![]() One of my all time favorite books for coaching goalkeepers isn’t even a soccer book at all. Well, the untrained goalkeeper doesn’t know a long barrier from a traffic barrier – he just goes and gets the ball! So, this is the challenge to the coach: How do I get this goalkeeper to “just go get the ball” again now that I’ve crowded his mind with all of these techniques? And the ball still ends up in the back of the net. They often freeze or play in slow motion as they try to execute the appropriate technique with painstaking precision. Once the goalkeeper is equipped with information for each type of breakaway (those in the goalkeeper’s favor, those in the striker’s favor, the 50/50 breakaway, and the breakaway slightly in the striker’s favor) and the various techniques for which each type calls, the goalkeeper is now under pressure to do something about it! As a goalkeeper coach, I feel as if I can almost hear the thought gears grinding in their heads: “Should I slide in?… Should I stand up?… Was that touch big enough to attack?… Hands first or long barrier?…” And so on. After all, we have to give them all of the necessary weapons to go into battle. These elaborate and imaginative setups allow each of us to communicate the extensive information to the goalkeepers effectively. (see video from website) I like to run through the technical progressions with all of the goalkeepers spread out and faced toward me as we mirror the movements down to the ground and into the ball, a set up that can look like a kung fu lesson with Bruce Lee. And you’ll hear him yelling “Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, Swan!” (Ok, I guess you have to be there.) Joe Machnik famously teaches part of the session in a circle that reminds me of a gladiator arena. Mike Potier’s field layout often has young goalkeepers’ angles coned out to train the line the goalkeepers take when closing the striker down. The experienced staff of Goalkeeper Directors at No.1 each like to present the session in their own way. It is, indeed, a tall order for a young goalkeeper. There is so much that goes into making the breakaway save for the goalkeeper in terms of analyzing the type of breakaway he or she is faced with, choosing the appropriate response to that type of breakaway, executing the extremely difficult technique of sliding and forming a long barrier when appropriate, and – perhaps above all – summoning the courage and conviction to take control and make a save. ![]() We have loads of information to get through, so let’s stay focused.” And that’s no lie. When we begin our breakaway sessions at the No.1 Goalkeeper Camp, we often say, “This is the most complex topic of the week. The challenge is to give the goalkeepers sophistication while preserving their primal instincts. ![]() Alternatively, trained goalkeepers, now armed with a full arsenal of weapons with which to combat breakaways, often lack that conviction, that fierce approach that they once had, because they are now lost in thought and indecision in the face of the live breakaway. But with no technique, they are dead in the water. ![]() They attack the situation wildly and with lots of conviction. ![]() Often, untrained goalkeepers go flying into breakaways with their hair on fire. Teaching breakaways and getting good at breakaways can sometimes be at odds with each other. ![]()
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