Welcome to the Goalkeepers
Newsletter. Today’s issue will deal with two short but important
subjects. The first is warming up properly and the second is intensity in
training. It is my intention to have the workout issue done on Friday (I
am dependent upon someone else who is developing it for me and that means
relying upon two flakes to get it out rather then just one).
I have been watching various
teams and keepers warm up recently at a few tournaments I have attended in the
past 3 weeks and the one pattern I keep seeing is that teams and keepers do a
horrific job of preparing for matches. (For those of you who don’t
know, horrific is a bad thing). Teams show up for matches, sit around and
talk while getting dressed and then frequently go on a completely inadequate run
before stretching as a team. Then they kick a few balls at goal or play a
low intensity game of keep away and think they are ready to play. Please
understand I am not watching rec. teams at these tournaments but rather some
teams from clubs with national reputations. As is my tendency, I just sat
there and watched and kept thinking this is amazing. I am now going to
write what I consider to be an appropriate warm-up for both a team as well as a
keeper (one might wonder why I am writing about a team warm-up on a keeper
newsletter but one of the advantages of writing this newsletter is I get to
write whatever I want!).
I believe that a club team
should arrive at the field approximately one hour before the scheduled kick off.
This allows the team an opportunity to get acclimated to the park, the climate
and the overall situation. One of the things I have been speaking about
recently with some players is situational nervousness. This is when a
person is very comfortable in their normal setting but as soon as they are put
in a different situation they lose their comfort zone. For this reason,
the longer a player has to get comfortable with their new surroundings the
better it will be for them (usually). If you are at a
tournament, see how the refs are calling the game, check out the size of the
field and if given the chance, walk the entire field to see if there any holes,
hills, dips etc that could affect the game. In most cases, the longer you
are allowed to familiarize yourself with the surroundings, the more comfortable
you will be. Approximately 45 minutes before kick off; I will
send my team on a run. This is the same warm up we use at every
practice so it allows them feel comfortable with what is going on. This
run goes from one sideline to the other (or the equivalent if you can’t get on
the field because of other games). It involves, jogging to the other
sideline and then back, jog there and then backwards back, skip there and then
backwards back and then slide side to side there and slide to side back always
facing the same direction. This small run prepares the players for their
first stretch. One of the keys to stretching is to realize that
every player is built differently so they each need to stretch different parts
of their bodies for differently length of times. For this reason, I
don’t have teams stretch together but rather stretch on their own thinking
about what their individual responsibilities are for that game. I will
give them approximately 8 minutes for this stretch although I usually can sense
when they are done based on their actions. All that this stretch has
prepared them for is to get a better run in so they can get a good stretch next
time. This next run is done on their own and should include runs
forward, sideways, backwards and jumps along with some sprints. Again,
this run will last as long as is necessary and as a coach gets to know their
team, they can usually sense how long is necessary. After this run, they
get another stretch. Older players usually have a general idea of
what needs to be stretched (somewhat based on what is sore from last time) but
with younger players, I encourage them to stretch from the lower part of the
body on up. In other words, they should start with their ankles then
calves, and on up. This should help to ensure they don’t skip any parts
of the body. After this second stretch, the keepers go have a catch and the rest
of the team will begin a real easy drill where everyone is jogging around the
half of the field (outside of the 18) and three balls get passed around.
After each pass there is a mandatory 10-yard sprint. Once the keepers feel
they are ready, they will go to sitting, kneeling and catcher position diving
(anyone who doesn’t know what I mean by this can read about it in the archives
of the newsletter). Then the keepers will face easy shots from each other
or from the trainer while the team proceeds with tunnels across the field.
As the session progresses the keepers will face harder and harder shots and then
move on to crosses. This is the advantage of having two or more keepers as
they can warm themselves up. Once everyone is ready, I will give him or
her a break to get a drink and stretch yet again. We will then move on to
a small-sided game with the keepers participating. This should last less
then 10 minutes but be played at full intensity. One of my objectives is
to jump all over teams from the kickoff but I also want to be prepared in case
the other team does that as well. After the small-sided match I will let
the team do whatever they feel is necessary in order to be ready to play.
This can be anything from stretching, passing, shooting, or going to the
bathroom. I can honestly say that my teams and keepers warm up harder then
many teams every play or practice but that is all part of the plan. I
don’t believe in the typical game plan of knocking the ball around for the
first 5-10 minutes of the match to feel how the other team is going to play.
I always want to dictate and want to attack from the kick off. The most
effective boxer in recent history (before the rape etc) was without question
Mike Tyson. While there are many things to learn from him regarding what
not to do, the one thing I think he did better then anyone else was step up
better prepared to win from the opening bell (I am not a boxing fan but I just
always loved the attitude until he went off the deep end). One of
the reasons I believe very strongly in the conditioning program I have attached
to the web site is it will allow you to warm up properly to enable you to play
at a high level from opening kickoff to the last whistle. Using this
warm-up, I have seen my teams regularly be better prepared for their matches and
my keepers both physically and mentally prepared to play. This has also
allowed my teams and keepers to play with very few injuries over the years which
I think is a result of good conditioning, good stretching, always playing hard
and lots of luck
The other thing I want to
discuss briefly is intensity of training. I have been seeing way too many
teams, players and keepers train at less then a high level of intensity. I
explained recently to some keepers that if I elect to do a drill for one minute
then I normally don’t care that much about the first 30 seconds.
Anyone can do a drill properly when they are fresh but it takes a fundamentally
sound keeper to be able to maintain their technique (and concentration) when
they are tired. As a drill moves on and the keeper gets tired,
that is the time when you start to see whom the real players are. In order
to be a real keeper, you must be able to push yourself through the first stage
of exhaustion. Admittedly, a keeper can usually make it through a game
without getting exhausted physically but the real question is can they make it
through the mental exhaustion that a high level keeper will go through. In
the last 5 minutes of a tournament final (maybe the 5th match of the weekend) is
when you see who was pushing themselves in that second 30-second period. I
don’t believe there is any secret to do it other then getting in shape and
being mentally tough. Remember only idiots still believe you have to be
crazy to be a keeper, people who understand the position know you have to be
mentally very strong in order to excel as a keeper.
In looking back over what I
have written, I noticed the one long paragraph. Rather then fixing it, I
have elected to leave it since that is pretty much the way I speak as well.
Be glad there is any punctuation at all!
Shortly after I began writing
this, I received an email from one for the subscribers asking about a warm-up
for his keepers. It was a coincidence that this was the subject I had
chosen but I would like to emphasize that I welcome your comments and questions
and suggestions. If I don’t get ideas from others, I might just start to
babble (again). Send your comments to comments@finesoccer.com.
