Justine Sowry is a two-time World Cup Gold Medalist, played 128 international games for Australia, the majority of them during the Australian dominance of world hockey under legendary coach Ric Charlesworth. She has had coaching experience at the NCAA level from 1998-2004 and has been a member of the US National Coaching staff, since December 2003.
After reviewing and analyzing the recent Athens Olympic Games, and working within the USA National Programs, here are some of my thoughts on the differences between International and domestic goalkeeping.
Are we producing and developing elite goalkeepers?
Traditionally, goalkeeping has been a strength in the USA. Remember the likes of Patty Shea, Andrea Weiland, Jana Withrow and Peggy Storrar? They are all world class goalkeepers in their own right. So who now? Amy Tran, Storrar’s understudy for the past 3 years, has shown the same natural talent as many of the former USA goalkeepers that have worn the pads for the Red, White and Blue. Tran has shown the intensity, work ethic and skill level to succeed at the International level. Yes, she has big shoes to fill, but she will also need big shoulders to carry the weight of our goalkeeping transition, since the depth of goalkeeping talent in the USA is currently not where it should be.
Depth in the crucial goal keeping position will enhance the team’s overall performance and more importantly, push goalkeepers continually on a day-to-day basis, creating competition for places and performance.
Attention and focus need to be given in the following areas to improve our depth of talent and ultimately, performance in Elite level competitions;
DECISION MAKING
- MAKE THEM BEAT YOU, DON’T BEAT YOURSELF!
Goalkeepers must work with their defense and not make decisions independently of what their defense is doing. Where is the play occurring in the circle and how are defenders playing the situation?
Decision making in goalkeeping is the ability to read the play and react appropriately; experience and repetition will only help in future decisions. Our goalkeepers must take into consideration what their defense is doing and the pressure that they are applying to that situation. Not all situations are the same; hence any reaction is going to be different each time.
Breakaways/Counter Attack Situations
Internationally, goalkeepers are usually beaten by superior skill from the forward and the pace at which the play is bearing down at them.
To execute a one v one successfully, goalkeepers have to consider many factors. The ability to make a split decision, read a situation and keep a cool head are all essential if you are going to stand a chance. Great players, goalkeepers and field players alike, have an uncanny ability to ‘slow mo’ a play in their head and execute it perfectly.
There are many occasions where goalkeepers fly out of their goal without considering defensive pressure. This can cause problems in other situations where defenders hold back and ‘wait’ for the goalkeeper to do something, rather than the other way around. The most glaring example of this occurs when teams play man-to-man defense; they fall back on their opponent whilst the keeper deals with the ball carrier.
We must also consider where in the circle ‘the play’ is occurring. On acute angles, when the forward takes a shot, there is a limited angle that the keeper has to cover to make an easy save, not to mention that when a play is wider, it is automatically being delayed; therefore the defense will be able to make a tackle before the goal box is penetrated.
Even at the highest level, goalkeepers make poor decisions to come off their post, as was demonstrated through Australia’s equalizing goal in the Men’s Olympic Final.
Endline Situations
Stay composed; handle the pressure, read the situation and play your defensive goals!
At all levels of the game, goalkeepers can ‘lose their head’ and fly out of the goal box when speed is involved. It is more difficult to read the situation when there is speed, and the play is in control. There is little time to assess a situation and make appropriate adjustments.
There are different philosophies all over the world on how a goalkeeper should play the endline, whether teams are playing a man-to-man type defense or a zonal one. Some European teams have their keepers be more aggressive on endline situations, while Australian teams tend to be patient and ‘stay at home’ on their post, allowing the defense to do the work. Something in between the two would be suitable as certainly there are times when a keeper can double team with their defense, however this should occur no more than four to five yards from the post.
Like the 1v1 situations, our keepers must make these decisions according to what the defense and ball carrier are doing. That is, is it a true 1v1, is there a pass option or are they shooting?
Other focus areas
The best way to execute a save, a clear and deal with a possible rebound is to be balanced on your feet. Make them beat you, don’t beat yourself!
‘Body dropping’ in the goal box puts you out of the play, even if the ball hits you on the initial shot.
Clear the ball and stay on your feet
Why not clear the ball on your feet when you can? You are already close to a ready, alert and balanced position for any subsequent play!
Some keepers will drop to ground when they are clearing a loose ball. Yes there are times to use the skill of the ‘punch clear’ but don’t overuse it. Goalkeepers that drop to the ground unnecessarily are in danger of being caught in a negative position and should be punished accordingly.
Static situations; when the opponent has the ball under control with limited pressure, requires the keeper to be very mobile and balanced on their feet. We must encourage our goalkeepers to stay on their feet and limit going to ground excessively. Whether it is a 1v1 or endline play, most keepers have already made up their minds that they are committing themselves to going to ground. Read the situation, defensive pressure and execute the appropriate skill.
Organize, not react! Start organizing from the back going forward, when your own team has the ball and do not start after a turnover.
A good goalkeeper is one that prevents a shot from even occurring, not one that simply saves it. First communicate and organize the defense while your team has possession. When there is a turn over, communicate effectively to keep the ball away from your goal. We must limit the ‘rah rah’, non-specific communication around the ball.
Be a student of the game
This will improve a goalkeeper’s decision-making capabilities.
Our keepers must continue to develop their overall knowledge of the game. Not just their own position but all over the field. What are your defenders trying to do? What is physically possible? Encourage goalkeepers to join the rest of the team while the coaching instruction is given. Goalkeepers must be involved and pay attention to what their team is trying to achieve.
Goalkeepers must have a sound logging technique, be able to read the cues of the set play, execute the appropriate skill and work with the defense to counterattack dangerous variations.
Internationally, the complexity of penalty corners coupled with the increase in skill level has meant that the goalkeepers have had to fine tune their approach. They are facing an increase in flinging and other variations. The more variations, fakes, feints and other distractions, results in goalkeepers having to improve their situational reading so they can execute the appropriate skill and ultimately better protect their goal.
Goalkeepers at the collegiate level are able to successfully log to defend the shot even when that skill is an inappropriate one to use i.e. logging on a poorly executed fling or a push, slap, sweep at goal. There are no world class ‘flingers’ currently in the domestic competition, and for the most part we hit and sweep the ball toward goal to score, to deflect or redirect.
Goalkeepers must continue to improve the reading of the penalty corner play; watch what the hitter/flinger’s body and hands are doing, what their strengths are, and if they have positioned anyone differently around the circle. We must lead our penalty corner defense to come up with solutions on how to better defend a particular corner. Goalkeepers must be able to read and defend the corner, executing the appropriate skill and not by literally ‘flopping’ on the majority of shots taken.
- Quantity DOES NOT equal QUALITY
Quality is better than Quantity.
Keep the time in the goal to short sharp stints. Not only can you go 100 % every single time, you don’t train bad habits and half saves. Change the mindset and value the time in the goal. Do you really need 1000 shots in a practice or 20 shots in a row?
Ric Charlesworth, the double Olympic GOLD MEDAL Australian coach (1993-2000), had our goalkeepers follow this approach. Any complaints about the lack of shots at a practice session resulted in only getting 2 shots total in a two hour period! We had to value our time in the net. Not only does it make you tougher, it trains you to handle the pressure in many different situations.
The Complete Package
Throughout the USA, there are many good goalkeepers who are absolutely successful at the NCAA level. There are keepers which are technically sound. There are keepers that have the mind set to save the ball at any cost. These are great traits to have and you need to have them in order to succeed at the elite level. However, they can make these ‘bad decisions’ and get away with them. They are keeping the ball out of the net. What else do you want and expect from them?
Remember we are searching for depth in International quality goalkeepers. The ability to read the play and react appropriately to a situation, taking into consideration all facets, takes practice and situational experience. An elite goalkeeper possesses a combination of many qualities, has the ability to handle pressure environments, and organizes their defense before turnovers occur. This creates the complete package!
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