Now that I've got a bit more time to review the recent Eurochampionship games (which, now being over is a little late!), first impressions of the women's game, one thought was on Amy Gibson and a victim of her own success and fears or nervous tension afflicting her, rather than loosening those worries and enjoying the moment perhaps. With the women just as strong as the men's (in my opinion, sexism should have died already; women can drag flick just as well and play a strong technical game at the elite level, are well trained and talented etc. etc. etc.), I was a little shocked to be honest with her performances given the level of responsibility and thus accountability to her team and nation. I know she's young and all, but a youngster with the right level of maturity mentally to go with god given ability is possible for those that have it all technically; just look at Marc Andre ter Stegen at the moment or Casillas or Buffon in their early years.
Abi Walker has strong fundamentals and is a good fit at international level, but obviously Scotland want to blood their future starter in relation to next year's Commonwealth Games. She has time to grow and evolve given her age, but in any other sport, that level of competition needs to be there for self improvement and desire and fight to play as well as possible, for that push to perform at your best to be there (if struggling with psychological barriers). Yes young goalkeepers are going to make mistakes and their coach needs to be aware of this when riding out the early speed bumps (just look at Joe Hart's career) but to this level is a tad concerning, only if it continues though. It's quite a step up from juniors to senior and representative hockey can be a tough nut to crack.
In the game against Spain she was never going to get anywhere a fast strike smashed into the corner of her goal staying rooted at the goal line. Not at this level or with that level of power and placement. She really, really needed to have stepped out off the post to challenge and then attacked the shot by pushing in on the angle to cut off the shot, rather than apathetically do nothing to get near the ball. Attacking angles and positioning as such is fundamental to save making at any level and to counter the speed of this level, is incredibly essential. Sitting on your goal line is not challenging the shot, it's the direct opposite!
In the game against Germany she managed to effectively score on herself by pushing the rebound into her own net. With muscle memory and the 1000 times rule and so on, the reflex is instantaneous if trained in as a sub-consious, especially here as she reacted to a change in angle due to the redirect. It is all well and good having a learnt skill but if it is not the appropriate selection then that learnt skill is pointless and ineffective. If it is of no use in this situation, then why use it? I might just walk off the pitch after that kind of embarassment if I was in that position. It's a howler through and through to be brutally honest. One that I hope she quickly forgets, as it could really knock her confidence; it's the kind of thing you lose sleep over as a goalie, so that smile and balancing self deprecation does say she can handle the pressure, in spite of her young years.
The mental game is just as, if not, more important, part of the table of elite attributes and not all goalkeepers have thick skin and can be really fragile after a bad bounce, so at least that is a strong element that won't need working on! At that angle it's not going to get past the post by swatting at it; instead, she needs to turn her glove clockwise and push away, as they do "on the continent" in Holland and Belgium, as Vanasch would as demonstrated in the other recent blog post, rather than anti-clockwise and over rotate or turn the ball into the goal rather than away.
A first save conundrum is the problem for other goals in other games, concerned over how to react or where to put the rebound (and then putting it back into play, which is going to be exploited and used at this level where everything minute counts greatly), which De Gea say was struggling with (just an anology, no soft hands or catching in hockey!!). The German goalkeeper in comparison was strong off their line as a sweeper, looking big and quick out, to block well.
This is international hockey for crying out loud, not a knockabout between friends, so the lens the athletes are under is going to be scrutinous and tough going. I'm not trying to have a dig, this is sports journalism! And for certain sports people really love as a nation which they get behind, they nitpick like analysis lovers with geeky stats and pass success rates like a pro coach, even in cricket (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/23818166). I think she can work on her talent base and end up a stronger and more efficient goalkeeper, if she works hard to improve on what she is capable (it is often difficult to see your ability as a youngster if you are without the right balance of life experience), but for now it's a little worrying for this level of competition. Almost a reflection on the state of play with breaking in goalkeepers, on why goalkeepers need time to develop than be rushed too early wherein confidence can be destroyed thus destroying the goalie's game and self confidence required to compete so well.
If this was football or a similar sport supported to that depth with in depth analysis on Sky (or something!), then the media would destroy our sport's athletes if they were struggling. This, hockey, is our beautiful game, and if we want it to have the same coverage and level of technical analysis and punditry, then we need to be passionate and appropriate with our deconstruction of goals scored (without heavy handedness like Roy Keane and unsurmounted, unjustified commentary!), about it at the same time. So I hope I don't sound too out of order. These things go hand in hand for the elite level, it's not amateur by standard or effort even if it is an "amateur game" (playing at that level, there's nothing amateur about it with that level of experience and talent!).
You can't expect world class talent to match if there is no desire to improve or evolve as a player. Sometimes it is cruel to be kind, a case of sparking that desire to disprove the "haters" (or whatever else you call undue callousness!) and show them how wrong they truly are. There is quite a difference between ripping on someone for the sake of it, versus constructive criticism which was given to us in writing exercises at university for example. If you want to be the best, then taking on board evaluations and stepping out of yourself and looking at your own game to improve it, it's part and parcel. Compare Gibson's performance to Belgium's 19 year old goalkeeper, D'Hooge, who played in last year's Olympics at the spritely age of 18 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/hockey/23769553#asset): talent speaks for itself.
Abi Walker has strong fundamentals and is a good fit at international level, but obviously Scotland want to blood their future starter in relation to next year's Commonwealth Games. She has time to grow and evolve given her age, but in any other sport, that level of competition needs to be there for self improvement and desire and fight to play as well as possible, for that push to perform at your best to be there (if struggling with psychological barriers). Yes young goalkeepers are going to make mistakes and their coach needs to be aware of this when riding out the early speed bumps (just look at Joe Hart's career) but to this level is a tad concerning, only if it continues though. It's quite a step up from juniors to senior and representative hockey can be a tough nut to crack.
In the game against Spain she was never going to get anywhere a fast strike smashed into the corner of her goal staying rooted at the goal line. Not at this level or with that level of power and placement. She really, really needed to have stepped out off the post to challenge and then attacked the shot by pushing in on the angle to cut off the shot, rather than apathetically do nothing to get near the ball. Attacking angles and positioning as such is fundamental to save making at any level and to counter the speed of this level, is incredibly essential. Sitting on your goal line is not challenging the shot, it's the direct opposite!
In the game against Germany she managed to effectively score on herself by pushing the rebound into her own net. With muscle memory and the 1000 times rule and so on, the reflex is instantaneous if trained in as a sub-consious, especially here as she reacted to a change in angle due to the redirect. It is all well and good having a learnt skill but if it is not the appropriate selection then that learnt skill is pointless and ineffective. If it is of no use in this situation, then why use it? I might just walk off the pitch after that kind of embarassment if I was in that position. It's a howler through and through to be brutally honest. One that I hope she quickly forgets, as it could really knock her confidence; it's the kind of thing you lose sleep over as a goalie, so that smile and balancing self deprecation does say she can handle the pressure, in spite of her young years.
The mental game is just as, if not, more important, part of the table of elite attributes and not all goalkeepers have thick skin and can be really fragile after a bad bounce, so at least that is a strong element that won't need working on! At that angle it's not going to get past the post by swatting at it; instead, she needs to turn her glove clockwise and push away, as they do "on the continent" in Holland and Belgium, as Vanasch would as demonstrated in the other recent blog post, rather than anti-clockwise and over rotate or turn the ball into the goal rather than away.
A first save conundrum is the problem for other goals in other games, concerned over how to react or where to put the rebound (and then putting it back into play, which is going to be exploited and used at this level where everything minute counts greatly), which De Gea say was struggling with (just an anology, no soft hands or catching in hockey!!). The German goalkeeper in comparison was strong off their line as a sweeper, looking big and quick out, to block well.
This is international hockey for crying out loud, not a knockabout between friends, so the lens the athletes are under is going to be scrutinous and tough going. I'm not trying to have a dig, this is sports journalism! And for certain sports people really love as a nation which they get behind, they nitpick like analysis lovers with geeky stats and pass success rates like a pro coach, even in cricket (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/23818166). I think she can work on her talent base and end up a stronger and more efficient goalkeeper, if she works hard to improve on what she is capable (it is often difficult to see your ability as a youngster if you are without the right balance of life experience), but for now it's a little worrying for this level of competition. Almost a reflection on the state of play with breaking in goalkeepers, on why goalkeepers need time to develop than be rushed too early wherein confidence can be destroyed thus destroying the goalie's game and self confidence required to compete so well.
If this was football or a similar sport supported to that depth with in depth analysis on Sky (or something!), then the media would destroy our sport's athletes if they were struggling. This, hockey, is our beautiful game, and if we want it to have the same coverage and level of technical analysis and punditry, then we need to be passionate and appropriate with our deconstruction of goals scored (without heavy handedness like Roy Keane and unsurmounted, unjustified commentary!), about it at the same time. So I hope I don't sound too out of order. These things go hand in hand for the elite level, it's not amateur by standard or effort even if it is an "amateur game" (playing at that level, there's nothing amateur about it with that level of experience and talent!).
You can't expect world class talent to match if there is no desire to improve or evolve as a player. Sometimes it is cruel to be kind, a case of sparking that desire to disprove the "haters" (or whatever else you call undue callousness!) and show them how wrong they truly are. There is quite a difference between ripping on someone for the sake of it, versus constructive criticism which was given to us in writing exercises at university for example. If you want to be the best, then taking on board evaluations and stepping out of yourself and looking at your own game to improve it, it's part and parcel. Compare Gibson's performance to Belgium's 19 year old goalkeeper, D'Hooge, who played in last year's Olympics at the spritely age of 18 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/hockey/23769553#asset): talent speaks for itself.
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