KEEPERS RESOURCES
The art of visualisation
Visualisation is a useful technique for any goalkeeper, to help them with their confidence and save making. Visualising making saves at specific times within the game (say, at short corners) and specific saves, the goalkeeper can visualise the process of the save to help them concrete technique and build on their confidence, whilst helping make those glorious, spectacular saves, because of the self belief developed from these thoughts running through your mind pretty much all the time! Popular in a variety of sports, it can be applied to our own favourite sport, our beloved hockey, and been made use of when we approach our goalkeeping.
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The cocky goalkeeper
The idea of self confidence is important for goalkeepers when thinking about how to play at their best, game in game out. And one way of thinking about it, is to consider a goalkeeper as cocky or evaluate their cockiness. As I’ve tried to write about recently, it is important to play confidently, ensuring that you are confident to come out and make tackles or interceptions and to get to lose balls that attackers may latch on. If you don’t/didn’t feel happy doing this, then you’re going to struggle to decrease the amount of scoring opportunities you will face in a game. And if you did not feel confident enough going up against the top of the table team or playing in an important and decisive game that could affect your playing ‘career’ (I say, I’m not sure !), then you’ve got to be confident.
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Keeping emotions in check
One thing that isn’t always considered when delving into the complexities of the psychological impact of our ‘mental game’ on the way we play, is how we balance the emotions that we feel; the ups and downs, especially within a game where the ability to do so is pretty important and essential to our chances of a comeback say and ‘keeping our team in it’. But these things can and will impact our game if we let them, and it’s important to recognise this when playing in between the posts. Whereas our team mates might feel the highs of a goal scored or the lows and disgruntlement of a goal being allowed, our position and the way we deal with the stresses and pressure of the role is a hard task, with ‘our backs up against the wall’ and ‘up against it’ as they say. Our temperament needs to be more lucid and calm, able to withstand the hardships of a goalkeeper and the things that ‘do our head in’, enough to play to our best. In order to perform to our optimum best, we goalies need to focus on keeping our emotions in check, sufficiently capable of managing things internally to get through the game with our sanity intact!
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The goalkeeper duel
A game is essentially down to how the goalkeeper performs, at each end of the pitch. The more goals one of them allows, the more likely their team is to lose, obviously! Ultimately, it’s a battle between the goalkeepers. Yes, but really any game (as I’d like to think!), it boils down to how well the goalkeeper at each end performs. If one has a bad day the office then they’re probably going to lose and lose out in points, and if the other does well, with the backing of their team, they can win and take home the three points with and for their team! But really, if you are struggling to find motivation in a game to play well, then perhaps you may want to think about mirroring yourself and your goalkeeping performance in response to the other team’s goalkeeper that you are facing up to?! And a simple yet potentially effective way of rethinking psychological inspiration and the ‘mental game’, is to consider the chance to prove yourself as a goalkeeper and pitting yourself against your opposite number, to encourage yourself to outperform them.
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Being a goalkeeper is boring
I don’t particularly think it is (although it can be very frustrating behind a team with a poor record), but at times you’ve got to be a little controversial to make a point, especially in writing. Those saves that make you look flash or superman aren’t going to be in every game and as your playing life develops, you’ll probably start to reconsider how you think about the position! In training you will often have a lot to do, but during games, you may not, commanding your defence and stopping chances developing before they come to fruition. But really, the boredom affects your game in terms of your ability to concentrate, pay attention and be able to make the important, decisive save as it happens, whenever it occurs time wise during the game (say early on to help keep your team in with a chance of taking the lead, or near the end of the match, to ensure you win!).
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Welcome to ‘the suck’
“The suck” as the Americans call it (I think I’m right there, please correct me if I’m wrong any would-be American readers!), is to do with things sucking and just learning to live with it, in the modern sense, I *think*! It’s something I read about somewhere recently in some discussion online between ice hockey goalies and thought it could be applied for understanding the ‘mental game’ and how we as goalkeepers need to be able to deal with the pressures and pains of playing the position we love, but more than; to manage the sensitivity of not letting things get to us. Without the ability to overcome the ‘suck’ in a goalkeeper’s season, it can have terrible affects on your team’s season. Just like the attempt to use ‘swagger’ as a way in to looking at self confidence, this is the chance to use a conceptualisation of dealing with adversity and a chance to do the flipside and look at how you keep it together when things are getting difficult. Especially so within a game (where you want to turn things around to tie it up or make a comeback) and also in a season (if it has derailed).
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Goalie ‘swagger’
‘Swagger’ is not exactly what you expect to think of when referring to hockey. But when it comes to goalkeeping (which is a part of the sport!), then you might be open minded in reconsidering!
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Looking to win
If you want to win the league or a tournament, you're going to learn how to win. Here's a rough guide!
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Playing yourself out of a ‘slump’
'Slumps' can derail a season but going but to basics and working on your mental strength should work wonders!
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Responding to an allowed goal
Being scored on isn't fun but if you let it get to you, you won't perform to the best of your ability.
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Being consistent
Playing to a consistent level is going to help you do better over a season and the long term!
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Never say never!
Never giving up on the play shows good mental strength and the determination to win.
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Are you a ‘fighter’?
Fighting for your starting spot in a club or team is important for success!
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The Mental Aspects of Goalkeeping
A great resource download for all you amazing people on staying sharp between the ears!
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Maintaining concentration
It is important to maintain concentration throughout the game. If you play on a strong team and don't face many shots, then you will need to stay alert for long periods of time, even though you having nothing to do, until you face a shot, so you can readily stop it. This is an art form which is difficult to craft, but if you can, you will be very successful.
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Staying mentally strong
The mental game is often ignored by goalkeepers and coaches alike. However, it is essential in order to succeed. The best goalkeepers are those who believe in themselves; nothing can 'get them down'. To play well, you need to play with confidence and it's worthwhile working out for yourself how to encourage this!
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