Warm Up?

[Grace T.]

I'll throw my 2 cents in the hat, as I have found value across the board of ideas here.

Due to the many issues outlined above, I am usually involved in my daughter's warmup one way or another. Whether I am asked by the coach or whether we come 30-45 minutes before the team (her choice) in order to get her rolling. I have experience as a club coach, keeper coach, and ref, so I feel I have a little to offer her, but I also don't want to step on the coach's toes, so we do discuss with them prior to and if they have issue or don't want it, then I have no problem stepping back.

My philosophy for the warmup is based around confidence and rhythm. All drills are a buildup. If we're working catching, we start with nice tight catches, then work our way out to moderate stretch catch, then eventually we end it with just outside a catch range and it turns into a push. If at all the flow of this is broken, we take a step back and rebuild. So many times when I watch the warmup of keepers, I see these difficult to save balls that had no buildup to establish the player's range. By no means am I suggesting this be a cakewalk, but from my experience, you have to build out the range, not just jump in with tough shots and wonder why they aren't stopping them.

Throughout, we do move back and forth from hands, feet, in-air, diving, etc. We have a specific 3 in a row dive sequence that is our gauge for where she is in the warmup process. We randomly run this sequence throughout and once that gauge hits and she is confident, we stop and just move onto goal kicks and punts.

The next phase is usually the one that most parents, players, and keeper coaches hate, which is the team shooting. Unfortunately, it's a necessary evil for the field players, so I have always advised my kid and players that I've worked with to approach it as follows -

The drill is not for them, it is for the field players and is the equivalent of their confidence and rhythm building. So, instead of worrying about making saves during this time, focus on establishing the proper angle before the shot, feet ready, and body balanced.

When the shot is taken, evaluate whether you think you were in the right spot, could you dive well from your spot, would you have made the save? I then suggest that they take every 4th or 5th shot (depending on pace of drill, players involved, and number of keepers) and on those shots is where they go full circle - Angle, feet, balance, AND attempt to make the save. From the feedback I've received from players, they find that this is a bit better and keeps their confidence where it needs to be, gives them opportunities for full action saves, and allows the field players to get what they need out of it.

Great post. Funny how many keeper parents go all in (I've worn all 3 hats too, though prob. not with your experience). Question: so if the coach has an issue with it, who does your daughter's warmups (I'm assuming in that case the coach steps up and either does it himself or the assistant does it)? Would love to hear more about your 3 in a row dive sequence. Also, do you cover extension diving....I've seen a split whether the extension dive in the air should be a part of the warmup...MLS players usually do it, but some coaches think for youth keepers (especially intermediates) it's a way to risk injury and/or shatter confidence so they stick to easier saves nearer to the set position in the philosophy now is not the time to challenge the keeper?

 

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Question: so if the coach has an issue with it, who does your daughter's warmups (I'm assuming in that case the coach steps up and either does it himself or the assistant does it)?

Usually the HC if there is not a second keeper. If there is a second keeper, then they would warm up each other. I've also helped with warmup when team has 2 keepers, but at that point I'm just facilitating the routine and providing the context insights while they execute (except the 3 in a row sequence).

Would love to hear more about your 3 in a row dive sequence.

Distance between us is about 10 yards.

1) I throw a bouncer with top spin to create a full extension dive (mid-waist ball) from the keeper, but it must be at the furthest they can dive (full extension) and still catch. The catch is critical as if there is no catch, 2 and 3 cannot happen. Keeper catches and then throws back to me from the ground and immediately starts getting up to cover the other side.

2) While keeper is getting up from 1, send in a moderately fast rolling ball that they can get just enough behind to secure with a low dive/slide save. Keeper then throws back to me from the ground and immediately starts getting up to cover the other side again.

3) As keeper is just to their feet, take the ball and similar to a throw-in I bounce off the ground to the opposite end and force the keeper to react to the ball rising. This save is NOT a catch, they have to dive higher (~60 deg angle) and stretch fully and it MUST be placed in a position for them to 'just reach it' and push away but not catch.

The key to the 3 of these is that they create confidence/rhythm for the keeper while also continuing to push their limit. When you work with the keeper, you will take moments to put a ball JUST OUT OF REACH (intentionally). For most that are competitive, they will want that little bit more. They'll push for a couple inches. Where you lose them is when you take shots on them that they have nothing to push for.

Also, do you cover extension diving....I've seen a split whether the extension dive in the air should be a part of the warmup...MLS players usually do it, but some coaches think for youth keepers (especially intermediates) it's a way to risk injury and/or shatter confidence so they stick to easier saves nearer to the set position in the philosophy now is not the time to challenge the keeper?

I definitely build up and cover extension diving, but you have to consider the body of the player (as I mentioned before, our 3 sequence is just a gauge, not a full spectrum of the warmup). When you realize they start to slow down from it being a bit too much, pull back and work the technique again without the physical impact.

However, if you don't do this early (outside of warmup, just training), it is very difficult to build in a keeper who thinks they know what they can do. In fact, I'd argue that it creates more risk of injury when they aren't prepared for these saves and try to pull them off in a game.

 

[pewpew]

I've been warming my GK up for years up until last year or so. Previous team we played on..coach was a former GK but gave her the crappiest warmup. Shots from side to side and that was about it!! Did nothing to develop her either. I was really shocked by that. The last team we came from a few months ago..coach warmed her up from time to time. Nothing special. A bunch of drop kicks at close range and that was about it. Then get in goal so the strikers could practice shooting on goal. Sometimes that's all she got..strikers warming up. I told her to concentrate on the one shooting. If it meant being out of position for the next striker..let it go. Don't go chasing every shot on goal only to miss them all. Focus on every other shot if needed and make a quality save. With her new current team her coach gives a basic warm up as well. I told her if she wants me to warm her up then she should ask him if it's ok and that I don't mind helping. But I must add that he is very possession-oriented and has done a lot with her already to focus on building out of the back. At a recent scrimmage the first thought would be to send it up and my wife was saying/thinking the same thing but he forced her to play more possession..got them into a bit of a pickle but they worked out of it. Talking to him for a few minutes after I mentioned that play. He said they will give up some goals sometimes due to mistakes as they learn to play more out of the back and maintain possession. That's when I turned to my wife when we were done and said he cares more about teaching than winning.

I just don't understand how all the focus during warmups is towards the field players with the GK being an afterthought. But I get it as well. The GK is just a foregone conclusion of being a shot stopper and that's about it. You do see a better warm up sometimes from better teams/better coaches..at least that's been my observation. They make the time for a GK to get a proper warmup. You can also tell when it's a parent doing the warmup. Most of the time they look pretty good from what I've seen. I see nothing wrong with it provided they know what they are doing.

Our warmup consists of the basics. 1-touch/2-touch passes on the ball. Making space with outside foot/parry to work on passing either out the back or chipping forward. When she's rolling the ball back to me I'll move a bit to one side and hold up one hand/a few fingers and she has to call out how many fingers I have up to make sure she's looking up. (We've been doing this for awhile now. When we saw Liverpool GK make that pass out of the back only to have Benzema from RM score in the Champion's League Final...this just reinforced looking up and paying attention who you are giving the ball to.) Goal kicks and punts. Once the standard stuff is all done and if time permits or I make the time..we go over the mental aspect and tactical aspect. Just trying to get her in the groove mentally to think about the upcoming game. Positioning. Seeing the play build and being proactive instead of reactive.

Lots of good pointers from others here as well. Gotta love this GK forum!!