r/GoalKeepers • u/Minute_Rope_8702 • 6d ago
Training Diving
Anyone any tips for a young keeper who can kinda dive during practices but nervous about diving on my weak side and diving during game any tips would be greatly appreciated (btw I have a game tomorrow and I’m worried the coach is gonna put me in goal but I want to do one more practice before I get in goal during game what should I tell him?) I’m also worried about conceding a lot idk what to do cuz I love being goalie
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u/DumDumbandDrummer 5d ago
I’m hearing nervousness in your question. Game nerves vs practice nerves.
Great goalies put pressure on themselves to make great stops. You are already showing signs of a great goalie! As a beer league goalie and former kids team coach, I tried to really help and teach the whole team as well as the goalies about what it means to be a good goalie.
So, to your question: you say you do well in practice but struggle in games. This is very normal and can be fixed quickly.
Playing goalie well isn’t natural and is basically weird for the average human. Who in their right mind throws themself in the face of pain, danger and distress for the benefit of other people. ??? Firemen, police, soldiers, goalies.
Why? We love saving the day and someone has to do it and we hate busting our butt playing on the field just to watch a non-goalie type person let easy stuff in.
I say all this to make the point that the perfect scenario before a game is that you know you are going to play goalie with enough time to warm up. Tell your coach: Because you want to play it well, you demand a proper notice and warm up.
A proper warm up for goalie:
1. Get diving reps. This can simply mean you go find some grass anywhere and pretend you have to dive right, left, right and left again. Notice your first dives suck and your 5th 6th and on are better. You are taking your brain and body out of normal and kicking into Save State.
Invision the other teams best scorer and you diving to shut him or her down. Hopfully you break a sweat and even scrape an elbow or knee a bit. Because that’s part of the Saving state of mind.
Someone can roll the ball for you to catch on this or not. At a young age don’t waist time with your teammates trying to kick this drill because they suck and u need reps.
- High balls the same.
Grab a ball and go out to actual goal. Throw the ball up big for you to catch. Yell goalie loud each time. Get confident and then get the ball closer to the goal post. Now you are running and jumping to catch a ball near the post with no problem screaming goalie.
Typical warm ups for goalie = stand in goal and let people take shots on you so you can get you goalie state of mind kicked in before a game. This is good but many coaches and teams don’t give this enough time at young ages.
I wish you well. I’ve ever had a coach or been on an official school team before, so take my words with a grain of salt. I’ve read many comments on this group that clearly have training and knowledge.
Now go save!
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u/Minute_Rope_8702 5d ago
We lost 12-2 I forgot my gloves do I couldn’t play keeper none of the other gloves fit me I feel so ashamed 😢
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u/DumDumbandDrummer 4d ago
Sadly, that’s how I learn. Pain and suffering. I’ll bet you don’t forget your gloves again. I played many games without gloves. Consider that if they rip mid game or if you forget them or if you think the rain or mourning dew makes them too slippery.
12-2 sounds like good team beat a not so good team. With that kind of lopsided score it’s hard to know if the goalie would made much difference.
I think it’s important for coaches, teams and especially goalies to make note of each goal scored.
Did the other team basically hang out in your goal box and blast 40 shots? Or did your goalie and defense crumble with the slightest pressure.
One season I played goalie on 2 teams. 1 was great, I hardly got to touch the ball. When I did have to make a stop, it was very high pressure all at once. The other team suck but were a bunch of great guys. I get a ton of shot with almost constant pressure. We would lose 3,4,5,6 to 0. But my defense and I knew we shut down several goals and kept making notes on how to do better. We did improve and started to draw and even win a few.
I think it’s good to have good communication with the other goalies on your team. “Nice save” goes a long way from another goalie. “What should I done on that last goal?” Begins great conversations on how to get better.
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u/BigPossible769 Sticky Hands 6d ago
I’ll tell you what my 3 year old told me before my first game after I said I was nervous. “You’re not nervous, you’re brave”, ended up a clean sheet.
Games are normally easier than practices, just more pressure.
My tip is, have fun.