Training from home: reaction balls

Another quick tip is another "train from home" idea. As a goalkeeper you need to have great reactions to be able to make the save. The faster the shot coming at you, the less time you have to react, so the quicker you have to react. Both in moving across to save and in decision making! In game terms, redirections (ball changing direction) and unsighted shots where you have to react at the last second to stand a chance of making the save, like at free kick situations or corners, where the ball could hit the wall and move unexpectedly to a different angle. So it's worth practising to be able to make those last ditch saves.

And another work-from-home training method is: a reaction ball. Popular in other sports like cricket, the oddly shaped ball helps you work on your reactions as it gets your hand-eye co-ordination going.

A basic drill to do at home is to find a wall (possibly in doors, but don't wake the neighbours!) and bounce the reaction ball to one side of you. It'll rebound and then you can catch it with the matching hand. Because of it's shape it shouldn't be an obvious catch, forcing you to react more when catching than otherwise. This should help to work on your reactions.

To make it more difficult, you can close your eyes when you throw the ball/in between the process, so that you have to react unsighted, further pushing yourself to react instinctively.

Spitting on your gloves??

Spitting on gloves has been the norm pretty much since latex and the rest were what (can't see what benefit it would have been for cotton ones at the time!!). It's a neat trick that can help dampen the glove to get some grip back in it, to help hold the ball when catching. A quick trick, it can provide a short term solution and help if you feel your grip is slipping away ('scuse the pun!).

You can see Schmiechel (the younger one at Leicester!) using the trick in the clip below:

But with modern developments, and the new materials used, there is the scientific argument that spit + dirt = bacteria. And not like those yoghurt ads! So bacteria can grow if untreated and can be bad for the gloves in the long run.

The new way of getting grip back during a game is to pour water on the palms from a water bottle and then drying them with a towel (as written about before) to make sure they don't get flooded with water! Which would mean you would get the complete opposite and your gloves would be too damp to catch, with the ball slipping out! But considering you might not have time to grab your water bottle and carefully dry them to a degree, the old ways still work. Worth keeping in mind both sides of the argument, but if the  calls for you to spit on your gloves if you don't have the time to stop your gloves drying up too much (if playing in warm conditions), then so it is I guess!

The local team's goalkeeper rubbing his gloves after spitting on the palms to get some grip back for catching.

Training from home: rebounders

When it comes to training and self improvement, you can make great leaps by taking time out to work on your game when you otherwise don't have the chance for people to shoot on you. This is an aspect that seems to be almost totally lost in certain areas of England and can really help boost your development curve. Training outside scheduled training (i.e. the sessions you need to go to with your squad!), will help you 'up' your game and develop much more quickly, especially if there is a leap in ability of leagues you are planning on, or you want to work towards a trial for instance.

Whilst we're often considered loners and such, there's nothing wrong with working on your game when you're bored and need some fresh air. Athletes do it, Olympians do it; Beckham would stay hours after training sessions with his team to work on his free kicks. So why not a goalie working on improving?!

In days of old, famous goalkeepers would bounce a ball off a wall to work on catching and things like that. But with modernity, urbanisation and cranky neighbours, this can be a bit tricky!

So I'll be posting up a few ideas to give you some thoughts going into off season (in the UK anyway!).

First up is the rebounder!

They can be a little pricey (£40 plus), so best to look out for bargains on Ebay, but for a long term investment really are worth it. Crazy Catch are specialist makers but there also good enough manufacturers around.

Basically a net that has been tightened enough to create a strong rebound effect, they offer the chance for you to work independently (by yourself) on your catching and overall handling. Throwing a ball against the net, you can work on your 'W' shape and catching grip, which will reinforce the muscle memory as you practise.

The following clip should give you a good idea of what to do!

The glove towel

You'll see goalkeepers at pretty much all levels stashing a towel in the inside of their goal, looping it through the netting or just leaving it in a corner. The towel is an important of goalkeeper's supplies in that it is a simple but effective way of keeping your gloves clean, as well as helping get rid of excess water when you spit/put water on your gloves (like certain grips need you to for wet weather conditions etc.).

You should be able to pick them up easily at a pound store or home store. Look for hand towels or wash towels. You won't need anything as big as a bathroom towel lol!! A lot of goalkeeping companies like Reusch produce their own towels, but you can often find cheaper deals which are just as good!

So what is the towel for?

• To wipe away sweat on your face or that has built up around your gloves
• To wipe dirt off your gloves (helps you got more use out of them in the long run), especially on muddy pitches!
• To wipe down your gloves after putting water on them to help with grip (keeping a 'tacky'/sticky grip with the foam)

Here you can see Everton and American international goalkeeper Tim Howard with a towel in game:

And you can also see Palace's Julian Speroni with his towel in the following links:

http://lsp.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2013-08-10-Crystal-Palace-v-Lazio/G0000Naiwcwn3rPU/I0000bSxj67EKH4o/C0000InfoxEw66Bw

http://lsp.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2013-07-23-Gillingham-v-Crystal-Palace/G0000s4WwJt9PXGw/I0000K2lfBR28DEs/C0000InfoxEw66Bw

Neoprene shorts

Just wanted to quickly post about neoprene shorts. Although long legged baselayers have been doing the rounds with goalkeepers, a lot of elite (and amateur, even) goalkeepers are now using undershorts (and short sleeved baselayer t-shirts, normally with colours to match their team strip!) with a baselayer short instead of leggings. The benefits of keeping the muscle areas warm throughout cold and chilly games to prevent tears or sprains when called into action unexpectedly.

I managed to get hold of a pair new produced by Reusch off Ebay. A few other companies do them, but I'm sure it's possible to find ones not produced by goalkeeper specific companies.

Without fully realising what they were (getting back into the game after a significant while without a great knowledge base, is turning out to be an interesting learning curve, but what's the fun in not working things out?!?!), I bought them. But a weekend game later and I'd quickly worked it out; the extra heat being incredibly useful in a chilly wind on a Sunday morning. Although they seemed pricey, they do a great job, acting as a sort of baselayer and thermal short at the same time, the neoprene making them longer lasting and easy to clean too.

I love them so much I could write a poem about them (after all being made to with a Literature degree kind of fits, not sure how I'd manage a limerick), well, maybe...

On a serious note though, I'd really recommend them as they have turned out to be incredibly useful. Well recommended for the winter months or at training sessions when you're going to be working your muscles in cold conditions and don't want to pick up injuries (like Vorm's groin tear a while back, which could have been made worse by tensed/cold muscles).

Ankle supports: the cheap wrist support alternative?!

As a broke graduate living in a recession (cue sympathy vote lol, it's a tough world out there son!), it's becoming more and more of a realisation that I need to get creative to cost cut to keep playing sport as regularly as I want to (which is quite more than once a week in all honesty). And I still want the right equipment and the old school approach of wizardry and gadgetry to get the most out of my kit and play, just on a budget!

With wrist supports, this piece of kit helps look after your palms and wrists, stopping your wrist turning back too far when stopping a really powerful shot with a drive like Madrid's Ronaldo (which clocks in at 40mph or thereabouts - actually quite fast for a football - enough to break a Bournemouth fan's arm in the process, so fast enough to do real damage!). They are the replacement to strapping bandages around the arm, wrist and palms to keep this area reinforced and supported to strengthen when palming shots and heavy shots into the area. I'll show different bandage methods at some point in the near future, but for now, this will have to make do and this clip on the Utube shows and explains the uses, and the more common neoprene design that is made by companies including the well known goalie supporter Reusch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCSv7ZAX_vI

And living near a pound shop (where, you guessed it, everything is a pound a piece, hip-hip-hooray!), means I can get access to easily available and cheap alternatives. And one unlikely one is a ankle support used for supporting said area after a bad fall/twisted ankle etc. or for supporting the ankle in other sports like kickboxing. Easily washable, they also seem to do the job well enough (more than enough tbh on review) to be a good replacement for wrist straps. Holding tight to the wrist as much as you would want and find in a neoprene version, they enable greater support for the wrist without interfering with your gloves, helping get a tighter fit actually when strapping on your goalkeeping gloves before the game.

Boxed up:

Out of the box:

Worn; notice how close a fit they are, with tight hugging for maximum support of the palm and wrist:

Tubigrips: the 3G astro burn saviour???!???

With 3 and 4G pitches becoming more popular for playing surfaces up and down the country; if you do then I'm sure a lot of people will be jealous given you're more likely to get a game than those whose pitches are flooded at the moment! Obviously this sounds a bit random, but I'm really 'particular' (replace that with 'weird', 'strange', 'odd' or just Freudianly so and so...) because of my OCD (which is genuine!) and I don't like the feel of most fabrics used for goalie tops (told you it's weird!). That and not wanting to wear long sleeves when I'm in goal, so I've been looking for an alternative to keep my elbows getting absolutely shredded when I play on astro. So I've thought of a solution...

I've been mucking around with tubigrips and they do seem like a good idea for goalkeepers that play on 3/4G or sand dressed astroturf pitches that also don't want to wear long sleeve jerseys but don't want the skin bare against the turf as they slide in and get bloody elbows. This might make more sense for American members of the "goalies union" that have their season during the summer and are more likely to want to wear short sleeved jerseys, and might just happen to be have to play on this type of pitch!

Tubigrips are easy enough to get hold of. The joys of the recession and living in a "less affluent" (i.e. not so rich!) area mean they're cheap and easy to get hold of in blessed pound shops. Or you can find them in health care style shops like Boots etc. in the support aids section (like for tennis elbow and so on).

You can then cut them to size as you see fit. Or just stretch and fold them over the elbow, doubling back to give more protection to the skin at the elbow as you slide and dive around on sand based astros.

I've not really seen any pro level goalkeepers wearing them, as obviously professional league clubs are going to be using soft grass than hard astro (except for maybe Russia, Sweden, Iceland or Norway!), but Benoit Costil of French Ligue 1 was oddly enough seen wearing them before Christmas this season. Although I'm not sure if this was to do with his recent tattoos (and the need for keeping the ink ok?!) but they did seem to be being worn for elbow protection, with them getting grass stained in the process.

And for further pictures, you can check out the Getty Image link:

Getty Images

Winter warmers (part 4): over the knee socks!

Tip 4: over the knee socks!

Last by not least, a quick final thought for anyone reading, is over the knee socks. Socks that essentially just cover the leg beyond the knee (as the name suggests!!), they offer a bit of extra warmth further up your legs (useful for your muscle groups as I'll mention in a mo). As well modeled by French goalkeeper Yohann Thuram-Ulien (who is currently playing on loan at Charlton), who is one of the only pro goalkeepers I've seen wearing them, they basically offer a bit of extra warmth and protection I guess, if playing on 3G/astroturf surfaces, so you don't get shredded knee caps. A useful thought, if you do play regularly on this type of pitch! And gawd how they burn!

Keeping your lower body muscle groups warm is just as important as keeping your lower ones warm. Called into action without being warmed up or ready, you could easily pull a muscle trying to make the save or move quickly to reach the ball. Wearing something to keep you that little bit extra warm can be a difference maker in this situation when playing in the cold.

As far as I know, Rinat are the only goalkeeping kit producers to be making them for goalkeepers, otherwise I'm sure you could just look for a long sock that stretches over the knee if you're in your teens/aren't the tallest goalie around?!?!! I think it's an option to mull over, I'm sure there will be loads of naysayers, but I think it's a bit of a unique look and would like to see more goalkeepers rocking this look! Just for the sake of difference, but also because goalkeepers are best eccentric like Grobbelaar etc.!!

Thought I would  throw it out there as they can be useful keeping you warm as well as protecting you from turf burns (very useful!). 

Winter warmers (part 3): - thermal - baselayers

Tip 3: thermal baselayers

Baselayers are a pretty standard piece of kit in the modern game (as the picture of Butland shows), with players and goalies alike wearing them during matches and training. The baselayer itself is worn under the player's kit to kit muscles warm and get rid of sweat build up. Thermal baselayers are now an option, with a lot of winter sports companies like snowboarding brands producing them so that the wearer has a slim, not very bulky, extra layer to keep them warm without building up a sweat etc. The baselayer does its job keeping away the sweat, wicking it away, whilst the thermal element makes sure the player stays warm. This helps keep your muscles warm and potentially stops cramp building up; a long term advantage over the course of the full 90 and the season. And in the cold, can also be really useful for keeping actual colds from developing (especially useful for keeping your upper body warm if you have asthma or something similar).

Winter warmers (part 2): snoods!

Tip 2 for keeping warm in the cold weather: snoods!

Quite the fashion accessory for goalies (well, not catwalk like or anything!), they seem to be very popular in Italy with Buffon, Abbiati and Casillas all wearing them at some point (with Reina also, mainly when at Liverpool); Cesar wearing one in his time with Inter, and so on and so forth! And they have been seen being worn by English goalkeepers like Hart and Ruddy who have both worn them in cold morning training sessions. Although there were complaints from the media/pundits/writers and the usual smack talk from fans whinging about how sissy it looks (as you'd expect), there were a few concerns about health & safety, but with the snood being worn on the head or around the neck, I personally don't think it's a choking hazard as it can't really snag or get caught as it hugs the neck.

At the least it gives you a bit of extra warmth, which should help keeping your vocal chords from chilling up; useful for shouting at your defenders all game long without wearing your voice out! At worst it gives your team mates, the oppo and anyone else a topic of conversation, but it is an extra option for keeping cold in those wintry games when you wonder why you bothered to ever get out of bed so early on a Sunday!!

Winter warmers (part 1): inner gloves

Staying warm in winter
Tip 1: inner gloves

If you're managing to get a game in the windswept, waterlogged areas of the UK, then there might be a few options to keep your hands from getting chilly and freezing over themselves! A pair of cold hands is no good for getting a good grip or catching shape and even though you might not be expecting to get frostbite, so it's a good idea to work out a quick and easy way of keeping them warm! One easy way to keep your hands and fingers warm, is to wear inner gloves. Just like those outfielders wearing them in the nippy weather, you should be able to get hold of a pair of them quite easily.

With your hands warm, you should be able to make a strong catch when the ball does come your way, as you won't be struggling to move a pair of cold hands in the ball's direction or have trouble getting a grip on the ball. A good idea for making sure you keep your hands warm (for preventing injury/stopping an injury being worse than needed! And for making strong catches as mentioned), you could either get a pair of tight fitting gloves that shouldn't interfere with your goalie gloves or try and find a slightly larger size of goalie gloves that will fit when worn over the inner gloves. Worn under your goalkeeping gloves (i.e. put on before you put your goalie gloves on!) they should be useful for keeping the cold away from your fingers and help you get a good catch; more important than anything in slippy and windy playing conditions!!