1. Introduction
2. Embrace a Growth-Oriented Mindset 
3. Prioritize your athletes’ needs and leave your ego at home
4. Communicate Honestly and Directly 
5. Acknowledge Limits and Seek Expertise
6. Empower Athletes’ Autonomy
7. Connect on a Personal Level, not just as professionals

Introduction

Strength and Conditioning (S&C) coaches hold a key role in enhancing athletes’ performance and minimising injury risks during sports participation. Knowledge of training principles, exercise physiology, anatomy, biomechanics, and the ability to design precise training programs for optimal performance are all key abilities for an S&C coach to have. However, an often-overlooked aspect is understanding human motivation, effective communication, and the right approach to guide individuals toward self-improvement. Neglecting these factors can present barriers in the coach´s strive to develop high-performing athletes.

To become a highly skilled and sought-after S&C coach, it is advisable to explore the fields of behavioural psychology and leadership. This article outlines 6 key attributes that will make you as a new S&C coach better prepared to coach athletes. Let’s explore the 6 key attributes that every S&C coach should strive to develop.

Embrace a growth-oriented mindset

Mindset as an S&C coach should be a top priority when considering personal development. When discussing the impact of mindset on one’s career, the work of Carol Dweck is a key reference tool. In her book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” Dweck differentiates two distinct types of mindsets: the “Fixed mindset” and the “Growth mindset.” Individuals with a fixed mindset tend to believe that talent is inherited, while those with a growth mindset believe that persistence and hard work can make a coach develop and that it is possible to learn or improve in almost any skill. Choice of mindset significantly affects the approach to work and response to criticism or setbacks (2). 

So, how does all this apply to S&C coaches? Those with a fixed mindset tend to focus too much on talent, and when they realise that they lack talent, they may either waive any thoughts about possible personal shortcomings or give up and quit. Does this sound like the path to becoming a top-level coach? Certainly not. To excel as an S&C coach, it is strongly recommended to adopt a growth mindset. As Dweck explains in her book “Mindset: Changing The Way You Think To Fulfill Your Potential,” individuals with a growth mindset value constructive feedback, welcome challenges, and bounce back stronger after any defeat or failure (2). 

For example, if a newly qualified coach gets the opportunity to spend an hour with a highly experienced S&C coach who has worked many years with elite international clubs, how well that hour is utilised will depend on their mindset. A fixed mindset might lead the new coach to avoid asking questions that they think might be stupid and reveal gaps in their knowledge. In contrast, a growth mindset would encourage the new coach to enjoy the opportunity, ask questions, and attempt to add golden nuggets to their existing knowledge. A growth-mindset would also be willing to change from his or her existing beliefs if those were to be proven false, and instead adopt a new way to think in line with what seems to be the right information at the time. 

Prioritise your athletes’ needs and leave your ego at home

Ego has no place in coaching. It’s key to always prioritize what’s best for your athletes to facilitate their improvement. While this may seem obvious in theory, it can be challenging. Transitioning from playing sports to coaching requires a change in mindset. As a player, the focus is to become a better player, with less focus on the needs of others.  However, it is important to understand that as a coach, the primary task is to provide athletes with the best training suited for their needs; most athletes only care that the exercises programmed will help them elevate their performance within their sport. 

Communicate honestly and directly

Honesty and straightforward communication are highly valued qualities, not only in the business world but also among athletes. Research by Perry and Mankin (2007) indicates that work satisfaction and trust in leaders are closely related to their leader’s level of honesty and ability to communicate fairly and directly (3). As an S&C coach, athletes very much appreciate honesty and clear communication between them and their coaches and executives. The level of honesty can be seen in a variety of situations, from club executives making promises about the direction of a club or future resources to coaches explaining reasons behind player selections. 

It is also essential to address an athlete’s physical weaknesses or areas for improvement. Honesty and straightforward communication apply to our profession as well. But it is how well this information is packaged and delivered to the athletes that is the real deal breaker. While being direct in communication is important, the tone and how the message is framed are equally critical. Giving constructive feedback shows that the athlete’s best interests are the priority, and this could be a springboard to a more productive working environment. 

Acknowledge limits and seek expertise

When athletes come to a coach for help on a topic that lies beyond their area of expertise, it’s important that the coach admits that they lack the requested knowledge and instead helps them find someone with more knowledge in that area; happily sharing weaknesses with the athletes will build credibility and trust. The next time the same athlete approaches a coach for help, they will assume that they are exactly the right person to ask because they will have built trust with that coach to guide them to the right source for that information. Instead of pretending to know everything, it is important to say, “I don’t know, but I can find out,” or “This topic falls outside my expertise; perhaps you should consult…” and follow up, demonstrating integrity and honesty, further building trust.

Empower athletes’ autonomy

According to self-determination theory (SDT), autonomy is an essential psychological need that contributes to enhanced intrinsic motivation and psychological health (1). In order to increase athletes’ autonomy, provide them with choices within the prescribed training programs that are still aligned with the goals strived to achieve. 

One concrete example is the following: The day’s focus is lower-body strength, and the athletes are told: 

“Today, you can choose between Trap bar deadlifts and High bar back squats.. Giving athletes a choice shows them that their opinion is important, and invites collaboration in their development. So, when using this approach, the program does not only target the key physical capacities but also targets increased intrinsic motivation, which is very important for their long-term commitment to the program.

As a coach, it is possible to take this collaborative approach to programming to a different level; invite the athletes to share which skills or physical capabilities they want to develop. After identifying areas of improvement (that both coach and athlete agree on), start to give them different exercise options that all share the same fundamental training principles and aim. This is a much more motivating way to work for all parties, as a motivated and happy athlete is a more successful athlete. So next time, invite the athletes to create a programme together, improving commitment to development and developing intrinsic motivation. 

Connect on a Personal Level, not just as professionals

Relatedness, another key component of SDT, represents the human need to feel part of a community where people care for and look out for each other (1). At the beginning of a coaching career, athletes are often considered purely through their performances. If that is the case it is important to change perspective. Senior coaches may say something like: “Don’t get too caught up in their personal lives. You are their coach, not their friend”. While this is true to some extent, by getting to know athletes on a personal level and by understanding their drive and appreciating them as people, coaching becomes easier and much more fun. Also, when motivation is running low as a coach, or when there is a bad day at work, considering athletes as people and not as professionals can help to readjust one’s mindset. Treating them as people first and athletes second should be a guiding principle in any coaching career.

For more ways to level up your coaching, listen to the following podcast hosted by Matt Solomon with Scott Caulfield, Director Of Strength & Conditioning at Colorado College.

The post 6 key attributes that make a great S&C coach appeared first on Science for Sport.

• Summary
• The 5 key movement skills for goalkeepers
• Goalkeeper-specific speed: sprint and side-to-side positioning
• Improving the dive
• Developing high-ball jumping
• Increasing duelling strength
• Practical applications

Summary

There’s no denying it – outfield football players get most of the glory compared to goalkeepers. And while there are plenty of strength and conditioning (S&C) training recommendations and guidelines for outfield players, there is little published on goalkeeper-specific S&C training. That’s despite goalkeepers having a highly important role and requiring specific training – since their game demands are very different to outfield players.

Elite goalkeepers cover an average of 5000 m during a game, of which as much as 68 % is classified as low intensity and only ~ 0.8 % as high intensity, such as sprinting (>25.2 km/h) and high-speed running (HSR)(19.8-24.8 km/h). Elite goalkeepers generally have a total sprint distance of ~ 11 m, compared to ~ 97-313m for elite outfield players. They also perform ~ 56 m of HSR per game, in contrast to the considerably greater distances of ~ 500-1100 m in HSR executed by outfield players.

Even though the frequency of explosive actions is clearly far below what outfield players perform in an average game, the performance of goalkeepers is often seen as game-decisive.

The 5 key movement skills for goalkeepers

So it’s clear that goalkeepers and outfield players can’t be trained with a one-size-fits-all approach. Any training that aims to improve goalkeepers’ physical performance should be specific to the movement demands of goalkeeping. A general aim for the prescription of exercises is to achieve the so-called ‘transfer of training’ effect – where a high level of training specificity in a specific exercise leads to a higher likelihood of improved sporting performance. This is because the body adapts specifically to the demands placed on it by training, a concept widely known as: “Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands”.

This article is a conscious attempt to bridge the gap between goalkeepers’ isolated technical training regime and their S&C training. It will be focused on strength, power and speed, and will categorise goalkeeper-specific S&C training into five different game-specific movement skills. It will also contain an in-depth technical analysis of each movement skill and provide accompanying practical exercise recommendations.

The five key movement skills categories have been selected based on research, my game observations as a retired goalkeeper, and my experience as an active S&C coach within an elite football environment. The movement skills have also been selected because they either appear frequently during games, are game-decisive, or both.

The five key movement skills are:

1. Goalkeeper’s sprint
2. Side-to-side positioning
3. Diving
4. High balls
5. Duelling

1. Goalkeeper’s sprint

In a study investigating the frequency of different movements of professional goalkeepers leading into important technical actions, displacement (moving forward, sideways, or backward) was the most commonly occurring, followed by the not-so-frequent diving and jumping. Looking at the different movement directions of goalkeeper displacement, forward running is the most frequent, followed by lateral running. Further, the typical forward displacement of sprints was in the range of 0-5m.

So, we need to train our goalkeepers to be able to move powerfully and quickly in a linear (i.e., forward) fashion as well as laterally. A goalkeeper’s training regime should be heavily focused on short-distance acceleration-based speed training (i.e., 5m accelerations) and short-distance lateral change of direction. However, elements of longer distance sprints (>10m) should not be neglected.

2. Side-to-side positioning

Based on my game observations, there are two common lateral displacement actions for goalkeepers. These are the lateral shuffle and the cut – in this text, collectively referred to as side-to-side positioning. During the lateral cut, the outer leg (i.e., the opposite leg to the movement direction) is the primary leg being used to create force and, as a result, lateral displacement.

Training should also be predominantly unilateral. It is believed that unilateral training (training that involves one side of the body) is more effective than bilateral training (involving both sides of the body) in improving physical performance variables such as single-leg maximal strength, acceleration and change of direction speed.

Another factor to consider when choosing appropriate exercises to develop linear and lateral speed is the direction of forces being produced during explosive movements. Evidence suggests exercises with the same directions of force production as the targeted sport skill are more effective than exercises with different directions of force production. In a study with elite handball players, a horizontal plyometric training programme had greater improvements in horizontally dominated sport skills such as change of direction speed and acceleration, in comparison to a vertical plyometric training programme.

Furthermore, the available timeframes for maximal force production during the targeted sport skills should be considered when aiming for high training specificity. The force-velocity curve is a depiction of the relationship between force and velocity. It can be used to evaluate whether exercises are velocity-specific relative to a specific sports skill. The force-velocity relationship can be explained as “the slower a skeletal muscle shortens, the greater the force it can generate during contraction and vice versa”. So, the amount of time available to perform a task will dictate how much force can be produced.

With this information in mind, lateral movement exercises could be even more effective at developing acceleration or change of direction speed if the concept of specificity is appropriately considered.

3. Diving

A recent study investigated muscle activation patterns of goalkeepers during ‘diving saves’. It was found that dives towards the upper corner of the goal require high amounts of force and power during hip extension at push-off. While both far distance and high corner dives both require high power development during ankle plantarflexion (pushing the ground away with the foot). The authors also found that ankle plantar flexor muscles need to absorb lots of elastic energy, then immediately recoil back to release it (much like a rubber band being stretched and released) during high corner dives. Additionally, all far-distance dives require lots of force production during knee extension at push-off.

This suggests that power training involving the Gluteus Maximus, Gastrocnemius and Soleus (calf) muscles could prove helpful for goalkeepers when diving for high-corner balls. Plyometric training should also be a target to condition the ankle plantar flexors to assist with push-off. During long dives (where the goalkeeper has to reach out for the ball), power training involving the Quadriceps femoris and calf muscle groups is appropriate.

In the same study that investigated muscle activation patterns during ‘diving saves’, it was discovered that the ball-side leg (BS leg) produces more force (higher muscle activation) at high-corner or long dives and less force (lower muscle activation) at low-corner or short dives. According to the same authors, the BS leg is responsible for both the amount of power being produced and its direction during take-off in a diving save.

All of this indicates that when training horizontal lateral power (i.e., developing the physical attributes behind the diving action), exercises where the BS leg is the main ‘driver’ need to be prioritised.

4. High-balls

As mentioned earlier, goalkeepers don’t regularly perform vertical jumping during games. However, when they do, it could turn out to be game-decisive. Based on my game observations, goalkeepers most often tend to jump on one leg at set pieces or cross balls. The selected exercises should thus have more of a unilateral emphasis, as unilateral training seems to be most effective at improving unilateral movement skills.

The chosen exercises should also account for the force-vectors of the vertical jump. To rehash, a vertical plyometric training program is more effective than a horizontal plyometric program at improving vertically dominated sport skills – for example, a goalkeeper jumping up to punch out a cross ball.

The time available to create maximal force during a unilateral jump in a game could potentially be very different from situation to situation, and definitive research is lacking in this area. However, based on my own observations, most goalkeepers’ vertical jumps are performed with minimal knee and hip flexion at ground contact and with maximal effort – as the goalkeeper tends to prefer a high catch of the ball to avoid the attacker getting there first. This means that specific unilateral exercises could be appropriate, with short ground contact times or a small range of motion at knee and hip flexion. However, exercises involving a greater range of motion at the hip and knee joints should not be overlooked, as jumping from this position happens during a game, albeit less frequently.

5. Duelling

The last movement skill to scrutinise is duelling. This could be translated to the goalkeeper’s ability to use their body to protect the space within the penalty box. During open play, the numbers of players within the penalty box are generally few. However, during defensive set-pieces, there are often many opponents in the box, and this can make it difficult for the goalkeeper to get to the desired position from which to react. To be competitive in these tangled and somewhat chaotic situations, a strong, powerful core and upper body is necessary.

Not only does the upper body and core matter, but the whole kinetic chain needs to function properly, to transfer force from the feet up through the hips and core to the upper extremities. During a goalkeeper’s upper body-dominated activities, such as punching, throwing and pushing, the power produced by the upper body is very much the result of forces produced by the lower body, which are then transferred through the core up to the arms, via a “…muscle activation system known as the kinetic chain”.

Practical applications

This guide can be used to shape an S&C program for aspiring goalkeepers. However, individuality should not be neglected – all athletes have different physiological capacities, physical strengths or weaknesses and movement skills, to name a few. See Figure 2 for some examples of exercises to improve upon the five key movement skills discussed in this piece.

By using this guide, S&C coaches, goalkeeping coaches, and even ‘keepers themselves can hopefully start communicating and collaborating to find some common ground using the same terminology and language.

This guide can be used to help anyone create effective and inspiring training sessions for goalkeepers, where specific technical training and S&C training can be intertwined.

The post Goalkeeper training: 5 key movement skills and how to train them appeared first on Science for Sport.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. What do the different tests tell us?
3. The strength and plyometric decision tree
4. Practical applications
5. Conclusion
6. References
7. About the Author
8. Comments

Introduction

Strength and power training are training modalities commonly used by Strength & Conditioning (S&C) coaches, as both qualities underpin the execution of many essential athletic skills in a variety of sports (13). As an S&C coach, many vertical lower-body power tests measure an athlete’s maximum power capabilities.

Tests such as the countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), eccentric utilisation ratio (EUR), drop jump test (DJ) and force-velocity profiling (FVP) all provide us with different insights into an athlete’s maximum vertical lower-body power capabilities.

Yet, a legitimate question for S&C coaches is ‘How should the data from each of these individual tests be used to build an overall picture of an athlete’s lower-body power capabilities, to help guide training program design?’.

Therefore, this article aims to provide a framework model, using a decision tree to outline how S&C coaches might use the tests mentioned above, to gain a holistic insight into an athlete’s maximum vertical lower-body power capabilities.

The article may also help practitioners answer some critical questions regarding the individualization of strength and power training. This is of high importance, as elite athletes with a substantial level of maximal strength and power require more advanced, novel and individualized, specific training for adaptation to occur (2).

What do the different tests tell us?

Countermovement Jump
The CMJ is used to measure lower-body vertical power (9, 10). Athletes go from an eccentric downwards movement to a concentric vertical jump as quickly as possible, using the slow stretch-shortening cycle (SSC). The slow SSC has been defined as having a duration which is >0.25 s (12).

Squat Jump
The SJ is also used to measure vertical lower-body vertical power (9, 10). Athletes start in a static, self-selected quarter position which is held for 3 seconds, with no further downward dipping allowed before jumping. This ensures any elastic energy is dissipated and eliminates the SSC effect on the vertical jump (10), so we can measure an athlete’s lower-body vertical power as a concentric movement only, from a static position, with no SSC involved.

Eccentric Utilisation Ratio
The eccentric utilisation ratio (EUR) is simply the ratio between CMJ and SJ performance and provides insight into an athlete’s slow SSC ability. It has been suggested that an ideal EUR is ~1.1, in which the CMJ score should be 1.1x (10 %) that of the SJ (8). For example, if an athlete scores 45 cm on the CMJ and 39 cm on the SJ, they have a EUR of 1.15 (45 divided by 39).

This suggests that the athlete has an effective slow SSC in comparison to their lower-body vertical power from a static position. As such, power training which consists of no SSC, ballistic exercises, loaded plyometrics and maximum strength work would likely benefit this athlete. Ballistic exercises are defined as the explosive release of the body into the air, but the overall duration of the exercise is longer mainly due to an extended ground contact time, such as an SJ (3).

Incremental Drop Jump Test
The incremental drop jump (DJ) test measures reactive power, through the fast SSC. This has been defined through a ground contact time of <0.25 s (5), which also defines the threshold for fast plyometric exercises Schmidtbleicher (1992) (12). The scores from this test enable S&C coaches to calculate the reactive strength index (RSI), which is an estimate of an athlete’s ability to rapidly go from an eccentric muscular contraction to a concentric muscular contraction (6).

According to Flanagan, the RSI can be used to decide which intensity of plyometric training is most appropriate depending on an athlete’s level (6). An RSI score of 2.0 – 2.5 suggests athletes are ready to perform high-intensity plyometrics (e.g. drop jumps), whereas a score of 1.5 – 2.0 makes moderate-intensity plyometrics (e.g. tuck jumps) and an athlete that scores <1.5 should perform the low intensity or extensive plyometrics (e.g. extensive pogo jumps).

From here on out, plyometrics refers to exercises which are characterized by a fast SSC activity, which is a ‘shock’ component, where a ground contact time (GCT) that is < 0.25s occurs with the floor (12).

Force-Velocity Profiling
Force-velocity profiling (FVP) provides a more detailed picture of an athlete’s specific strength and speed needs, by using a movement such as a barbell jump squat with incremental loads (7). The equation used in the FVP has been validated for estimating an athlete´s different strength capacities and has high reliability (11).

By running an FVP test, S&C Coaches can measure and plot an athlete’s force and velocity across the incremental loads and compare them to ideal values, described as the force-velocity imbalance (7). This test can be conducted with a validated smartphone application that collects reliable FVP data for a low cost (1). Based on the acquired FVP, the S&C coach can see where the biggest potential for adaptation lies, across the athlete´s force-velocity curve (FV-curve).

In Figures 1 and 2 an athlete´s optimal force-velocity values (optimal profile) are presented in red, while the actual force-velocity values (actual profile) are presented in green. Figure 1 – Athlete A requires training orientated towards force production (i.e. maximal strength and strength-speed).

This is based on where the deficiency is the biggest, between the optimal and actual values (i.e. the biggest gap between the red and green line). Figure 2 – Athlete B requires training orientated towards velocity (i.e. speed-strength and plyometrics). This is because the deficiency is biggest between the optimal and actual values (i.e. the biggest gap between the red and green line) at high velocity, low force.

The Strength & Plyometric Decision Tree

As we have now outlined the characteristics of each lower-body power test and what insight each can provide us with, it is now time to present the decision tree (Figure 3). The decision tree starts from the top and successively follows from thereon out.

The cursive text outlines which test that is used to answer the programming question (blue boxes) and which criterion is used in the evaluation process of each test (green boxes). The blue boxes at the bottom outline which type of exercises could be appropriate for each possible scenario.

Practical Applications

Based on the data collected, is an athlete in need of strength training/ballistic slow SSC training or speed-strength/plyometric fast SSC training?The EUR score can help guide this decision. This should not be an “either-or” approach, as the two separate pathways help decide what the main emphasis of an athlete’s program should be, not the only emphasis.

Depending on the selected pathway, the second question is at which intensity/training zone an athlete should train? In the “strength pathway,” there should be a higher emphasis on maximal strength and strength-speed whereas, in the “plyometric training” pathway, higher emphasis should be placed on speed-strength.

The third question we should answer is which exercises we should prescribe our athletes for our desired outcome. In the decision tree, a few examples of exercises can fit within each category if loaded appropriately and execute with maximal intent. With this decision, S&C coaches should not limit themselves to a program based solely on strength or plyometrics training. Instead, there should be a balance based on the athlete’s previously determined needs, where the decision tree can guide us in which type of exercises our athlete needs to work on more heavily

Conclusion

Many lower-body power tests can give S&C coaches different insights into an athlete’s maximum vertical lower-body power capability. As an S&C coach, it might be confusing how all these different tests should be interpreted when designing strength and plyometric training programs.

This blog post provides you with a framework model (decision tree), that can help you as an S&C coach to interpret data before designing a program which includes individualized strength, strength-speed, ballistic and plyometric exercises with an appropriate balance.

The post A Strength & Power Training Decision Tree appeared first on Science for Sport.