Category: Positions
Type: Philosophy
THE GOALIE'S MANIFESTO
You are a goaltender. You like it. No … you love it. The things you do in the water make the players cringe. Many water polo players say that their goalies are crazy (both in and out of the water). They are not of this world, and that they only show up to stop shots. When asked if a field player would change places with a goalie, they decline the opportunity vowing never, ever, to play goalie.
Goaltenders have their own mindset when it comes to playing the game of water polo. They have to. Being a goalie means that you intentionally put yourself in the path of a very fast moving object to try and stop it. I have seen some goalies break noses and jaws with just trying to stop the ball from going in the net.
Amazingly, most don’t leave the game either, unless ordered by the referee. This is the reality of goalies. Part of being a goalie is being immune to pain. Things are going to hit you a lot, all over your body. Arms will be bruised; you may even get a black eye or two. But the game goes on and so do you, blocking out the pain.
To give some of the newer goalies a heads up, most likely, the first shot that you will see in game will be right at your face. This is the player trying to scare you. I tell you welcome the shot to the face. It is all a mind game. Make the save like you do it everyday and go on with the game.
Don’t let the save go to your head. The shooter gift-wrapped it for you. So stay in tuned with the game and play on. More shots will come and they won’t be at your face. The initial shot to the face will buzz your skin a little, but the feeling will go away. Your nose will feel flat but it won’t be broken. If it bleeds and is leaning to one side of your face, then it may be broken. If that happens during a game, the referee will stop the game and have you substituted.
A way around the initial shot and shock of your first save being right in the mug is to warm up taking face shots (also called facials). I remember a goalie that I played with would ask a couple of us players to line up and throw the ball at his face. Part of it was a psyche-up for him and I think part of it was a psyche-out for the other team.
Letting another team know that you will not let the first shot of the game get a hold of your emotions can give the psychological edge to a team. It’s warm-ups like these that make people look at goaltenders as if they were mentally irregular.
Every goalie’s dream is to have a shutout. Put up the bricks and don't let anything in. Not to burst your bubble, but shutouts in water polo are very difficult to get. As a goalie, you can see somewhere around 20 shots per game. A high save percentage for a goalie is about 60%. The goal is very big and the fact that you only get to use half of your body doesn't help.
Low scoring games and shutouts are a result of excellent defense, forced shots from the field makes a goalie's life easy. The best goalie in the world can’t do all the work alone. The defense has to help out when it comes to minimizing shots and not hanging the goalie out to dry.
You really just have to be prepared for anything in the water. You should be one of the most aggressive, vocal, and aware players of the game. Goalies constantly talk and tell the players where the play is, how much time is left, where the open men are and how to cover them. You can’t be shy or afraid of what will happen to you. When you second-guess things, goals get scored. Your experience and instincts will help you. Go into playing this position with knowing that whatever will happen to you is going to happen. Like it … love it!
Play hard and remember …”if you touch it, you stop it.”
Submitted by: Coach Dave
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