Goalkeeping Analysis by Richard Allen

@RichardAllen5

At Nottingham Forest, goalkeeping analysis is integral to the tailoring and monitoring of techniques. Objective footage is captured & replayed instantaneously for feedback with the goalkeeping coach and the players.

I was originally drafted in by the head analyst to film the technical practices and small sided games, however to aid my personal knowledge of goalkeeping and support the keepers I was quite innovative & took an iniative.
Firstly I filmed just by using a standard camera & tripod, however the iPad offers almost a gold standard picture resolution and some handy technique analysis apps.
Now you may think its fairly simple capturing the footage, however by using ‘CoachMyVideo’ app on the iPad it allows a more comprehensive insight to exactly what the keepers are doing. Previous to using this I used ‘Über’ software, both incidentally free to download if you’re after them.
The software doesn’t take much habituation to get up to speed, however the on going monitoring of what the coach is looking for takes practice through firstly knowing the keepers and also the coach.
Goalkeeping is quite a subjective area in terms of coaching, because you can have the technical syllabus in place however every keeper is different and has their own style, so you must work around their strengths.
I recently (Aug 2012) completed my Level 2 in Goalkeeping with previously not knowing any relative aspects of a goalkeepers game. In essence, it’s hard work! The technical breakdown to start position, set position and then the technical decision making requires years of experience. Having played outfield in all my grassroots playing career, being in the right environment and around individuals has consolidated the course.
Goalkeeping analysis is integral to the setup at Nottingham Forest, where in football a striker could miss a 1 V 1 and get another opportunity where goalkeepers are subject to blame upon mistakes made when conceding. Very rarely can they rectify a mistake in a game, thus the on going magnification on the technique of a goalkeeper is of high importance.
In particular with the professional game, filming training some days may not provide any insights (coaching & video feedback), however when called upon, techniques and decisions can be built upon to formulate the coaching process and aid the development of the goalkeeper.
Richard Allen