Goalkeeping: Playing in the Rain

It is fair to say that I am somewhat strange in that I love to train in the rain, but I hate playing in it! This is because in training; I see it as a challenge, different ways to test my ability and to pit myself against the elements. I always liked to push my boundaries in training, attempt things that I may never dream of doing during a game; training was my time for development.

In games however, was a different kettle of fish. Any new challenge was frowned upon by me, I liked my 90 minutes to be uneventful and boring with anything I had to deal with being simpler than simple! I did not want to be pulling out worldies or diving across my goal several times – I wanted to do nothing in games as that would result in a fair chance that we would win the game! Nothing to do = pressure always up the opposing end.

It is a whole new ball game, when the rain is driving down and you have to squint just to try and repel it from your eyes. Every movement feels lethargic as the cold material of your goalkeeper jersey clings uncomfortably to your body, your shorts soak up the water due to the sponge padding and you are constantly making fists in order to drain the water from your latex palms.

Each one of those things has already taken your mind away from the game, and that can automatically result in danger. Playing on a slippery surface requires real focus, and attention to every little development that is happening in front of you. You must concentrate harder and longer as even a long punt forwards can result in your defender slipping over and leading to a goal scoring opportunity.

Firstly you must remember that you cannot take any chances; a shot that you would naturally try to catch, you may very well need to adjust your hand shape so that you can parry it instead. The slightly dragged shot that you would naturally field to safety may instead require you to make the save as the wet surface can alter the destination. The back pass that you would normally strike first time, might just need a touch to settle first….all of these issues fall within your decision making.

Remember that you will slide further when you hit the floor, so any parries must be into a safe zone.

Remember that the ball will happily zip along the surface, and will bounce for longer so you need to adjust your body shape as it travels, in order to master the ball.

Remember that your team mates may not be able to control and turn with your passes as usual; you must use the wet surface to your advantage and aim to hit their movement instead.

There are infinite changes to your natural routine when dealing with any aspect of goalkeeping in the wet, every ball is a whole new challenge and focus is imperative. Here are just a couple of tips that will help your rainy day play:

• Deal with all sorts of varied service in the warm up. Bounces, skidded, flat, through balls – all are of equal importance and you must “get your eye in” on these skills before kick off where possible.

• If possible, get yourself back out at half time and field some similar strikes to the warm up.

• Coating your eyebrows with Vaseline allows the rain to be ‘guttered’ around your eyes (this is also useful on hot days to repel the sweat from your forehead!)

• Don’t panic, every shot can be dealt with as long as your basics are precise. Get into line with absolutely everything during the game, do not break concentration and focus on your technical skill set.