GOALKEEPING TIPS

1. Footwork: Just because GKs don’t run up and down the field doesn’t mean we don’t have to be just as fit as the rest of the team! Working on quick, small footwork and explosiveness will take your skill—and your confidence—to the next level. Speedy ladder exercises and short sprints should be included in every practice or training session!
2. Vision: While a speedy forward is bringing the ball down the right side of the field, her teammates on the left side are quickly setting up to deceive your defenders and you behind your back. Make sure you’re aware of what’s going on in key places in the circle—the top of the circle, the stroke mark, and the far post—and use those communication skills to call out which players need to be marked ASAP!
3. Patience: It’s crucial to know when and how to engage with a player 1v1—especially when forwards are being trained to make GKs commit too soon only to pass to an open player while the GK is down and/or out of position. Down-numbers situations and 1v1s with your teammates at practice are great ways to hone your decision-making skills so you can choose when to hold your angle and when to challenge a forward—and do it with confidence!
4. Short-Term Memory: No matter the score of the game or how weak the last goal was, GKs need to know how to bounce back and get our heads back in the game before a defensive pity party or blame game snowballs into a several-goal deficit. Reset your mind and your determination after every goal, and if need be, call your defense together for a short huddle to regroup before play starts again. Few things are more detrimental to a potential comeback than a down-trodden defensive unit. 
5. Communication: as the quarterback of the defense, it’s crucial that GKs know how to effectively command their defense. Get together with your defense & discuss phrases and words you’ll use so they know exactly what you mean when you yell “Mine!” or “Off your left!” Here are some key calls that all GKs should use when directing their defense:
1. “Laura, you’ve got #18!”: The most simple but important calls to make in the circle is telling your defenders to mark specific players. Rather than alerting all your teammates that a player is open, choosing the one in the best position to mark the open player takes any guesswork or hesitation away from the group.
2. “Sophia, you’ve got ball!”: Calling players to go to the ball goes hand-in-hand with calling them to their marks. Forwards taking open shots under no pressure can be dangerous—both for the score of the game and the safety of the players in the circle. Make sure someone is pressuring the potential shooter before she winds up for a shot; once the shot is being taken, call “shot” or “mine” instead to avoid deflections and injuries.
3. “Shot” or “Mine”: Both of these terms mean the GK is set & ready for the incoming shot—it alerts the defense to stay on their mark, to box them out to avoid tippers, and, importantly, to stay out of the way of the shot to avoid getting hurt. Choose your buzz-word and make sure your defense knows what you mean when you call it!
4. “Off your left/right!”: In down-numbers situations, it is crucial that defenders know where open players are in relation to the ball and to their own positioning. Letting them know if an open player is “off their right shoulder” or “off their left shoulder” tells them if they should hold their current defensive position or shift one way or the other while their teammates recover to mark the open player. 
6. Confidence: It happens to all of us—we commit too soon to a 1v1 only to realize midway there’s an open player on the opposite post, or we call our defender to keep a player to the left, when keeping her to the right would have probably been the smarter choice. No matter the mistake, nothing’s worse than changing your mind midway. Once you decide to engage a player 1v1, do it with confidence and don’t turn back—getting stuck in “no man’s land” between your angle and the ball takes a GK completely out of the play. Once your defender is working hard forcing a forward to one side, calling her off or telling her to switch sides will only weaken her defensive positioning—and her confidence in you. A confident GK who owns her circle can be an intimidating force for the opposing offense! 
   

GUEST BLOGGER:  Briana Pereira 

Briana played 4 years at Georgetown University.  She finished her career with 421 saves and led the Big East in 2011 in saves.  In 2012 she was ranked 17th in the nation in saves per game.  In high school, Briana was a Goalkeeping star from Shawnee High School in Medford, NJ.  Briana was 2 time Goalie of the Year in South Jersey and a Regional All American.  Briana attended Holly Shores Field Hockey Academy (now Xplosive Sports Academy) and has coached at the camp!