True and Sad Story About Goalkeeper Coaching Reality

Last week I got an email from a coach who is working as a head coach in his team and who has a challenge to implement goalkeeper training in his work. The story was very resonating and something that I hear most often from coaches, so I decided to share it with all of you! 

Here is the email I got:

Goalkeepers Can’t Improve Unless They Get Proper Coaching

After working with over thousands of goalkeepers in the past 11 years, in 15 different countries, I can confidentially say that something along the lines of this email is what I heard most often both from goalkeepers and from coaches – goalkeeper training is somehow always marginalized! While that is a sad (and very frustrating story), there are also very valid reasons for such reality most of the time. But at some point, this narrative HAS TO CHANGE! At some point, all clubs, teams and head coaches should demand to have a goalkeeper coach.

I’ve said this already a million times, and I will keep saying it for as long as necessary: we can’t expect our goalkeepers to improve or to perform on a high level if we don’t give them opportunities for improvement!!!

Why do Young Goalkeepers Often Quit Playing Handball?

Another comment that I get very often from coaches is that young goalkeepers often just quit playing handball.

While those coaches are always somehow shocked and surprised with that, I am well aware of the fact that for young athletes-goalkeepers, it’s just a matter of time when they will realize that it’s simply not enough if the only attention/focus in training they get is when the head coach says: “Ok, now we will warm up goalkeepers!”. Which usually takes anything between 4 – 10 minutes (depending on the shooting warm up sequence), and even during that shooting warm up, a goalkeeper doesn’t get any feedback about the technique or positioning from the head coach. With all that in mind, it’s completely normal that young goalkeepers will lose motivation, inspiration and that they will want to quit playing handball.

I do have a lot of compassion for coaches who never played on a goalkeeper position and who just have no idea how to approach that topic, or how to work on it, but I also have a lot of compassion for all the young goalkeepers who are way too often left alone to “figure out” the whole goalkeeping game concept by themselves, and by catching random advises along the way..

The only thing I always tell to coaches is: just TRY and start learning more about goalkeeper training and start implementing more of it in your weekly training plan! I understand that it’s a complex topic, and it feels uncomfortable to dive into it because it’s such a different playing position, but nowadays we have more resources and more possible ways to learn about goalkeeper coaching! Then I usually end up joking that either way if they decide to start learning about goalkeeping, or not, they can simply just hire me and solve their problem. 

How Can We Stop This?

I get these kinds of emails or messages from coaches on a weekly basis! That precisely was the reason for me to design, organize and make my Level 1 and Level 2 video courses for handball coaches.

I have simplified the whole concept of proper goalkeeper technique so much that anyone can understand it! Well, actually, I simplified it and I went into great detail about the most important elements of goalkeeper technique and goalkeeper game, so that anyone could understand and start implementing it in their training.

One of the main points I try to bring across with every group of coaches I work with, especially in my Level 1 Video Course, is that every coach can become more confident after understanding some of the most important aspects of goalkeeper coaching and they will start implementing it in their work!

Big part of the coaches taking part in my online courses are team head coaches who are interested in developing their skills and enriching their knowledge about goalkeeper coaching, but also there are specific goalkeeper coaches, and both groups of coaches gave pretty great feedback for my online courses.

I am not saying that for the sake of vanity, but simply because I want to paint a very clear picture of how accessible and simple this step actually is! The step between where some coach (who is insecure to implement more of a goalkeeper training in their work) is now and where they can be: feeling confident in their understanding of how proper technique looks like, how they can work on it and how they can correct potential, most common mistakes in technique in work with young goalkeepers.

So in the end of this story, the conclusion is very clear: you are staying short of excuses to not start working on understanding goalkeeper training concepts! 

My Level 1 Video Course for Handball Coaches 

If you would like to check out more about my Level 1 Online course for handball coaches, you can find more info here.

A short summary of the topics you will get to work on in my Level 1 Video Course:

• The role of a coach who is working with goalkeepers
• The most common challenges that every coach faces
• Simple elements of motivation that you can include in your coaching
• Goalkeeper technique vs goalkeeper style
• Basic stance and movement in basic stance
• Angles in the goal and proper positioning in relation to the shooter
• Saves of high shots from 9 meters
• Saves of low shots from 9 meters
• Saves of middle shots from 9 meters

Stay in Touch

You can let me know what topics you have the biggest challenge with in goalkeeper coaching by filling out this form.

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Here you can find my online video courses: Level 1 Video Course for Coaches; Level 2 Video Course for Coaches; Sliding Technique Video Course and Agility Ladder Drills Video Collection with 102 drills.

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