Question for Goalkeeper

Is it better for a goalkeeper to be on a team that has better coaching/training but has a second keeper so they will share, or one that she will play more?

Thanks!

Depends on age.

At some point coaching changes from teaching technique to molding skills. At that point game time and touches are the only way to get better. Reaction time and angles only come from playing.

Put her on a team that she'll play. You can always find a keeper coach outside the club to work on her individual skills.

Heck... if you sign with one team but you prefer the goalie coach from another club... just ask that goalie coach if he/she does individual sessions. Then you get the best of both worlds.

Nothing beats in-game experience for goalies. There are too many real-life lessons to be learned that can't be truly simulated in practice.

bigtex75081 wrote:Put her on a team that she'll play. You can always find a keeper coach outside the club to work on her individual skills.

Heck... if you sign with one team but you prefer the goalie coach from another club... just ask that goalie coach if he/she does individual sessions. Then you get the best of both worlds.

Nothing beats in-game experience for goalies. There are too many real-life lessons to be learned that can't be truly simulated in practice.

Big Tex is right absolutely right. She needs to be on a team where she can play and get the game experience that just can't be recreated in practice. Most coaches just don't have the time to set up and walk through every scenario that a keeper is going to face, albeit a lot of them are repetitious. Do not bet on her always splitting time either because no coach worth his salt is going to put a cold keeper in during a tight game just to be fair.

This really depends on age, when younger in academy I recommend doing some of both. Select if you like both field and goal and want half time if you can find a team that works that out great. If a keeper wants to play full time they need to play full time especially at the younger ages. Sometimes as they get older having the competition of another goalkeeper can be very beneficial

Speaking as a goalkeeping coach at the younger ages the keeper needs to develop, they need to see shots and learn the decision making associated with goalkeeping. Good goalkeeper training is beneficial whether your attending group or private sessions but it is never quite the same as playing in a match situation.

A lot of being a good goalkeeper is having the ability to instantly make the very complex "Go-Don't Go" decision.  You can talk about "Go-Don't Go" endlessly in practice but it can't effectively be recreated there.  "Go-Don't Go" only comes through game experience.

You can ask somebody to serve 500 crosses in practice BUT going up for a cross through one of your teammates and then into 8 bodies banging in midair with only a few minutes left in a tied game... well that "Go" decision feels completely different.

In practice you only ever focus on the "Go" side.  Seriously, who is going to serve you 500 crosses in practice that you don't go out for?

Thanks for all of the great replies. They are very helpful for the decision we are making.

Three of our four soccer daughters are/were keepers, from college down to '03, and we are fans of both GK training (fun) AND playing (even more fun ..that's why we're here.) If she's serious then find good keeper training, whether within your club or third party. Learning correct form, footwork/agility drills, study of net/ball position and angles, diving, accurate serving/passing, and repetition of shots from every distance, angle and velocity and so on is invaluable. It helps remove fear, builds her confidence and makes her more instinctive and intuitive. Games are important too. There are things she learns in games that she can't learn in practice like reading the field and the "go/don't go" mentioned above. And the quick decision process required when a two player breakaway is heading full speed right at her. Sometimes she may get ten+ shots in a game or sometimes none or only one or two. But if and when it happens it's good to have her bag of confidence and intuition with her.

Amount of playing time depends on her goals, age bracket, ability level, team dynamics, etc. Two of mine wanted to be primary keepers and that's also what their teams needed, and all is good. The third one isn't ready to give up midfield yet so she splits time with another keeper who also isn't ready to give up the field. She spends two practices per week with the team coach and one with a GK coach, both whom she loves, and sometimes gets to shoot/score at other keepers, and all is good.

There have been some similar (kind of) posts you might be interested in...

https://www.txsoccer.net/t14842-using-only-1-goalkeeper?highlight=keeper

https://www.txsoccer.net/t14739-keeper-question?highlight=keeper

A lot of ECNL teams carry two keepers and they split each game. Just saying carrying to keeps is common.