“You can set up mannequins and cones, but I think it is the attitude of the coach and the relationship with the player that is crucial”
We asked four of the country’s leading goalkeeping coaches to provide an insight into designing engaging goalkeeping practices and the most effective methods to ensure goalkeepers benefit fully from every moment spent on the training field.
Mark Mason, Brighton and Hove Albion Academy Goalkeeper Coach
Know your players
It is key that you understand the players in your session. You need to know each individual: what their strengths and weaknesses are and the best ways for them to learn.
Having that knowledge will allow you to cater eff ectively for each individual in your session and help you identify when the keepers are ready to move on to the next part of their learning and when they might need a bit more time spent on a particular area.
Create the environment
Try to create a comfortable environment for the goalkeepers. The coach shouldn't be the focus, instead it should be about the players’ development, the atmosphere you create and how you work together as a group.
A goalkeeping team is one of those special groups where you work together closely and within that you should create a work ethic and develop an understanding of the people you work with.
Prepare for the unexpected
With the game getting quicker the best goalkeepers are those that understand the pictures unfolding in front of them. The best talents can see passages of play unfolding and start to ask themselves “what if?”
Quite often goalkeeping sessions don’t deal with the 'what if' scenario. I see a lot of technical sessions where a goalkeeper might work on receiving and passing. But in game situations it is not always the perfect pass, passes do get cut out and players have bad touches. Goalkeepers have to be able to deal with that and adapt to that.
I try to help goalkeepers to react to those moments: how quickly do they react to what is happening in the game? Do they get into good positions to deal with something if it does happen?
Interventions: pick your moment
There’s a very fi ne balance between making a coaching point that both the individual and the group benefi t from and singling someone out.
The skill for any coach is knowing when to step in in front of the group, when to take an individual to one side to give them a pointer or two to work on or when to stop the session for a drinks break and then just have a quick chat with an individual.
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