Players often ask me what my topic of “The imperfect world” is.
It’s the fun part of goalkeeping…. making the impossible save when everyone is expecting a goal.
The term comes from one of the topics at the famous “Bob Wilson’s Goalkeeping School” which I attended as a young goalkeeper. It was the topic I enjoyed and thrived in and helped me fall in love with the position and an essential part of the Goalkeeper HQ curriculum.
What is the Imperfect World of Goalkeeping exactly?
I have broken this goalkeeping theme into a number of topics;
- Being out of position
- Seeing the ball late
- Deflections
- Saving whilst on the move ( Not Set )
- The ability to keep the ball out of the net, no matter what!
It is hard to train for these situations as a) they happen so rarely in games and b) much of these saves are down to natural ability.
As coaches, it is important that we provide similar scenario’s so that when the goalkeeper comes across any of the imperfect world topics in a game, they are at least familiar with the process, even if the exact situation cannot be created.
Below is our preview for the Imperfect World curriculum that we run at Goalkeeper HQ, with real life examples from games.
See the (Old) England Goalkeepers warm up for their game against Ireland with an Imperfect World session.
The imperfect world for goalkeepers is covered in one of our spring Academy weeks. For information on venues, days and times check our Registraion Page