Stockmann not at his best against Oz

In the first final against Australia since the Champions Trophy series, Jaap Stockmann was unfortuantely not at his best as Holland lost. Given how much he has been proving himself to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and the strong performances that drew praise and his being awarded Goalkeeper of the tournament, somehow things didn't come off as planned in the finals game. After making changes to his approach seeing a full split keep the ball out of goal, he reverted to his old game and seemed to regress, perhaps hitting a mental barrier with the weight of expectations. Not to sound overly critical, but given how well he has been playing, you would hope he would be playing at his optimum best, even if his team didn't really help out (by pitching in on the scoring front!).

For example, for the first goal, he really needed to extend as he had been, to push the ball away for the save. On the third and fourth goals, diving would have been an option to get to the low ball in the corner of the goal. Indecision or improper application of technique is going to be fully exploited by shooters at this level, and after the third goal , heads down, things seemed to get worse from there on in. It won't be long until Stockmann hits the training ground and the domestic season to be able to work through these technicalities and hit his peak again.

• On the first goal, he pushed out with poor rotation at the hips meaning he dropped the knee and couldn't reach the ball with the left toe
• On the second, he did not raise his RHP well, or attack it 'punching up', being beaten by a screamer to his top right
• On the third, the defence really broke down and in a scramble (which he couldn't do much more than cover as he did), the ball rolled over the line after the defense in front of him weren't man marking well enough
• For the fourth and fifth goals, he needed to dive as he wasn't going to reach the ball from the upright like that - needs to work on his tendency of going with everything with his feet which could otherwise become a liability (goalkeepers at the elite level need to constantly evolve - as shooters work out ways they can beat them, the goalkeeper has to work harder at these to maintain unbeatability)
• On the fifth, his defenders stopped defending: he needed to either commit to a baseline run and slide tackle with good timing (as the ball carrier drew him off the post and would do even then), or get his defence to cover

Stockmann finally reaching out...

A key highlight in technical analysis at the World Cup, has been Jaap Stockmann finally reaching out at full reach in the splits to make the save against New Zealand's rising star Hayward. Previously going into the splits whilst reacting from the feet at PC's, more confident doing so than diving, Stockmann was committing to the move but not properly making the save. And finally making that extra effort and commitment, with the desire not to be beaten, has seen a distinct change and improvement in his save making.

At 0:29 playing time, you can see him make the save with the inside of his left kicker to push away the rebound. At full stretch, he stands a better chance of making the save, and attacks it well to drive away the redirect to safety. He falls back during the save, but this can be expected of reaching out at full reach, but recovers immediately just in case he was called into action for another save.

Goalkeepers at whatever need to continue developing and pushing themselves to be at their best; at this level it's a case of fine tuning, but it is so important for the save, and hopefully he'll continue you on doing so, if he wants to make the save with the decision making to use this save technique!

Holland vs Argentina goals

Holland's home support will be an interesting factor in the finals of the World Cup, playing in front of screaming supporters, and they eased to a win over Argentina in their first game.

Holland's goals
There seem to have been a heck of a lot of goalpost hitting shots and in their first goal scoring opportunity, Vivaldi was saved by his woodwork. Holland's first goal came from a well worked routine; perhaps a change in positioning to allow his use of the right leg to push out to block, rather than clutching at air with the low rhp driven drive to try and get over to over, might have helped Vivaldi. The second goal showed a weakness to his 'blocker' side and he unfortunately flapped at the glove side goal on the fourth, with better expected of him there. An attacking approach would be useful. For the third goal, he was unlucky and couldn't get much on it. Drag flicks are key at this level, so he needs to be more aggressive.

Argentina's goal
Argentina scored at a penalty corner too, with another schoolboy error between Stockmann and postman. Stockmann has a tendency to go for low flicks with his feet via the splits, which has been a constant ever since he took over at Bloemendaal, and this showed on the goal too. With the postman going for the ball too, miscommunication was going to factor in. So a basic fix can make all the difference; one going for it confidently over the other option. Pushing out laterally is still going to do little for the save, so a 30 degree angle to attack would also have helped Stockmann cut the angle and push in to block. Other than that, the final save by Stockmann was pitch perfect if a little abstract, keeping the lead at distance.

Blaak back in TK rhp

Having seen the popularity of the larger sized blocking Obo Hi Rebound rhp growing throughout the whole goalkeeping depth of Holland's international goalkeeping choices, it seems there are some considering a full time reversion to the TK design. Stockmann obviously started out with the TK rhp going with his Brabo foam but recently made the switch, enjoying the use of the larger surface area for saves to his right. But second choice Blaak is back using the TK rhp having been inspired to use the Obo rhp design himself (Jenniskens too made the switch not so long ago), in action for club side Rotterdam in the Hoofdklasse, but has also been continuing the change in action in the Euro Hockey League KO16.

You can see him in action below with his kit set-up:

HIL's goalkeepers "of the week"

Although it's been quite a while since the HIL season finished, it is noteworthy the . Obviously , so I as a non-payer was going to struggle with keeping up with events! Internationally experienced goalkeepers Nicolas Jacobi, Quico Cortes and Jaap Stockmann were all awarded "goalkeeper of the week" in various stages of the competition. Overseas goalkeepers of considerable talent, they are made some tremendous saves worthy of achieving this level of appreciation in their playing time in India outside of their home based national leagues.

First off watching Cortes, you can see how the highlight saves show his strong technical game (which allows him to play amazingly, when his confidence is there though); setting up with solid positioning and on angle, as well as relying on his fast reactions to save. This and his aggressiveness in diving out with the stick to clear a dead ball right in front of him that would otherwise be lifted over him immediately for the goal.

Seemingly wearing the new P1 kickers, he is also happy to get his body behind the ball to most importantly keep it simple for the save if necessary. A notably great save displaying his athleticism and reactions is where he switches back against a drag flick to readjust, contorting his body to dive over to the left, having committed to go to the right, switching back at the last second for a 'rip-roaring' save with his left glove.

With Jaap Stockmann, it looks like he's been working on his dives at short corners, having historically gone for saves with his feet via the splits as his first saving option at PC's. As demonstrated by the extended split he has the flexibility with his legs and the reaction speeds of his feet to do this, but seems to be redefining his overall game. The save with the left kicker still demonstrates how playing such a 'high' ready stance to look tall can cause difficulties with balance and power for the save and rebound control. A goalkeeper also happy to make unorthodox stops, showing his competitive desire (a la Schemichel) to keep the ball out of his goal; getting behind by dropping the body to block, or diving across acrobatically to make an inventive 'log' style stop to his left post. Something any goalkeeper can learn from in their approach to being unbeatable, whatever the cost; some things just can't be taught!

As for Jacobi, you can see how much he likes to get behind the shot to make the save, without overdoing it or trying to look spectacular all of the time. As such, he is great to learn from if you prefer to block rather than use reactions and athleticism. Happy to put his "body on the line" to get behind the shot to get "a piece of it" so to speak, he is also keen to intercept passes with timely dives to cut the pass with his stick, as well as closing down attackers by sliding in to block and cover.

Stockmann using Obo arm guards?

Having been able to find some better photos of Holland's current number one, Jaap Stockmann, in action, I think it's safe to say that he is also now wearing Obo arm pads. His compatriot, he was the travelling reserve for the London Olympics, Pirmin Blaak has worn them (on both arms versus the "traditional" no arms/only right padded) since he took over for Rotterdam as first choice there. Stockmann previously wore just an elbow pad on his right, but it appears he's made the switch to covering more of the bare arm to protect when making a barrier block with the body (sliding, "logging" etc.). Not sure how long ago this was, so probably not the most up-to-date gear sighting! But still interesting to make a note of considering the more general slimmed down equipment approach in Holland and Belgium and Spain as well.

Here you can see him warming up with both arms (like Scanlon at HWHC does, although he removes both arm pads for games!) before removing the left arm to play, whilst in the HIL league in India last year:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/92093651@N07/8401620920/

And here, wearing both arms for a shoot at a goalie clinic, akin to Blaak's set-up:

http://oranjekeepers.nl/?attachment_id=428#main

Versus in his days wearing only a right elbow pad, it's interesting to make note of the switch and also in relation to the more pro-active, reaction, athletic style seen in Holland versus the blocking, percentage based approach of other countries, like Australia, potentially.

You can also see him here in his days playing for Holland U21's at the 2005 Junior World Cup, wearing Obo's prototype (their now current elbow design) at the time:

http://www.raboworldcupjunior.com/Fotos+dag+3+1.aspx.htm

 And here for Bloemendaal:

http://koensuyk.fotofiler.net/beeldbank/start/koensuyk/HOCKEY/Competitie%20heren/2012-2013%20Bl%27daal-OZ?view=preview&fuid=Jaap%20Stockmann%203.jpg

With Obo arm pads proving popular in Germany as well, with Reuss using them and other Bundesliga goalkeepers too, it's interesting to consider current trends in the modern game in terms of thinking about more/less padding for the goalkeeper. Germany seems to mix it up with a more blocking style, but Holland have always seemed to encourage active hands and a reactive mindset with their save making, so on a wider level, interesting to think about these things that might seem trifle, but have a big impact on the way a goalkeeper plays. Not sure if trends will swing back to a more protective style or a mash up hybrid of blocking and actively responding to shots, but interesting to consider either way!

Pirmin switches to TK Plus left hand glove

In Holland, another kit sighting for the season so far, for switched kit/changes, is Pirmin Blaak using a new TK Plus lhp rather than the Brabo one he switched to previous (presumably using the Brabo after international training sessions and competition involvement with Stockmann). Interesting to see as it seems to be a glove that's more easily available in Germany, with Reuss and Weinhold and co. using them. With all three of Blaak, Stockmann and Jenniskens all having used the Brabo left hand quite recently, it's interesting to see the change, even if it's not a huge scale! Not totally insignificant, as these style of gloves are seemingly harder to come by these days (although Kindler is using one over in Canada!) and offer different saving properties to the generic square shaped TK lhp. But it will be interesting just to see over the course of the season whether or not he will stick to the equipment change, or whether he'll change his mind! Obviously with Stockmann being sponsored by Brabo and  presumably as well (assuming!!), would be interesting to know if it's also due to the saving style offered (more rebound, more downward direction on the rebound due to inner curve), although they are all still using the Obo hi rebound rhp for its blocking properties, which says something about its advantages and the Dutch style of patient, upright goalkeeping and their reactive approach to save making.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/janlelie/9763140795/in/set-72157635543916143