Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today's newsletter will discuss how
to deal with the wind
in goal.
Let's start with the situation where the wind is blowing in your face when you are in
goal. The first thing to take into consideration is high balls. Keeping in mind that
there is a tendency to come forward on high balls regardless of the wind, it's even more
important to hold back further and longer then you normally would. Instead of coming
forward to where you think the ball will come down, take a couple of extra steps in
place (or even consider taking a few small steps backwards) and then see where the
ball will come down with the wind taking it's effect. The important thing to remember is
that you must keep the ball in front of you at all times so be patient. Once you are
sure that you know where the ball is coming down, place a little bit more emphasis on
getting your hands behind the ball and not just
underneath the ball. This will further place an emphasis on getting behind the ball.
Once you have the ball in your hands, you then must make the decision about distribution.
If it's a hard
wind, the idea of punting the ball high and long might not make much sense. Either a
rolled ball or a low
driven drop kick might be more beneficial in this case.
If the wind is too your back, you want to be a bit more aggressive in attacking the ball
but even in
this case, there is a tendency to overrun the ball because the factor that is not taken
into consideration
is that the wind will not only make long balls go a shorter distance into the wind but it
will also be
slower coming down. You want to catch the ball while coming forward so even now, hold back
a step or two on your run to go up for the ball so you can get it at the highest point
possible which is not possible if you got to the point too early and are waiting for the
ball to come down.
In distributing with the wind at your back, consider quicker punts to an isolated attacker
and take advantage of the wind to try to initiate a quick counter attack. However, if your
team is a deliberate,
build up type team, don't completely change your entire attack because of a slight breeze.
Keep in mind that except for in really hard winds, the best thing to do with distribution
is whatever you normally do.
I have simply tried to give you some things to think about when dealing with the wind.
There are obviously many other factors as well (including crosswinds) but if I can, at the
very least, get you to start thinking more about the position, then I have been
successful.
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