By Director of Goalkeeping, Jon Busch
After watching the World Cup and seeing a score of high profile goalkeeper gaffes – most notably Robert Green against the USA – it got me thinking about how to mentally handle making a mistake.
In my 14 years as a professional goalkeeper I have seen different GKs handle mistakes in different ways. Some simply blow them off and move on, some don’t acknowledge it, some make an excuse to cover it up, and some over analyze them to the detriment of their future performance.
It’s difficult to say what the “best” way to handle a mistake is – especially since each GK has his/her own personality. But after many years in the game, I have found what works for me. And who knows, it may work for you, too.
1.) Get it out of your head. NOW.
First and foremost, when a mistake happens you have to get it out of your mind as quickly as possible so that you can continue to focus on the game. I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths and push it out of my thoughts. I don’t want to be thinking about it the rest of the game or it will probably cause me to make another mistake.
2.) Own your mistake – publically.
Once the game is over and I am in the locker room, I will apologize to my team for the mistake. I feel this is the first true step to moving forward. It’s not easy to admit you’ve made a mistake, but it’s necessary. It also shows your teammates that you hold yourself to a high standard and care about the team.
3.) Review the play and isolate the error.
The next step is to look at the game tape. I usually do this the following day – after my emotions have settled. After watching the tape by myself, I can come up with my own thoughts about what happened and how I can prevent it from happening again. Once I have personally analyzed it, I will meet with my GK coach and get his thoughts on the error. After we have reviewed the tape together and have come to a conclusion, it’s time to forget it and move forward.
I understand not everyone has access to game film, or even a GK coach. That being said, it’s still important that you break down the play tactically in your mind (it’s probably better to wait until the next day) and identify what you could have done differently. Sometimes it’s hard to admit guilt (especially to yourself), but you have to be willing to accept when you could have done better.
4.) Forget about it.
Moving forward is the final step. You must be able to let a mistake go and put it out of your mind or it will affect your future performances. It’s important to remember that every goalkeeper in the world makes mistakes. But the best GKs make the fewest mistakes because they quickly learn from them and move forward – they don’t let errors compound.
So keep striving for the perfect game – this is what we do as goalkeepers. If we didn’t, our standards would bee too low. But also remember mistakes are part of the game. What matters is how you handle them.
Until the next time,
Jon Busch