Banish the doubts

You're not reinventing the wheel ?

So why does it feel like you have to ?  Every goalkeeping course related to coaching I have been on states that first question,  so why does it feel that I am not offering my players more.

I've been coaching now for three years,  by and large my players seem to enjoy what I do,  I get good feedback from them, parents and coaches (generally) alike, so why does it feel like I need to be doing more ?

Goalkeeping training by it's very nature is repetitive, those camera saves,  the spectacular ones all look great, but the routine ones also take hours of practice on the training field to make them look so easy and shouldn't be underestimated, these moments have been honed on a practice pitch somewhere.

Recently though,  I have been questioning whether I'm doing the right things, ridiculous I know,  but I have felt that I am letting my players down and that they need more, or that they need someone with more experience than I can offer.

These are the times when we need to just remember what and to who we are teaching.   Sometimes it is easy to lose track of this, and put to much expectation on ourselves and those that we coach.   I am a grass roots coach, despite being associated with a team in the Vanarama National League,  and therefore my goalkeepers are not David De Gea and therefore I cannot expect them to play like him. 

I have them for one hour a week and my input generally is minimal.   My clubs 10 year old will have deficiencies, he won't always catch the ball, he will make mistakes and a lot of the time he wont be technically perfect (im not picking on him especially, if he ever reads this !) and it is wrong to expect a ridiculous level of them, after all they are children and learning,  the contact time they receive is so small how can they be expected to make huge strides. That's not to say that there is a level we can expect of them though. 

My role as their coach is to improve their goalkeeping, to put on sessions that are both stimulating and challenging but hopefully fun and enjoyable also, but fundamentally the key to these sessions is to try and improve their goalkeeping and that can be by repetition, reminding the players of the key aspects and check their understanding of what you are trying to get across to them.

They may never hit the heights of pro level,  they may plateau at some point, some may drift away from football as they get older, but the role of the coach is to get them to be the best they can be at what ever level that may be. 

I've been very fortunate that I have people I can call upon in these self doubting moments, and they have been reassuring by looking over my session plans or offering me the opportunity to watch their sessions and players in action.  It's good to know that others have similar struggles where goalkeepers don't progress as you'd like or you are battling against the unrealistic expectations of others.  It's also very reassuring if you are watching players of a similar age to your own and realise that in comparison they also have their technical deficiencies even if they are playing at a perceived higher level.

It's not just managing the expectations of the players, I too have to remind myself I am just a level 2 football coach and as it stands a level 1 goalkeeping coach,  I too have limits to my abilities and have to rely on furthering my learning to supplement the courses I have already undertaken, by watching other coaches, attending CPD events, and furthering my qualifications by taking on more courses.

So doubts will arise, it's only natural, but if you're regularly reviewing and questioning your own practices, undertaking continued learning and your players are picking up those little bits and pieces in that minimal contact time, then you like me are doing the job just fine and those doubts can be left behind.