Goalkeeping Edition 65

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today's newsletter will discuss what attributes a coach should look for when looking for a keeper. This newsletter might be of interest to the keepers as well as the coaches since it might give them some ideas on what coaches (or in this case, one coach) looks for in a keeper.

If you haven't already seen it, there is, yet another, new thing on FineSoccer.com. It's an online survey to find out what others in the soccer community think about different things involving soccer. I will be running a new survey every two weeks or so and when the survey is over, I will publish the results and give my opinions. The first survey is real short and simply asks how many times does your club team train and for how long. Please take a moment and take the survey at http://finesoccer.com/survey.htm.  I do want to emphasize that the questions on the current survey are for youth club teams only.

I guess the first thing to say about this subject is what I don't look for. I don't look for the player who is too slow or too fat or too lazy to make it as a field player and then say, "there is my keeper!". This is the fat girl in goal theory (sorry about the politically incorrect statement but this happens too often where we put the fat girl in goal and then don't train them since anyone can play keeper).

As much as we don't always want to admit it, size does matter some when it comes to goalkeepers. It is not vital that the keeper be extremely tall (in fact there is a theory that a keeper can be too tall to be an effective keeper) but obviously, if a keeper is too short to reach the crossbar (I am going to exclude real young keepers with this comment because obviously, they all are too short to reach the crossbar) and they don't have a good jumping ability, then they are in for some trouble. Truthfully, if a keeper is "tall enough" then I am happy and will not obsess on finding a real tall keeper. I had a very talented keeper who I first coached in club soccer and then in college who was only 5'3" but she was able to jump extremely well so it never was a problem. The biggest problem she had to deal with was the perception that she was too short and therefore teams hit more shots at her because they thought they could beat her. It wasn't a big problem since she made the saves but she did have to make more saves then a taller keeper would have.

Quickness is a big factor when it comes to goalkeeping. The keeper does not have to be particularly fast but she must be quick in order to cover the whole goal and goal area. With quickness, size becomes somewhat less important.

The right attitude is another huge factor. I received an email recently from someone asking whether their daughter should be a keeper or a midfielder because she was good at both. The question actually involved what was the best position for opportunities for scholarships but in taking the question out of context some, the answer is really quite simple. If the girl really wants to be a keeper then she should be a keeper. If she isn't that sure that it's the position for her, then she should be a midfielder. I think the word passion comes to my mind when looking at keepers. The players who dress the part, talk the part but don't actually seem to love the position are the ones who don't succeed. Passion is a huge part of the position because of the type of training that is required to be a keeper.

In talking about attitude, I am not a fan of the person who loves to play the role of the crazy keeper. I take this position way too seriously to see stupid goals let in because they keeper is trying to present an image. 

Another factor I look at is whether the keeper has soft hands. Even untrained keepers will be able to catch a ball or not depending upon whether they have good hands. This frequently is the sign of a good athlete is a  person who catches the ball very easily. While proper catching technique is important, it can be taught but good hands can't be.

Yet another factor to consider is intelligence. The keeper must be a student of the game and a leader so if they aren't able to understand the role of a keeper, they can't be a keeper. Many of the higher-level keepers I have worked with are extremely intelligent and have had the ability to learn things quickly and easily.

The last factor I want to see is the lack of fear. Needless to say, if the player is afraid of the ball or afraid of diving, then they can't be a keeper. I don't want to see them take unnecessary chances but they must be willing to dive at a player feet when the time is right.

Note that the two things I have not mentioned is technique or understanding of the game. I am convinced that with the traits mentioned above, I can teach these two things very easily but a keeper with good technique who is too small, too slow or not courageous or intelligent will not make it. Rather then look for accomplished keepers; I look for ones who have the potential, with training, of becoming an accomplished keeper.

Other coaches will certainly have other ideas concerning this matter. If you would like to share your ideas on this, please post them to http://finesoccer.com/forum.htm

Next weeks Soccer Newsletter will deal with the tryout process (both from the players and coaches standpoint) so if you are interested in this, go to www.finesoccer.com/subscrib.htm.

Remember that all previous newsletters are archived at http://finesoccer.com . Also the new FineSoccer Drills newsletter was started this week and I have received some very positive comments about it. Check that out as well.

Have a great day

Lawrence