Grassroots Goalkeeping - Top 7 Tips to Support Your Goalkeeper in 2024
Being a goalkeeper is predominantly about stopping goals, right? But how we do that looks different from GK to GK. However, confidence is one of the few things that remains consistent between every goalkeeper and their successful performance.
It’s commonly understood that any goalkeeper, whether they’re 5 years old playing their first game or in the World Cup final, needs to be playing with confidence. When a goalkeeper is brimming with confidence, they will be performing at their best. However, mistakes tend to creep in when they’re low on confidence. That’s simply the nature of the game; goalkeepers need to have the confidence to slide in a striker's feet, come out and punch a cross or put their body on the line to save a goal. Hence I’m here to offer my 7 best tips for improving your goalkeepers’ confidence!
Preparation
The first step for improving a goalkeeper's confidence is preparation. This isn’t just on gameday, this starts on the first day of preseason. Preparing for the season ahead starts a long time before that first game. It’s important that you’re on the same wavelength as the players in front of you as well as your coach. Understanding the team's tactics, what the coach wants you to do, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of your team, are important when it comes to game day. Having a great understanding of how your team plays will help you feel more comfortable in your role.
However, preparation isn’t just tactics. It also comes with some hard work and time with the ball in hand in training. Good preparation involves making lots of saves and feeling match fit when you go into your games. This is often the job of your goalkeeper coach to help you get into shape and ensure that they have prepped you for every situation that might come your way.
One of my coaches often talks about Optimistic bias. This is a fancy way of saying that when a goalkeeper has prepared well in training, i.e. made lots of saves, caught lots of crosses etc. They will often go into games with an aura of confidence because they haven’t taken the time to doubt themselves since their preparation was so good.
In simple terms, it can be such a confidence boost for a goalkeeper if everything leading up to a game has gone well, and you don’t have much reason to think the game will go poorly.
"When a goalkeeper is well prepared in training, they will often go into the game with an aura of confidence."
2. Positive Reinforcement
Now this one is more for the parents and coaches. Looking after and motivating a goalkeeper can be a tricky task, to say the least. However, being positive towards your goalkeeper is important because, at the end of the day, there are going to be mistakes. If you beat them up about it, they’re probably just gonna keep happening. What they need from you is positive reinforcement that they are good enough, this is their position, and they have the ability to not only succeed but thrive at this level. They need to know you have an unwavering blind faith in their abilities (even if you don’t!)
3. Get Specialised GK training
This area links into my first point regarding preparation. As a goalkeeper, you can only get so much development from having shots smashed at you from 18 yards by your teammates. Don’t get me wrong, there's a time and a place for a good ol’ shooting drill. But before they jump into the battle, it’s important that an expert can equip them with the right tools first. In my opinion, 1-2 goalkeeper sessions per week is enough for an amateur-level goalkeeper. This gives them the chance to work with an expert goalkeeper coach to refine their skills and learn the proper techniques, as well as do some training with their team so they can put all of their new skills into practice. Going into a game knowing that you have been provided with the techniques and skills required to succeed is a massive confidence boost as a goalkeeper.
“Going into a game knowing that you have been provided with the techniques and skills required to succeed is a massive confidence boost as a goalkeeper.”
4. Fake it til you make it
Now this can be a tricky one for some goalkeepers, especially those who find themselves a bit lower on confidence than others.
As I mentioned previously, goalkeeping is all about confidence. However, not every goalkeeper has that, so sometimes we have to fake it. Why? Well, when I’m coaching a team, and I see a goalkeeper who drops a couple of easy ones, is getting yelled at by their teammates, or looks a bit shaky on the ball - the first things I’m telling my team is to target the goalkeeper because he doesn’t look too sharp.
On the flip side, if I see a goalkeeper who walks out confident and has their teammates clearly trust them, I’ think it will be a tough day for our strikers.
So how do we fake it? Well, there's a few things you can do:
Be loud, like unnecessarily loud. Gks who dominate the field with their voice give off a feeling of confidence
Body language. Keep your head up, stay light on your feet, and your positive energy will flow all the way through your team
Smile! I know some people and coaches won’t like this - but if you give off the impression that you are enjoying yourself, you’ll simply look and feel more confident.
5. Go easy on them when they start… Like really easy!
Because there are gonna be some mistakes and some seriously bad f*ck ups. Mainly because goalkeeping is hard. Really hard. Especially when you start off and haven't quite figured out the ins and outs of coordination yet. All I can say is don’t be too harsh on them. Maybe some constructive feedback as necessary, but for the most part, they will know they screwed up, and will already be feeling embarrassed about it, so the last thing they need is you having a go at them right after a mistake.
6. Give them space
You gotta let them fail. Sometimes it can be hard to watch them fail over and over again. However, just because they’re new to goalkeeper doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t know when they have done something wrong. Sometimes, talking (or yelling) about the mistake after the game isn’t what they need. Instead, you need to give them space so they have the opportunity to surprise you with a performance you didn't see coming. Let them be free to express themselves and enjoy playing in goal. The last thing they need is someone who is gonna stand by the goal and “guide” them through every move.
7. Keep it fun and engaging!
One of the biggest turn-offs for any goalkeeper is that goalkeeping is ‘boring’. I understand that, especially in the younger age groups, kids just want to run around and burn off some energy, not stand in front of a goal and only be involved every few minutes. That’s why when it comes to training, you have to keep things fun and engaging. Goalkeeper training is more than just catching the ball and diving. Try to always start with a fun warm-up game before getting into the technical things. Even when you move into the technical stuff, as much as you can make things a competition. Footballers thrive off their competitive nature, and goalkeepers are no different. Keep things at a high intensity and interesting for your goalkeeper so they don’t get bored or disinterested.
Building a goalkeeper's confidence is a difficult thing to do. Much like golf, goalkeeping is as much of a mental game as it is a physical game. Therefore, you won’t find an overnight remedy for a low-confidence goalkeeper. Mistakes are gonna happen, I can promise you that. However, as the famous Ted Lasso once said, “Be a goldfish and forget about it”. Pick yourself up, and dust yourself off, cause there are more goals that need to be saved!
The Goalkeepers’ View
