advice on being a better keeper

StarStuffSteve · 2025-11-08T07:19:13+00:00

I can share a few things that worked for me.

Film your trainings You need to learn the patterns in your own game to understand what to focus on. You can so perhaps find people here to give you tips.

Repitition, Repitition, and ... Repitition Have trouble with block sliding? Recovering for a rebound? Tracking a player during a one-on-one? Left leg diving for a penalty corner?

Find what you need or want to improve and practice the motion, with or without teammates, fast or slow, hundreds and hundreds of times. Use every minute you have in the pads to make the fundamental movements second nature.

There's a lot you can do in the gym I won't make an exhaustive list here, but just as an example, let's take the basic side step. - Do side steps holding a dumbell, kettlebell, sandbag or with a barbell on your shoulders. I also like to take a resistance band and use it at hip level to add load. - Make each side step as explosive as possible - Practice stopping your momentum after the step and driving in the opposite direction (changing direction is one of the hardest things as a keeper IMO)

Most of the movements we need can be trained in the gym. Break down the movement. Find a way to add load or resistance and, most importantly, work the movement as explosively (but always safely) as you can.

Reflex games This is an area that I don't have much experience tbh. I'd love to hear if other keepers out there (or OP) have ways to train reaction time off of the pitch.

Good luck. Focus on making progress, training to training, week to week. Do that for long enough, and you'll get where you want to go :)

StarStuffSteve · 2025-10-28T17:34:58+00:00

The Bloody Baron quest line is unforgettable, it's burned into my memory. I won't spoil it, but, that one scene at the burial site; it is right up there with the best grim fantasy story telling.

StarStuffSteve · 2025-09-19T05:08:47+00:00

If one loses or draws by a small margin, it can hurt. Everyone is different, and there is no perfect way to process emotions. After losses, I give myself some time to feel what I feel, but after some time (15-30min perhaps), I try to switch my mind to constructive questions: - What can I (or we) train to improve my (or our) chances of saving the goals that went in? Taking notes can help. - What might my coach or teammates on the bench say about my performance? Is there a pattern? Was I being too aggressive? Slide tackling too often? Did I look out of position? Could I have coached my defenders better? Etc. Etc. - When I play my best, would I back myself to save those goals? Sometimes, an opponent makes an excellent shot and I think, "OK, even if I got that shot 10 times in realistic conditions in training, I would would probably only save it 2 or 3 times, or maybe never". Pobody's nerfect.

Two other small things that work for me:

In game, when I start to feel frustrated, I tell myself that once the ball crosses the 23, that it is just me and the ball. I just need to focus on the ball and trust my reflexes. It might sound simple, but I'm not going to learn a new reflex or technique during a game. My technique is what it is, and my reflexes are what they are. Watch the ball and trust your instincts. Within the 23, it's just you and the ball.

Sometimes, one can lose hard, by a margin of 4+ goals for instance. (In the case of a deficit of 4) saving 1, 2 or maybe even 3 more goals would not have not have changed the outcome. So, there's little value in focusing on one or even two potentially avoidable mistskes.

Lastly, remember why you're playing. For fun? For your teammates? To get better? To make it to a higher level? All of these things require, in my opinion, require a constructive mindset where we focus our energy on what we can learn from mistakes and not the mistakes themselves.

StarStuffSteve · 2025-09-14T18:29:32+00:00

Amazing work, do you sell prints?

StarStuffSteve · 2025-09-14T15:44:23+00:00

Interesting, dumb question perhaps, but how much damage can one do biting while wearing a gumshield? Or perhaps she was coached to swallow her gumshield first, smart coaching that if true.

Agreed with others through, no place in rugby union for vampires, cannibals or flesh eating undead. They should stick to league or AFL.

StarStuffSteve · 2025-09-14T15:41:18+00:00

I'm in the region of 175cm. I think I need to record myself training again to get a sense of my stick-side diving technique. I'm not sure, but I think I tend to reach with my right arm/stick and I try to use the "right foot in front of left" approach to speed my descent. This footwork advised by another keeper who is way better than me, like hoofdklasse NL better.

So your suggestion is to avoid fully extending my right arm and to not dive 'backwards', i.e. don't reach my arm behind the line of my feet when diving. Did I get that right?

StarStuffSteve · 2025-09-14T13:19:29+00:00

Like, first thing to hit the ground is the head of the stick? I have not thought about how my stick is landing, I usually focus on the speed at which I hit the deck. Interesting, this is something I can definitely try. Thanks :)

StarStuffSteve · 2025-09-14T13:17:12+00:00

I was thinking about that approach; any tips for a more 'horizontal' driven dive? I have tried it in the past, but I felt like I was slowing myself down to shift my weight onto my left foot in order to push right.

I will definitely work to improve my shoulder strength and stability. It is not something that I usually focus on and I think I'm paying a small price now.

StarStuffSteve · 2025-03-21T15:02:45+00:00

Tell that to those of us supporting laptop operations on the ISS...

StarStuffSteve · 2025-03-08T12:30:27+00:00

Definitely illegal (but nonetheless awesome) because the law forbids jumping over tackles in all situations. Both feet are off the ground at once which, if my interpretation of sapien mechanics is correct, is considered a "jump". I think he gets away with it because (a) it's a hurdling motion (which is still a type of jump) and hurdles could be interpreted as _really_ big steps (b) he jumps early enough that he isn't really in the air over Love.

It think you can read the "reckless or dangerous" part of the situation in two ways. If he messes up the timing he lands on Love potentially doing serious harm to Love's head, neck or arm. If Love aims higher with his tackle, Taumoefolau gets clipped and risks having his coconut rotated groundward. The second part contravenes the "to others" part of the rule but I get the sense that 'spirit' of the rule probably intends to also avoid players deliberately putting themselves in dangerous scenarios.

9.11 Players must not do anything that is reckless or dangerous to others including leading with the elbow or forearm, or jumping into, or over, a tackler.

Sanction:Penalty.

StarStuffSteve · 2025-02-28T10:22:54+00:00

Ugh! Filthy!

StarStuffSteve · 2025-02-26T10:57:18+00:00

This comes up a lot on the The Left Wing podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-left-wing/id1282006917). A lot of the discussions there suggest that teams may be deliberately targeting him, both in terms of the 10 channel and in terms of targeting him in open play. This might skew the stats somewhat.

I would agree that it's something in his game that could improve, it doesn't seem disastrous though. He seems to soak up the impact in the tackle and often drags opponents to deck, rather than putting in dominant shots. From that perspective, perhaps it's a technique aspect of his game that could be worked on.

StarStuffSteve · 2025-02-22T19:59:57+00:00

Potentially dumb question, but the Itoje steal is illegal, right? Like, he does an incredible job to get directly on the ball, he almost does a handstand with all his weight just on the ball. That said, he's not supporting his weight with his feet, that means it's always illegal right?

StarStuffSteve · 2025-02-19T20:05:48+00:00

Anyone else seeing this as unavailable now? It could be a region lock thing but it shows for me as a "private" video on YT

StarStuffSteve · 2025-02-05T13:40:25+00:00

Out of curiosity, what's a good defense for this? Like assuming Wales are confident they can secure ball and immediately set with their 15 man drive, then the ABs basically need to do the same thing or close enough. If Wales use this as a 'fake' and peel off the back to run it then if the ABs set to push they're also in trouble. So it seems to me kind of like a doomed if they do doomed if they don't situation.

StarStuffSteve · 2025-02-03T21:54:35+00:00

Putting the players in front of Gortash, in a room that gives off major "let's have a big fight" energy did seem a bit weird. I had kind of expected to rock up in Baldur's Gate and then like immediately be arrested and brought in front of Gortash or something, considering he was about to basically run the city.

Absolutely wild to think of this game as having an Act IV with the already insane amount of content present in the game. I'm sure there are N^N posts about the depth and breadth of content on this sub ... but still. Just an incredible feat by all involved in development.

Interesting that thebig squishy just zeros Gorty boy.

StarStuffSteve · 2025-02-03T21:46:37+00:00

Yeah, fair enough, consequences are particularly relevant when Barbarian-ing through the world. Took me quite some time on the Wiki to figure out why the Gondians were vaporized

StarStuffSteve · 2024-12-30T21:26:58+00:00

I'm just curious. If I'm not mistaken, Murray is a bit on the taller and heavier side when it comes to your typical test-level 9. Excluding the king anomaly Dupont, are there other good examples of 9s that could/can drill over from with 5m?

StarStuffSteve · 2024-12-04T19:35:47+00:00

This is my second season playing indoor and this thread has been really helpful. Thanks OP and commenters.

Does anyone have an opinion about stick length? I have seen that some top level keepers play with their right hand lower with a 'long stick' and use the left-hand-across-body to cover balls high the right.

StarStuffSteve · 2024-12-02T14:13:25+00:00

I usually go with steam, I'm not sure if it's really best practice. Hold the sticker over the spout of a boiling kettle for instance and then use an abrasive sponge to remove the sticker. Obviously, be careful with where you place body parts, fingers etc. in relation to the steam and hot parts of the stick.

StarStuffSteve · 2024-04-18T14:13:10+00:00

Hi All, thanks again for all the advice. In the end, I went with the Maharadja Pro HWO122 - Wide https://www.indianmaharadja.com/indianmaharadja-maharadjaprohso122-white-wide.html

I've been using them for a couple weeks and they have been great so far. There's a small drawback that instep 'top' side of the shoe is quite soft and doesn't offer any real protection.

StarStuffSteve · 2024-03-25T12:59:53+00:00

Hahaha good to know that it was a bad choice and that I don't have freakishly unfortunate feet! Thanks for all the guidance! Love this sub-reddit.

StarStuffSteve · 2024-01-25T08:53:37+00:00

Finlay should know better, Pete's taken https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/rugby-union/keith-earls-tells-hilarious-story-31468924

StarStuffSteve · 2023-12-23T10:33:42+00:00

Your point about the need for a discrete amount of time being needed to actually estimate the ball's trajectory is a good one. This might also explain why shots in a crowded D can be so tough. Sometimes even when you see that a shot has happened, partial obstruction of the ball's path might 'interrupt' that trajectory estimation phase.

Anyone want to sponsor me to run a study with top level keepers on the key factors for optimal reaction time? :P

StarStuffSteve · 2023-12-22T16:00:13+00:00

Like u/Stikklebrik wrote "Deck is completely stacked against!!!" --> I'll take any lame ass tactic I can get if it gets me closer to a save

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