Winning mindset for Goalkeepers

Mindset for Goalkeepers.

They're so much to being a Goalie on mindset side of things…

But let's take one part of the game to keep it simple for now, Being confronted with a penalty has to be one of the hardest parts of being a Goalie…

Could be many thousands in the stand , 100’s of thousands watching on TV..

And its a clear cut for you the Goalie in this situation your a Hero or

A destination for the supporters anger and frustration.

This a just general guide to a successful mindset during a penalty. 

As I Work on a much more personal basis with each player this would bring further results..

AS we are all different we don’t all chose the same thing on the menu so 

some methods or thought processes hit home to some players more than others..

But I hope the below will bring a good outline into what this task demands to excel in.

Its always about process, Process is king we do this and then this and then this in that order…

same way each time.  

Matters not if its in training or penalty shoot out for the FA cup the process is the same..

There is no trying harder…

Im going to dived this up into three parts ….

Pre shot..

Execution.

Post shot..

Each part is as vital as the other and in order to excel out there its vital to become very competent in all areas..

Pre shot../Penalty

This takes place between two points..

The Moment, in this case, the penalty is given and the moment the ref gives the Go-ahead for the penalty to commence..

So time-wise it could be very short or a few mins but matters not there is a task to do during this time..

So many times I see in games this time used to shout at the ref or your other players when has this ever helped?

You the Goalie is just wasting this time that could be spent preparing for what is about to come…

You need to assess the space you are in this moment and the more experienced players I look after in many sports will be able to alter the space you are in to calm your self down to relax as in this state your best stuff will come to the fore.

Breathe deeply and slowly , take a drink and slow your head down, Breathe, calm things down , whatever has happened its done now that's in the past, there is a job to do now and that to 1st calm your self, breathe, Drink…

Now understand this, we get what we believe not what we want…

By this I mean wanting to save this upcoming penalty will not help us..

We get what we believe and if we spend these precious moments on being upset about what has happened in the past (cause of the penalty) and pore energy into this is unfair, Im upset about this, pissed off and we could end up a goal down here!

Then thats what you’ll get… Your pissed off and negative?

You will see more of the same…

Think on it when have you or any of us every been able to perform well even on a simple task when we are pissed off?

So again we get what we are right…

So relax , calm down and see your self being successful…

Visualize your self getting a touch on this ball…

 Saving this and feel good about that thought..

See what we have done here is replaced a negative thought with a positive one that feels good..

Your body will perform better as will your now clear calm mind that is visualizing success.

Ask your self this whilst your breathing in and out deeply or sipping your water, who is the pressure really on here?

Its not you, stats say at best 15% are saved by the goalie the pressure is on the striker to not fail here.. The fear of failure for the striker will be there undoing… Your advantage…

Even though we see , visualize and expect success as you should the stats don’t lie your going to be doing very well to save this and really there no pressure on you the Goalie..

So there should be no fear of failure but rest assured its likely to be a big factor for the Striker..

So see success the key in this stage is not making an already difficult task worse, accept it move on breathe, relax, drink and see your self being exceptional.

So don't go making this any harder than it needs to be..

Matters not if you think you can or think you cant save this either way you will be right.

So see success..

Execution..

Now this may sound like ive lost my marbles but your task in this moment is NOT to save the ball. (yep mental eh?)

You cant give your self a task that your not in control of completing.

Your job instead is to completely commit to this moment.

And trust that if you do that you will perform better, on instincts if you like..

Its called getting out of your own way.

The NOW.

All there ever is is this moment.

Its never not this moment..

The NOW is all there every is and all there ever will be and during this phase it is about 

immersing your self so that nothing else exists but this moment and this moment only.

Thoughts of score lines that are in the future all there is now this moment…

You are not in control of the result IE if its saved or not, the striker could hit a wonder shot that no one could save, or a gust of wind when the ball is in the air moves the arc of the ball in flight, none of these things are in your control so in that case neither is the result.

Accept that.

WE need to focus on what we can control which is one thing only the space you have put your self in.

That's all you can do….

Worrying about the furture IE this ball going in or not is NOT the NOW,

and will only mean your leaking energy and focus and causing tension in your body.

What should be is every fiber of your being pored into the task at hand…

Try this task, stand up right with your arms out at your side up and 90 degs to your body to make your self cross shaped.

Now breath in..and HOLD your breath.

Feet still rotate your self to as far as you can go and take a reference off a wall how far you have rotated..

Now go back to the start hold that position and breathe out, now rotate….

Massive difference in rotation right?

Same happens if you bend over to touch your toes do this holding breath and exhaling..

Massive…

Now imagine how many shots where you 2” shy of reaching or tipping past the post?

Yeah I know right massive..

So when you know the penalty or free kick is about to be taken breathe out..

A second or so later your going to be mid air on route towards the ball and you now have a little more movement…

The other advantage is to this is you have given your brain a task to do IE start this our breath at a set time and this stops any thoughts of future results creeping in…

All there ever is is this moment and this is your task not to save the ball but to fully commit to this moment…

Nothing else in the world exists but the task in hand at this moment.

Post shot..

So again its all about process just because the ball has come to rest in your hands or in the net it matters not, the process is the same..

Naturally if you have saved it brillant and feel good about that…

But if its in the back of the net…

Its not the good things in sport of life that defines us its the tough times…

So many keepers at this point punch the ground in anger or waddle in pity post game…

It doesn't change it wont help its done its in the past..

Your Human you are going to make errors or even if it was just a brillant strike into the top corner again that's not in your control….

15% as far as I can see at premiership level are saved on average…

So take a 5 shot penalty shoot out thats less than 1 out of the 5 saved is a good result..

So why when you have just 1 why would you get upset, it does not mean you don’t care, but its not in your control and you need to accept and move on..

You being upset only hurts your confidence and performance for the rest of the game or you may be even carry that into many games or even the rest of the season.

The biggest thing is if you know like most goalies this goal being scored is going to hurt you then your exposing your self to stress about the future so in pre shot this will express its self as tension/ lack of focus and limit your performance massively…

Your making it much harder for your self, we have to go into this expecting success but if it does not come as the stats say more often than not you have to be ok with that..

Accept it and move on…

If you get to a stage where letting one in does not hurt you , or a missed putt for a golfer its the same then your performance will increase…

AS there is no tension or anxiousness..

Im not suggested again to not care about it going in , just to accept it and move on.

So over all,

1/ Pre shot-Vizulaize/ expect success.. We get what we are..

2/ Execution- Completely commit with every fiber of your being to this moment

3/ Post shot - Accept what ever comes as allowing it to hurt you only blunts your performance..

Keep safe

Kind regs

Noel Flannery

Flannery Peak Performance