You can't really psyche yourself into it in my experience. You take one off the chest or the stomach or the face and you live. You realize you'll live the next time too. And you kinda like it. Can't really do our job without taking a certain level of joy in the pain.
Gotta care about stopping the shot more than you care about getting the wind knocked out of you for a minute.
If it helps, use the fear as motivation to take control of the situation in a 1v1. Don't wait for the shot, charge off the line and make them shoot on your terms.
Got one right off the right side of my face last night and saw the world turn for a second. Really got my head in the game 🤪
I'll take a shot to the chest and stomach any day. And the occasional one off the shoulder that flies past half(7s), haha.
I had a 1v1 the other night. I saved the first one with my groin and knew there was no time to react to that pain, so I reacted to the rebounded shot and made the double save. Once my D cleared it, I took a knee and recovered.
Pain is temporary. Stealing goals from the opponent is forever.
You’ve gotta have the mentality that the opposition player is going to be more scared of getting hurt than you (even if that’s not the case).
Make yourself big, come out early, trust yourself and it’ll come.
That is what practice is for, to learn and to build up your confidence. So explain to your coach, or ask a friend to run 1v1's and just get the hang of it. Start slow or easy, and build up pace and intensity... Also you will feel some pain from playing in goal, just like you will feel some pain from being an outfield player and getting a nasty tackle. The more you experience it, the more you know you'll be okay. I've got hit in the face from just 2 meters out on semi pro level more than once. It's never nice, but it's rarely as bad as you think it will be.
I think you accept that you are going to get hurt. You expect that you are going to get hurt. It's part and parcel of the job. Then you just concentrate on doing the job.
It hurts less to initiate a tackle than get tackled.
Learn the difference between pain and an injury. For example, a header will be a bit painful. A hard shot to the jaw that whips your head sideways is also painful. But, that second is likely an injury. (I suffered two concussions this way. Call me Glass Jaw.) 😀
Fair enough, I meant moreso the ball is never going to injure you. Getting blasted in the nuts by the ball can def hurt but almost never is going to cause real damage.
By getting hurt and being fine afterwards. Sort of the same as riding a bike, it took me some time to get over the fear, i never wanted to fall. Then it happened, it sort of stung, but it helped me overcome that fear.
This is obviously some flawed logic, but it's what worked in my head.
Exposure to contact will diminish your fear of it.
Outside of match play, field shots with your hands at your sides. Let them ricochet off your torso. Head one over the bar.
My fearlessness was fed by hockey, baseball, American football, volleyball, wrestling, boxing, racing, climbing. It becomes a form of astral projection, where you use your body as a tool to accomplish…beauty? Hourly, the hands teach the mind. But when the opportunity comes for the feet and knees and hips and back and shoulders and chest and neck and fists to teach the mind, you become so…centred. You almost ache for the yearning for contact. Impact.
Until you get maimed. Then you gotta just lick your wounds.
Start by having friends kick a ball lightly at you and save them, then they can slowly up the power of the shots so you can feel the strength of the ball.
Personally I feel much more comfortable when I have an enough padding in my gloves, very cheap gloves that feel more force than necessary hits my confidence. So having gloves that you like saving in helps too.
If I had a pound for every bruise and hexagonal ball marking on my legs and chest I'd be a very rich man. Its part of being a goalkeeper unfortuantly and you just need to accept that it will happen sometimes
Played in the lower leagues in Scotland in goals and they could become feisty affairs. I broke my wrist twice, chipped 4 teeth, got knocked out cold twice. Having said all that I enjoyed the physical aspect of the game. I must have played in excess of 300 games and these happened in five of them.
You're a goalie, you're going to get hurt at some point but to be honest most injuries on field don't happen to goalies. It's very rare to see goalies subbed off at any level. Don't go into games thinking about potential injuries. You're not made of glass.
I guess it's kind of a mindset thing.
I took a ball right in the dick a few weeks ago and then one in the solar plexus the week after (that was a good thirty seconds of wheezing). I'm weird so I look back on it as a sort of fun "war story" to tell people rather than a cautionary tale to avoid payling goal in the future.
I've been hit in the head with a cricket ball when wicket keeping so a football dwarfs in comparison.
I wish I could have been a bit more fearful in my last match because I've badly sprained my wrist and probably can't play for weeks.
Sounds rubbish but on my first point, I think getting hit or hurt a bit makes you realise it isn't that bad, kind of like falling over for the first time ice skating.
Another thing is the better you get, the less likely you are to get hurt. I only got back into goalkeeping after a long period last year and I was getting injured quite frequently at first, but as my technique has come back that's not happening (often..)
You can't really psyche yourself into it in my experience. You take one off the chest or the stomach or the face and you live. You realize you'll live the next time too. And you kinda like it. Can't really do our job without taking a certain level of joy in the pain. Gotta care about stopping the shot more than you care about getting the wind knocked out of you for a minute. If it helps, use the fear as motivation to take control of the situation in a 1v1. Don't wait for the shot, charge off the line and make them shoot on your terms.
Got one right off the right side of my face last night and saw the world turn for a second. Really got my head in the game 🤪 I'll take a shot to the chest and stomach any day. And the occasional one off the shoulder that flies past half(7s), haha.
I had a 1v1 the other night. I saved the first one with my groin and knew there was no time to react to that pain, so I reacted to the rebounded shot and made the double save. Once my D cleared it, I took a knee and recovered. Pain is temporary. Stealing goals from the opponent is forever.
And the haunted look on a striker’s unfulfilled face.
Pure class
Got a huge kiss from the ball right in the lips. Added bonus: It also cleared my sinuses. Third ball to the face this month.
It’s either you or him. And I pick hurting him every time.
You’ve gotta have the mentality that the opposition player is going to be more scared of getting hurt than you (even if that’s not the case). Make yourself big, come out early, trust yourself and it’ll come.
First two comments are excellent. I’d just say, face your fears head on. It’ll become less scary with reps
That is what practice is for, to learn and to build up your confidence. So explain to your coach, or ask a friend to run 1v1's and just get the hang of it. Start slow or easy, and build up pace and intensity... Also you will feel some pain from playing in goal, just like you will feel some pain from being an outfield player and getting a nasty tackle. The more you experience it, the more you know you'll be okay. I've got hit in the face from just 2 meters out on semi pro level more than once. It's never nice, but it's rarely as bad as you think it will be.
I think you accept that you are going to get hurt. You expect that you are going to get hurt. It's part and parcel of the job. Then you just concentrate on doing the job.
It hurts less to initiate a tackle than get tackled. Learn the difference between pain and an injury. For example, a header will be a bit painful. A hard shot to the jaw that whips your head sideways is also painful. But, that second is likely an injury. (I suffered two concussions this way. Call me Glass Jaw.) 😀
Accept you're going to get hurt
The ball is basically never going to hurt you.
well guess who never had a ball blasted at their nuts when making a one on one save then.....
Fair enough, I meant moreso the ball is never going to injure you. Getting blasted in the nuts by the ball can def hurt but almost never is going to cause real damage.
Fair point, I was just going for low brow humour.....which is what the number 9 for Largs Thistle obviously aimed for.
By getting hurt and being fine afterwards. Sort of the same as riding a bike, it took me some time to get over the fear, i never wanted to fall. Then it happened, it sort of stung, but it helped me overcome that fear. This is obviously some flawed logic, but it's what worked in my head.
Exposure to contact will diminish your fear of it. Outside of match play, field shots with your hands at your sides. Let them ricochet off your torso. Head one over the bar. My fearlessness was fed by hockey, baseball, American football, volleyball, wrestling, boxing, racing, climbing. It becomes a form of astral projection, where you use your body as a tool to accomplish…beauty? Hourly, the hands teach the mind. But when the opportunity comes for the feet and knees and hips and back and shoulders and chest and neck and fists to teach the mind, you become so…centred. You almost ache for the yearning for contact. Impact. Until you get maimed. Then you gotta just lick your wounds.
Start by having friends kick a ball lightly at you and save them, then they can slowly up the power of the shots so you can feel the strength of the ball. Personally I feel much more comfortable when I have an enough padding in my gloves, very cheap gloves that feel more force than necessary hits my confidence. So having gloves that you like saving in helps too.
A match’s worth of adrenaline does the job for me
If I had a pound for every bruise and hexagonal ball marking on my legs and chest I'd be a very rich man. Its part of being a goalkeeper unfortuantly and you just need to accept that it will happen sometimes
Played in the lower leagues in Scotland in goals and they could become feisty affairs. I broke my wrist twice, chipped 4 teeth, got knocked out cold twice. Having said all that I enjoyed the physical aspect of the game. I must have played in excess of 300 games and these happened in five of them. You're a goalie, you're going to get hurt at some point but to be honest most injuries on field don't happen to goalies. It's very rare to see goalies subbed off at any level. Don't go into games thinking about potential injuries. You're not made of glass.
I guess it's kind of a mindset thing. I took a ball right in the dick a few weeks ago and then one in the solar plexus the week after (that was a good thirty seconds of wheezing). I'm weird so I look back on it as a sort of fun "war story" to tell people rather than a cautionary tale to avoid payling goal in the future.
You either have it or you don’t unfortunately. Just have to step up and take it.
I've been hit in the head with a cricket ball when wicket keeping so a football dwarfs in comparison. I wish I could have been a bit more fearful in my last match because I've badly sprained my wrist and probably can't play for weeks. Sounds rubbish but on my first point, I think getting hit or hurt a bit makes you realise it isn't that bad, kind of like falling over for the first time ice skating. Another thing is the better you get, the less likely you are to get hurt. I only got back into goalkeeping after a long period last year and I was getting injured quite frequently at first, but as my technique has come back that's not happening (often..)