PATRICK MORRISON: Stop shot stopping


By Patrick Morrison WHENEVER I am coaching goalkeepers around the country, there are eight main goalkeeping areas that I will coach them in. These are, in my opinion, the main areas involved within the goalkeeping position and incorporate every possibility that a goalkeeper may face during competitive games. My six goalkeeping areas are technical, activation, […]


PATRICK MORRISON: Be Mr Confident


By Patrick Morrison AS a goalkeeper, it is important that you are mentally the strongest person on the pitch. It can sometimes feel like a very lonely and daunting place at times. Such is the nature of the game of goalkeeping. The majority of decisions and actions that a goalkeeper executes during a game usually […]


PATRICK MORRISON: Back to basics


DURING the past few seasons, we have really seen an increase in the number of goalkeepers that are confident in joining the outfield play. And there has been something of a phenomenon, especially from a goalkeeping point of view, there has been an explosion of press about the position. Some were excited about how Ethan Rafferty […]


PATRICK MORRISON: Training brain v competition brain


By Patrick Morrison WHENEVER a goalkeeper is performing during competition and performing during training sessions, they do so with two completely different approaches. The mindset a goalkeeper will have when they are performing during competition will greatly differ to the mindset they will apply when they are training. During competition the goalkeeper has a greater […]


PATRICK MORRISON: Get your feet right


By Patrick Morrison WHENEVER I am coaching, one of the most common questions I am asked is ‘what is the most important aspect of being a goalkeeper?’ My answer is always the same. There is no one aspect that is more significant than any other as mastery of the position needs a competent level of […]


PATRICK MORRISON: The penalty


IN 1890, an Irish businessman and goalkeeper called William McCrum, from the small village of Milford in County Armagh, invented the penalty kick. Up until that point there had been no definitive infringement for fouls that were committed inside of the 18-yard square as well as for intentional handball to stop opponents from scoring He took […]


PATRICK MORRISON: Making not taking


By Patrick Morrison IN the modern game of Gaelic football, we are under no illusions about the sudden rise in focus on restarts. This rise has also coincided with the rise in importance of the goalkeeping position as a whole. What the goalkeeper can offer to their team has grown exponentially over the past 25 […]


PATRICK MORRISON: W.H.Y: Will, hope and yearn


AS a goalkeeper it is necessary to have a solid set of reasons as to why you play the position. With the levels of skill and abilities a goalkeeper needs to hold ever-increasing and the weight of expectation to reproduce those skills to the highest of standards on a consistent basis, having a strong set […]


PATRICK MORRISON: Nothing compares to you


THIS week’s title stokes memories of that famous 1990 number one single of the same name, from Irish singer Sinead O’Connor. The song, originally written and sung by Prince, depicts the emotions of a heartbroken lover going through a difficult break-up and for the purpose of this week’s article it is a very fitting analogy in […]


PATRICK MORRISON: Box out


IT was back in the early nineties that I first experienced the game of basketball. As a tall primary six student I was afforded a place on the school basketball team. We were coached by Jimmy McKee (Pearse Óg) in the Christian Brothers PS and competed in a few competitions throughout the year. At the […]