SO, the lockdown of Gaelic games continues. Over the last week it has been announced that there will not be a return to Gaelic activity at any grade or age group in the coming weeks.

What has now been whispered is a possible return to GAA action at Easter at the very earliest. That would mean another six and-a-half weeks without any form of collective training activity.

What this brings is some form of target date that all players can prepare for, a time-stamp that can be set in the future as a sort of deadline.

Ultimately, it allows all players to set time-frames for any possible goals that they may have set for the coming year. It also will allow them to generate a solid structured training plan with dates as well as a final deadline for them to work toward before returning to collective play.

For the goalkeeper, or indeed any player, there are four main seasons that they go through during any competitive year.

The first season is the growth season (more commonly known as the off-season). This season has just passed and is the season that players have the best chance to improve any parts of their game that they feel need worked on (their textbook skills). Without any competition and ample time for recovery or changing of techniques the growth season is the only season a goalkeeper can focus on specific skills long-term to generate more improvements than usual without having to worry about making mistakes during games.

The next season is the pre-season and is the season we are currently finding ourselves in. In this season the goalkeeper will be involved more with the team – usually improving their aerobic fitness levels as much as possible before moving onto the pitch to develop their performance skills.

In the pre-season phase it is important that the goalkeeper makes a transition from team aerobic fitness to a more goalkeeper specific type of conditioning.

This involves completing certain goalkeeping condition exercises that will tax the goalkeeper while completing game specific drills or moments.

From here the next two phases are the league season and then the championship season. Both seasons move the goalkeeper towards a more game-based form of training using game situations to improve overall performance. As the goalkeeper moves through both of these seasons the intensity they are performed at vastly increases but the load decreases in proportion also. They will basically be exerting more and more output but for less and less reps.

To maximise your improvements it is best practice to set some goals, targets and/or expectations for this next six-week period.

These can be related to your skills, physical ability, physical composition, technique, session quantity, session plans, dates, goalkeeping areas, etc. They can be whatever you want them to be but it is important that they are recorded, measurable and time-related at the very least.

With April 4 as the target for returning to some form of team training, you can now use this to create a cohesive plan in terms of your goalkeeping training.

As a goalkeeper there is a limitation on what you can actually effectively work upon individually but with some good research, creativity and thought about your position/game you can really focus in on various parts of your performance.

Having a return-to-play date (no matter how loose) allows you to create an exact week-by-week plan for you to follow, leading you into returning to team training.

Create a plan for yourself to follow each week pencilling in sessions for every week of the next six weeks.

Ensure that this plan incorporates the goals that you have set yourself and make sure you are able to assess and reassess yourself on these goals to ensure you are on track to achieve them.

Pre-plan every session, drill and exercise well in advance so that you get a complete understanding of the direction you are heading in as well as the flow of your training plan.

Remember that your plan must evolve from start to finish through the pre-season period into the league period. This means transitioning from more aerobically designed training to game-based goalkeeper conditioning to commencing game-based performance.

Obtain a training diary, if you’re not already in possession of one, so that you can record everything you are doing into it for future reference.

You will also be able to write down any comments, feelings, improvements or even drill variations that you think of during this period.

Once the six-week period is complete it is vital to evaluate it and having a diary with everything you have done is an excellent tool when completing this evaluation.

Below is a very generalised example of a training plan for a goalkeeper covering the next six-week period.

It includes a transition from aerobic condition to goalkeeper conditioning as well as beginning to incorporate the performance skills before moving into the League season:

WEEK 1 – W/C 21/2/21

Mon – Recovery Night (brisk walk/light run/stretching/light bike)

Tues – Run (5-7km at good pace)

Wed – Gym/home workouts (working on strength)

Thurs – Run (7-10km at medium pace)

Fri – Gym/home workouts (working on strength)

Sat – Goalkeeper session (Kicking)(Measured/Recorded)

Sun – Run (3-5km at 90%+ Pace)

WEEK 2 – W/C 28/02/21

Mon – Recovery night (brisk walk/light run/stretching/light bike)

Tues – Run (5-7km at good pace)

Wed – Gym/home workouts (working on strength)

Thurs – Run (7-10km at medium pace)

Fri – Gym/home workouts (working on strength)

Sat – Goalkeeper session (Kicking)(Measured/Recorded)

Sun – Run (3-5km at 90%+ Pace)

WEEK 3 – W/C 07/03/21

>Mon – Recovery night (brisk walk/light run/stretching/light bike)

Tues – Run (5-7km at good pace)

Wed – Gym/home workouts (transitioning to power)

Thurs – Goalkeeper conditioning session (High Reps/Sets)

Fri – Gym/home workouts (transitioning to power)

Sat – Goalkeeper session (Kicking)(Measured/Recorded)

Sun – Run (Short Distance/Time at 90%+ Pace)

WEEK 4 – W/C 14/03.21

Mon – Recovery night (brisk walk/light run/stretching/light bike)

Tues – Run (5-7km at good pace)

Wed – Gym/home workouts (working on power)

Thurs – Goalkeeper conditioning session (High Reps/Sets)

Fri – Gym/home workouts (working on power)

Sat – Goalkeeper session (Kicking)(Measured/Recorded)

Sun – Goalkeeper conditioning session (High Reps/Sets)

WEEK 5 – W/C 21/03/21

Mon – Recovery night (brisk walk/light run/stretching/light bike)

Tues – GK speed session (Ladders/Hurdles/Shuttles/Footwork)

>body5raggedtext<Wed – Gym/home workouts (transition to explosive movements)

>body5raggedtext<Thurs – Goalkeeper conditioning session (High Reps/Sets)

>body5raggedtext<Fri – Gym/home workouts (transition to explosive movements)

>body5raggedtext<Sat – Goalkeeper session (Kicking)(Measured/Recorded)

>body5raggedtext<Sun – Goalkeeper conditioning session (High Reps/Sets)

>crosshead<WEEK 6 – W/C 28.03.21

>body5raggedtext<Mon – Recovery night (brisk walk/light run/stretching/light bike)

>body5raggedtext<Tues – GK speed session (Ladders/Hurdles/Shuttles/Footwork)

>body5raggedtext<Wed – Gym/home workouts (explosive GK Movements)

>body5raggedtext<Thurs – Goalkeeper conditioning session (High Reps/Sets)

>body5raggedtext<Fri – Gym/home workouts (explosive GK Movements)

>body5raggedtext<Sat – Goalkeeper session (Kicking)(Measured/Recorded)

>body5raggedtext<Sun – GK specific session (GK Performance Skills)

>briefs3text<>q 2,1<>pa 2<>il<>is<Email: pmgoalkeeping@hotmail.com.

>briefs3text<>q 2,1<>pa 2<>il<>is<Facebook: @MSoG11.

>briefs3text<>body5raggedtext<>w 8.12pt<>f 5<>q 2,1<>pa 2<>is<Twitter: @MorSchGk.