Category: Coaching
Type: Philosophy
GOALIE PHILOSOPHY
I have played goalie several times during my playing career, and coached numerous goalies as well. I am very hard and strict with the goalies that I coach. Regardless of how much experience they have, I tell all of them the same thing. I tell them my “philosophy on goaltending.” It is very simple and is comprised of three main parts.
Part 1: You as goaltenders have a very easy job. Your primary purpose in the water is to put your body, or any part of it, between the ball and cage, no matter how fast it is going, and don’t let it get past you.
Part 2: You touch it, you stop it. Too many goals happen after there is contact between the goalie and the ball. These are inexcusable. They are goals that you have personally given them, and I don’t like giving away goals, especially in the game of water polo, where goals can be tough to come by.
Part 3: After you stop the ball; and you will stop the ball; you have to hit your outlet passes. The only way that your team can score is if you get the ball to them after you make a save. If you throw the ball away, you just gave the ball to the other team and you have just taken a goal away from us.
These are the three responsibilities of the goalie. There are other techniques that go along with playing the position, but the understanding of what the goalie has to do during a game is in these three statements above.
It can be argued that if the defense is playing, you shouldn’t have to make the clutch save. To that argument, I’ll say that shots happen. Whether we like it or not, shots will come. It is the goal of your team on the defensive end to minimize those shots, but more often then not, shots will happen. Ideally, I want my goalies to be bored. That means the defense is playing well. This does not mean that the shots won’t happen. A breakdown in transition, an overthrown pass, a turnover; any number of these can happen, and sometimes all at once. These are the times that the goalie has to be ready.
When my goalie violates any of the above statements, they pay for it. I will get on the goalie harder for allowing a goal from a ball he touched than I will if it were a clean shot. Missing outlet passes is inexcusable. And you should never be caught out of position.
Keeping this philosophy in mind, I leave you to swim to your position between the posts of your net and get ready to block some shots. You know what you have to do. Now, you just have to do it. Play hard and remember…”if you touch you stop it.”
Submitted by: Coach Dave
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