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Goalkeeping Edition 71
Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.
Today's topic of discussion is handling contact on corner kicks.
There is a new survey online at
http://finesoccer.com/survey.htm.
Please participate.
Also, the results from the previous survey have now been posted. I would really like for more people to take the survey (they will never take more then a minute). The more people who take the survey the more relevant the results
I have received a couple of questions concerning
this topic recently and unlike some of the other questions I receive, I am not
completely sure how to answer this.
The first thing for a keeper to understand is that
soccer is a contact sport. The keeper who understands this and prepares
for is more likely to be successful.
In anticipation of contact on things like corners
and any type of crosses, it is extremely important that a keeper work with
weights in order to be able to take the type of punishment that is dished out
on a regular basis to a keeper (I am talking about older keepers as there are
still a lot of different opinions on when a youngster should start working
with weights). By working on both the upper and lower body, not only
will
a keeper lessen the probability of injury, but also she will be able to do a
better job or maintaining her balance when the contact occurs which will
increase her chances of holding onto the ball.
On a corner kick, it's important to know that
there WILL be contact and to prepare accordingly. If the keeper is
standing flat footed, or if she is straight legged, she will be knocked off
balance very easily. The lower her center of gravity, the more likely she
will be able to maintain her balance. In order to lower her center of
gravity, the keeper should keeper her knees bent and her feet moving, she will
be more likely to be successful.
The other thing is to realize that the person who
initiates the contact will frequently be the "winner" (in this case,
winning means maintaining balance). Rather then standing still and
waiting for a forward to run into you, it is sometimes in your best interest
to be the aggressor. I write this with a great deal of trepidation
because in no way am I saying that the keeper should try to hurt or in any way
jeopardize anyone on the opposing team. Rather, what I mean is that once
you have figured out where you want to go
up for the ball, go a step or two back so that you have momentum when getting
to that spot. If you are attacking that space and being aggressive (but
smart), and there is contact, you will more likely be able to win the battle.
Think of it as who is going to win
when one person is stationary and the other person runs into them? The
person who is moving will almost always win. If you, as the keeper, are
the one with momentum, and are prepared for the contact, then you have greatly
increased the probability of success when there is contact.
If the opposing team is intentionally obstructing
you on a corner kick, there is nothing wrong with pointing this out to the
referee. Simply ask the ref to watch what the opposing team is doing
(don't whine and do this every time or you will not be successful). By
making the ref aware of the situation, he will be more likely to be on the
look out for obstruction or charging the keeper (it is for this reason that a
keeper should be a captain of the team since only the captain is supposed to
speak to a ref).
There isn't a great way to deal with the contact
that keepers have to deal with on a daily basis in goal. If you would
like to share your ideas on this subject, please post them to http://finesoccer.com/forum.htm
If you like the Goalkeeping Newsletter (or either
of the other two FineSoccer newsletters) please tell others about them and
recommend they subscribe. The more
subscribers to the newsletters, the longer they will continue to be around.
Have a great day.
Lawrence
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