“This is too hard.” “I hate this drill”. “I’ll never be good enough to play at the highest level.” These are common phrases I hear on and off the training ground, and they reflect more than a negative sentence. Rather, these statements and others like them, inform a negative attitude and outlook. Simply put, this reflection on attitude, outlook, and mindset matters.
As the decades have evolved over time, so too has the coaching elements of goalkeeping within the soccer/football tradition. Though it is unwise to identify a peak in coaching philosophy, it can nevertheless be said that right now we have a very high level of understanding the goalkeeping position both domestically and around the world. Experts break down the unique position into four separate but related categories; technical, tactical, physical, and mental.
The category most overlooked and underemphasized is the mental one. Many head coaches are simply unaware of the mental elements involved with being a goalkeeper at any level. However hazy the subject may be to many head coaches, though, it is still the most important element in goalkeeper development. Not only is the category important unto itself, but it influences and drives the other three categories directly. The best way to explain that trajectory is to narrow the lens to one simple, easily identified framework; one’s attitude.
Unlike the technical, tactical, and physical categories encompassing the position of goalkeeper, mentality in general and attitude in particular can be adjusted rapidly. One can make the decision to change their frame of mind instantaneously. Meanwhile, that same goalkeeper cannot become an expert in splitting/spreading all of a sudden. The latter requires work, time, and patience. The former requires and immediate attitude shift. I am lucky to have a friend, Keith Jarema, who works with goalkeepers at all levels through Elite Keeper Academy in Detroit, Michigan. Among the thematic elements he stresses to both goalkeepers and interested coaches is developing a positive mentality to grow yourself as a goalkeeper and, more importantly, as a human being.
There is a warning, however, that I must share with you. Changing your attitude and mindset instantaneously, though it can be done, is not an easy thing to do. It requires practice on and off the field. If you become self-aware of your tendencies to view the glass half empty, can you make the adjustment and reframe that outlook into something positive. For some goalkeepers, this is the hardest thing they’ll ever have to do. In any event, if you are a goalkeeper who wants to succeed and play at the next level, it’s a project that must be undertaken.
If your goal is to compete at the highest level (U12 wants to play in the ECNL, U18 wants to play in college, then you must begin reframing you mindset to include the realization that it will take hard work and nothing will be given to you, When I scout goalkeepers, one thing I look for is mistakes. It seems odd that this is my approach, but it’s actually not the mistake itself that interests me. After a mistake, I keep watching the goalkeeper for the next two minutes, observing his/her communication, attitude, body language, posture, energy. Those details tell me most of what I need to know when recruiting a goalkeeper, and I’m certain I’m not alone in that. My advice for U9 goalkeepers beginning their interest in the position, and my seniors in college is the same on this subject. Reframe your mind to always think positively. It will improve your level of play, and most likely the level of play of your teammates around you. In short, attitude matters, and it shows.
