So Tackett has another thought provoking article in his newsletter. He does a really great job IMHO of raising these issue. Basically, his point is that SoCal goalkeepers don't do a very great job at distribution, and that can result in a loss of games. He bemoans that too often coaches put "weak links" in the goalkeeper spot and too often cost goals because while they can learn to block they can't be great soccer players. I sort of agree and disagree and am interested in people's thoughts.
First, distribution is a weak spot not only in Socal but we've seen it with all the recent goalkeeper blunders also on the pro side at the highest levels. If you look at where the errors were made, they were mostly made on the backpasses or initial distributions. So, it's a problem not only in SoCal, but I do agree it's a problem. Distribution is becoming more important in the modern game.
But I disagree with him that it's entirely a problem in technique. In fact the big lumbering boy played in goal in the early years isn't necessarily placed there because he's a great shot stopper...by U11 the boys all kick into goal in the air fairly regularly and our budding nonathletic hulk isn't going to be able to extension dive...he's there because he can goalkick, punt or throw it far without being really taught much about technique based on sheer physical force. Coaches are inherently recognizing this, which is why those boys are being placed in goal. Where the fail takes place is that it's hard to get coaches (and really only the head coaches can do this, many of whom don't understand goalkeeping) to teach distribution in conjunction with the defenders during team practices. Tackett and Feuer do a little of this in their camps, but without knowing what the coach wants it's awfully hard to transmit tactics to the keeper. The goalkeeper coaches can teach the goalkeeper what the proper way to do things is, but if the defenders aren't on board, it's only going to be partially effective. There's a real hole in the curriculum (I mentioned before my E license exam didn't contain a single goalkeeper exercise) and that can only be fixed on the CalSouth training level and by instituting a continuing education requirement for coaches. Otherwise you are going to continue to get these big legged boys who eventually get to high school, and then suddenly drop out leading to our goalkeeper shortages at these ages. The U.S. used to be very good at developing goalkeepers by throwing kids who otherwise handled the ball in other sports into the role-- but it's becoming so specialized now I'm not sure that's going to be an effective strategy for much longer, particularly given how fast the modern ball moves now.
Here's the link to the post:
https://www.facebook.com/SoCalSchoolOfGoalkeeping/
First, distribution is a weak spot not only in Socal but we've seen it with all the recent goalkeeper blunders also on the pro side at the highest levels. If you look at where the errors were made, they were mostly made on the backpasses or initial distributions. So, it's a problem not only in SoCal, but I do agree it's a problem. Distribution is becoming more important in the modern game.
But I disagree with him that it's entirely a problem in technique. In fact the big lumbering boy played in goal in the early years isn't necessarily placed there because he's a great shot stopper...by U11 the boys all kick into goal in the air fairly regularly and our budding nonathletic hulk isn't going to be able to extension dive...he's there because he can goalkick, punt or throw it far without being really taught much about technique based on sheer physical force. Coaches are inherently recognizing this, which is why those boys are being placed in goal. Where the fail takes place is that it's hard to get coaches (and really only the head coaches can do this, many of whom don't understand goalkeeping) to teach distribution in conjunction with the defenders during team practices. Tackett and Feuer do a little of this in their camps, but without knowing what the coach wants it's awfully hard to transmit tactics to the keeper. The goalkeeper coaches can teach the goalkeeper what the proper way to do things is, but if the defenders aren't on board, it's only going to be partially effective. There's a real hole in the curriculum (I mentioned before my E license exam didn't contain a single goalkeeper exercise) and that can only be fixed on the CalSouth training level and by instituting a continuing education requirement for coaches. Otherwise you are going to continue to get these big legged boys who eventually get to high school, and then suddenly drop out leading to our goalkeeper shortages at these ages. The U.S. used to be very good at developing goalkeepers by throwing kids who otherwise handled the ball in other sports into the role-- but it's becoming so specialized now I'm not sure that's going to be an effective strategy for much longer, particularly given how fast the modern ball moves now.
Here's the link to the post:
https://www.facebook.com/SoCalSchoolOfGoalkeeping/