has established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in England. Would a field player be given that second opportunity by another club at that age?

Field players develop through the U.S. system and have an adjustment period when moving to a better league. Basketball players have an adjustment when moving from college to the NBA. However, most basketball players are 19-23 when they make the move to the NBA. They have room to develop and have yet to hit their physical peak. They can learn for a year or two and have time to play into and out of their physical peak.

A soccer player undergoes the same transition, yet he is at his physical peak. If he cannot contribute immediately upon arrival with his European club, does he have time to learn the league, develop and get a second chance? Unlikely, especially with the stigma that U.S. players lack the skills to compete at the highest levels. The stigma becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, while the perception of the U.S. producing great goalkeepers improves a U.S. goalkeeper’s chances to get a second look.

The U.S. is transitioning from the players who played in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups to those who will play in the 2014 World Cup (hopefully). However, few of the new players have established themselves, and they are not playing in Europe (unless they have access to European passports, like Stuart Holden or Timothy Chandler, are older, like Clint Dempsey, or are playing in a smaller league like Alejandro Bedoya).

Players who are imagined to be the future of the team, like Tim Ream and Omar Gonzales, are not that young (25 and 24) anymore. At that age, they are nearing their physical peaks and should be playing at the highest levels already to prepare for the World Cup and to challenge themselves professionally. If they are unready for the best leagues at 24 years old, the question must be asked if they will ever be ready? If they transfer at 27 or 28, they may play well for a year or two, and may hold on for a while in near-top leagues like Carlos Bocanegra in France because of their understanding and intelligence which compensates for their lessening speed, but they probably missed their window to accelerate their development by playing with and against the best at a more developmental age.

However, it is much easier to attribute goalkeeper’s success to a basketball up-bringing than to examine the entire developmental system. We are similarly short-sighted in basketball development and training, as we attribute success to a simple explanation while there are many. Parents tell me that their son needs to play year-round AAU basketball at 8-years-old because that’s how LeBron James developed, ignoring the fact that he also played football in high school.

When the facts do not support their argument, however, they are irrelevant. It is much easier to attribute James’ success to his play in AAU than to imagine that football had an effect on his development or that there were other things in play.

Great players often make poor trainers or coaches because they attribute their success to their training programs, even though their success likely had more to do with their work ethic than their training. Many perpetuate poorly planned training because of their attribution of their success. If they ran five miles a day in the summer and were good at basketball, they attribute their success to the five miles per day, not the random pick up games or their effort on the court.

Talent development is never a simple answer. There are many factors involved in an athlete’s development and settling on the easy or obvious explanation often short-changes the athlete and misappropriates his or her success, oftentimes leading to the continuation of biases or poor training."

Gavin Wilson
MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
www.MindsiOnline.com

What Can Goalkeepers Learn From Ronaldo?

Well, watch this:

So, what can goalkeepers learn from this? Well, Ronaldo has honed his skills through hours and hours of practice. He has practiced so much that he now intuitively knows where the ball is going to go by sub-consciously observing the clues he is receiveing from the player's body shape, the flight of the ball, the trajectory, the space around him and so on and so on.

Ronaldo didn't put the ball in the net, in darkness, by magic and it was not through natural skill. It was simply down to the hours and hours of practice that he has done over many, many years giving him the awareness and experience to know what to do, instinctively, at the right time- regardless of the conditions.

So what can goalkeepers learn from Ronaldo? To get excellent you have to practice; the more training you do, the more shots that you save, the more intuitive you will be in match situations. Simple!

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

Psychology of Goalkeeping by Shay Given

MINDSi SPORTS PERFORMANCE
http://www.mindsionline.com/

Goalkeeping Essentials - What Coaches Look For

I thought it would help goalies to have an understanding of what coaches are looking for when selecting their Number1. The information I am sharing is based on being part of football for many years, as a player, a coach and a scout- as well as speaking to many coaches across the world throughout the years.

Although there is no exact science with goalie selection, the list below should give the goalies insight to how they are selected.

Movement

• Footwork – Goalies need to be one of the most mobile on a team. If he is not, it will cost the team.
•  Goalie-Specific Movement  – Goalies can’t stop the ball without strong position-specific movement.
• Is the Goalie Quick? – Goalie does not need to be fast, just quick (i.e. does goalie make too many movements in getting from Point A to Point B? Is the goalie able to move into position before the shot is released?)

Positioning

• Angles and Depth – For all shots, is goalie on angle and have correct depth? If a striker with the ball passes to teammate, does goalie understand the depth/angle relationship to get self in proper position again?
• Body Squareness – Being square for first shot is easy, what about the rebound?

Anticipation

• Read Developing Plays – Is goalie slightly “in-front” of the play or is he having to catch-up? Does goalie seem surprised with different offensive tactics?
• Ball Watching Goalie is not going to have any idea where the rebound is going if not concentrating on the ball.

Saving the Ball

• “Blocking” or “Reactive” Style? – Does goalie simply allow the ball to hit him or does he adjust body to best react to shot.
• Unnecessary Shots Against? – Does goalie control rebounds or consistency have to make another save?
• Predictability – Is the goalie consistently making the same save on the same shot every time or is he erratic?

Competitiveness

• Work – Does goalie work to save all shots or just every few?
• Fighting Spirit -Many goalies today do not have the “fighting spirit”, or heart, to be a successful goalie. They simply don’t control their surroundings. Examples, are rebounds allowed to sit in, or around, the six yard box. If striker appears to have goalie beat, does the goalie battle to make the save? It can be argued a goalie’s competitiveness is the most important component he can bring to a team. Technique and tactics can always be taught but the goalie’s fighting spirit is internal and rarely can be developed through coaching. Either the goalie has heart or they don’t and coaches rarely pass on the kid who does. Battle, battle, battle!!!!

Presence in Net

• Comfort – Does goalie seem to be confident, enjoy his job and the opportunity?
• Small or Big? – When it's cruch time and the pressure is on, does the goalie elevate his play or bottle it?

Emotional and Mental

• Coachability – Does goalie seem to want to learn or does he already know everything? If he acts as if he knows everything he may as well get off the pitch and give up!
• Focus – Does he allow bad goals during games appear like he “got caught napping?”
• Enjoyment – Is goalie just going through the motions or is he motivated? If the goalie is going through the motions in games and training?
• High Maintenance – Is the goalie going to be more work (off the pitch) than is really worth it? Are his parents?

Many coaches say they only want a goalie that “can stop the ball.”  This is a bit misleading if you take it at surface value.  All of the above go into stopping the ball for a coach. As a goalie, if you can commit this list to memory and work hard to improve in all the above categories, your goalie future will be very bright.

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

It Doesn't Get Any Easier The Older You Get

Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper and legend ROMAIN LARRIEU has just reached his triple century of appearances for Argyle, after returning to the side after a prolonged period on the bench whilst young Spurs loanee David Button was between the sticks.

However, the club captain, as deferential as ever, took the opportunity to praise his young protégé who stepped aside for the Colchester game.

David Button has made 22 appearances in his loan spell from Tottenham, but was dropped in favour of Argyle's French stalwart custodian, and Romain moved quickly to praise the 21-year-old.

"I need to talk to you about Butts," said Romain. "Without wishing to sound harsh on the rest of the team, it isn't easy to play behind a team that is losing. No matter how old you are. On a few occasions, it was just a matter of keeping the score down.

"Before I got dropped when Kevin Stockdale (on loan from Fulham) came in, I had played for 18 months behind a struggling team. It's just not easy when you are a goalkeeper and the ball goes in the net all the time.

Experience can get you through it, but when you are young like Butts, you ask yourself too many questions. He was not at fault for anything, but, when you let in goal after goal, your confidence goes down. He's a great lad. Unfortunately you see the character of people when they get dropped, or when it's getting tough. There was no doubt in my mind the way he would react.

I know how I was at his age. But he's done brilliant. Anyone who has watched us play this year will have to say he's done brilliant for us. He shouldn't bang his head against the wall, and I know he won't, because he is positive and clued in."

Wise words indeed from the Argyle keeper and it sums up nicely the life of a goalkeeper - young and old.

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

Goalkeeper Psychology - It's Easy To Criticize

For those goalkeeper critics out there, who have never been brave enough to don the custodian's jersey let me leave you with a few words from my favourite quote:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat".

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