IT is that time of year again, the Growth Season! It’s the part of the season when a goalkeeper should be making the biggest efforts to improve their game whether it be by themselves or with a proper goalkeeping coach.

The purpose of the Growth Season is to maximise performance improvements through the implementation of new techniques, the calibration of existing techniques as well as gaining new practical and theoretical practices. It is the best time of the full season to improve your game simply because you will have time on your side. Due to the lack of games, the amount of time you can focus on installing/correcting techniques without worrying about reducing performance is vastly increased.

I am currently working with a young goalkeeper, seventeen years of age, who initially played only soccer and has only within the past few years began to play in goal for their local Gaelic team. During their time playing soccer they did not receive a lot of coaching specific to their position and as a result it has left the goalkeeper very raw in regard to their ability. They can perform all the basics to a good standard but their movement as a goalkeeper is clunky.

The goalkeeper is strong for their age and has a fearlessness that is very rare to find in young goalkeepers. I want to also progress their decision-making capabilities as they currently rely on reassurance that they are completing the correct actions, something I would like to see them have the confidence to take more responsibility for and make decisions for themselves knowing if mistakes are made, they will be discussed and worked upon. Overall, this goalkeeper has a very good goalkeeping base which provides them with a high ceiling in terms of their development as a goalkeeper.

The Growth Season really is my favourite part of any season. As a coach this part of the year is the best because the Growth Season allows coaches get to do the ‘real’ coaching. This is when coaches can really get down into the nitty gritty of their ‘keepers’ techniques, flaws, and imperfections with the purpose of reversing them or making them better to improve the goalkeeper’s performance. It is the only part of the season that you can into the fundamentals of your goalkeeping without having to worry about your game performance.

At present, the young goalkeeper and myself decided that the main priority for us to be working on together was their footwork. Currently the goalkeeper is clumsy and does not move as a goalkeeper would be expected to move i.e. – balanced and well-coordinated. BUT the work we have been doing over the past three weeks has had some very positive results. The young ‘keeper is already moving far better and with much more fluidity than they otherwise previously had.

Ultimately, what we will be aiming for is to refine the goalkeeper’s footwork in a bid to help improve their goalkeeper movement to a more graceful manner. We had also decided that we would also work on the goalkeeper’s hands (Handling) as well as their diving technique.

They have a strong hand for parrying shots but whenever it comes to catching and holding the ball they can, at times, find it difficult and sometimes look uncomfortable in doing so. They can dive but there is still that final hold in the ‘keeper’s mind that stops them from diving correctly, so we have been working on installing a diving technique into this goalkeeper’s skillset. This can be long and arduous but highly rewarding.

Once we have developed these areas or too long of the pre-agreed time has been used, we will go over what we have worked on, reassess, and create a plan for moving forward. We will create a new plan together for the coming season which will include what the goalkeeper would like to improve for the season ahead, what goalkeeping style do they see themselves using andor expectations do they have for the season, for their coach and for themselves. We will also be setting goals for the coming season so that our training programs have a certain level of direction. We will create separate goals as well as combined goals and create a plan that we think will help us execute those goals effectively.

Now is the part of the season that all goalkeepers want to improve themselves before the next season begins, they will work hard of the parts of their game that they feel needs to be addressed. The new season is just around the corner but for now “It’s Grow Time!!”

Email: pmgoalkeeping@hotmail.com

Facebook: @MSoG11

Twitter: @MorSchGk