Have You Got Ginga?
February 17, 2007
Ginga (pronounced “Zhinga”) is all about the fluidity of movement of a footballer, translated through the rhythm of the body and inspired by sound. Have you got it? Brazilians do. When I was training as a young goalkeeper my coach who had played professionally in South America had taught me Ginga…but I never quite understood what that meant for a goalkeeper being the tally gangly kid I was back then. So what does Ginga entail, and how can it take your game to the next level? Let’s take a look.
Ginga is defined as “an almost indefinable, mystical quality of movement and attitude possessed only by Brazilians and evident in everything they do. The way they walk, talk, dance and approach everything in their lives.” I think that the definition is a little limited, as Ginga is really universal, and not just limited to “Brazilians” alone. If you put your heart and soul into any art form, what you will find is a natural rhythm, you’ll walk to a different beat than most and it will show in every action you endeavour to take in your life.
How does Ginga translate into goalkeeping? Let’s take a look:
- Feel the Ball: Just like the best of Brazil have a natural feel for the ball, so to should a goalkeeper have a feeling for the ball with their hands. That feel for the ball produces a natural authority, it resonates confidence to opposing attackers and your defence.
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Dance Like There Is No Tomorrow: Great goalkeepers know how to dance. Now, I’m not talking about donning a slick pair of leotards and a tutu! No, dancing is all about footwork, the way you work your goal line, the way you attack the ball and many other scenarios specific to a goalkeeper. Great footwork is the hallmark of great goalkeeping, so put some ginga into it. The more you move during the game, the more you keep a natural rhythm throughout. Movement throughout a 90 minute match enhances a goalkeepers alertness which can only translate into better goalkeeping feats.
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Talk The Talk: Have you ever heard Samba? When Brazilians sing and dance it’s hypnotic…it’s tribal. When you communicate with the rest of your team mates, you must communicate with them so that it becomes second nature, that they move with the natural rhythm of your speech. Knowing how to infect your team mates with natural communication allows you to streamline the way they react to you.
Recently, I was contacted by Neal Baird, the Director of Brazilian Soccer Schools Australia & New Zealand who has read many of the articles here at Keeper Skool. If you’re a young footballer searching for that elusive Ginga, you should check out the school, which is international and has helped to produce English Premier League players by the tender age of 17. If you would like to see the international site, check out Brazilian Soccer Schools.
Daring, Dashing David Seaman!
February 14, 2007
More like a dashing buccaneer from a bygone era, there is no denying that David Seaman innovated the art of goalkeeping in his time as England’s Number 1. He could be best described as a show stopping, shot stopper and captain extraordinaire for Arsenal. This video resonates some of the best practice goalkeeping techniques any goalkeeper should adopt. Larger than life in goals, Seaman was able to cover his area tremendously well, he had great agility and phenomenal leadership. Another fierce aspect of his game was the steely resolve he instilled throughout his tenure, and his giant ability to cut angles better than an expert sushi chef to an unsuspecting eel (that made sense). This video is a tribute to one of my favorite goalkeepers of all time, ladies and gentleman…David Seaman.
Anatomize Your Training
February 13, 2007
London town was big noise and a chaotic rush. I had to hide away somewhere, so I climbed off The Tube, trudged through the slippery streets and ducked into Border’s near Charing Cross Station and Leicester Square. I sifted dumbly through the thousand and one titles when by chance I came across a stack of books in a box that had either not been packed away on the shelves by a lazy student/employee, or were not too schmick for a cosmopolitan Londoner’s eye. I fumbled through the box until I uncovered a gem, the Muscle & Fitness Training Notebook(2003). This handy stack of training notes has served me extremely well through my studies as a fitness instructor and within my own training regimes.
One of the questions I am often asked by our readers is what exercises are going to give you the biggest bang for your fitness buck. The answer is always “It depends”. I think the question about specific exercises is a great one, but short sighted. Why do I think this? Well, do we really need the shortest route to exercise effectiveness, or better goalkeeping? I tend to think that the greatest gains are self-taught, and we often try to find an “experts” opinion, which is great. What is more important is trying to uncover the reason why a particular exercise is important for you as a competitive goalkeeper. We need to start anatomizing.
So what is anatomizing? Anatomizing is the science of discovering your genetic potential. It starts by grasping the concept of your somatotype, that is, are you endo (big boned), ecto (nice & skinny) or meso (ripped and muscular) morphic. Then we start looking at individual muscles and their functions during various actions. For example the rectus abdominus, helps flex the spine forward, therefore we train our abdominals. Your biceps brachii on the other hand help flex your elbow and supine your forearm, so the best training method is the barbell curl. If I wanted train my pronator teres, which assists in flexion of the elbow I can utilize seated dumbbell curls. But you knew that already right?
Yep, getting scientific and having a fundamental understanding of you anatomy, will help you uncover glitches in your goalkeeper training via specific exercises. So before you go down the quick route and ask an “expert”, how about learning how to anatomize yourself! Your body will thank you for it.
Are You Remarkable?
February 12, 2007
Unique is obsolete when it comes to goalkeeping. I want you to discard that word from your vocabulary, because it is isolating. Everyone knows that goalkeeping is a unique position, that it has a different training methodology (oh…you didn’t know?), that it is an art form. We focus too much on technique, because of the word “unique” and it’s silly. What if we created a new goalkeeper training methodology that focused on the remarkable? Would it enhance your game 150%? I’m certain of it! So why do I think you should train to be a remarkable goalkeeper? Let me guide you through it.
Lance Armstrong would have been just another rider during in the Tour De France if it weren’t for his remarkable strength to overcome the hurdle of cancer and train his body to new limits. Michael Jordan would have been just another draft pick, if he hadn’t fine tuned his game so that he could suspend time and fly over his opponents. Mohammed Ali would have been clobbered by George Foreman if it weren’t for his great mental fortitude to “Rope-a-Dope”. Peter Schmeichel would have never have been such a flexible and formidable wall of strength if he had not taken risks that other goalkeepers would shirk away from.
As goalkeepers we tend to be confined by the 18 yard box. We see a white line surrounding us, and subconsciously we become “unique”, we are content to just do our role. But what about being remarkable? What about being a great commander of your defence? What about being a great force for attacking play? Why not attack the goal with the rest of your team during a corner kick? Can you do it? You bet cha! Remarkable goalkeepers (and athlete’s for that matter) create value to their team. They create value by becoming greater than what their role entails them to be. They create value by training smarter, and becoming better athletes. Mostly, they create value by being remarkable, by pushing over boundaries.
What have you done for your goalkeeping game to make you remarkable?
When It’s Cold Outside…Don’t Forget To Warm Up!
February 8, 2007
Bury was frozen, and I was the only thing moving on an early Monday morning a few years back. What I learnt very early growing up as a goalkeeper was that in freezing cold conditions, the less you move…the more you are going to hurt after your training session. It is pivotal to keep moving before, during and after your goalkeeper training in winter conditions and I received a very cool question from one of our readers, so here it goes:
The reason I’m writing you is that last night I had a game and today I’m a sore as hell. This surprises me because I don’t usually get sore, I’ve been playing keeper for three or four years now and I’ve yet to be this sore after a game. It was cold last night, and it was a late game. But this was a sore like I hurt myself, but in multiple places (knees, elbows, hip). It’s nothing that is going to keep me out of the playoff next week, but I’m wondering if you know of any tips to prevent joint soreness?
John’s a 23 year old goalkeeper, and was never enlightened to some pretty simple rules of thumb when it came to training n wintry conditions. Here are 5 killer tips we could all utilize to kick pain in the pants:
1. Cold…did you warm up? Usually in colder conditions you should warm-up for at least 20 minutes (sometimes more) before you even start the game. You should also warm down actively after the game…don’t just stop immediately. Active recovery will help prevent muscle and joint soreness. Also, get a good hot shower and rug up quickly after the game and warm down.
2. Late Game…did you load your carbohydrates right before the game and during the week? If you are playing late in the evening, you might be able to put in an extra (small) amount of complex carbohydrates to help fuel your performance and prevent fatigue. Did you consume some simple carbohydrates immediately after? You should, as it refuels muscle glycogen in the working muscle, preventing fatigue.
3. Preventing joint soreness? I don’t know how old you are John, but I am 28 and usually about my age is a great time to start stocking up on glucosamine and fish oil tablets to help prevent joint soreness, swelling, and help rebuild damaged cartilage…it has helped me to no avail during my knee rehabilitation. Just a suggestion though.
4. How about some remedial therapy. Go for a massage session to help alleviate all the aches and pains after your game. My Mrs. is a massage therapist so I’m lucky!
5. Pain killers? All of the above are natural ways to alleviate the pain and enhance performance. In London I used to train twice a day mostly for strength and power, and I would utilize aspirin to help manage the pain…cause there was tonnes of it. Again, just a suggestion.
Hopefully the above points will give you an overview on how to better manage the bite of winter before, during and after your goalkeeper training session.
And Then It Rained…
February 7, 2007
Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to go? Still had the feeling that you wanted to stay? A little bit of Jimmy Durante could be just the reason why we stay at the same level of fitness and never excel. My old team mates wanted to get together last night and they had second thoughts as the storm clouds rolled into the city. What is your level of determination?
Following are some points that you should consider when planning to take on the epic adventure of a training program:
- It’s a Hard Gig: Can you sweat it out, push yourself through the pain and take the time to recover from any setbacks?
- I Have a Dream: Visualization is a powerful thing. In fact, Schwazenegger used to visualize his legs as huge tree trunks when lifting hundreds of kilograms worth of weight. Can you see yourself reaching your goals?
- Half Good Is Never Good Enough: One training session every week, is better than one training session every couple of weeks, and even one training session per week is never really good enough.
- My Friends Said: So do mine, they say a lot, but if you don’t listen to yourself inwardly…you never get any results outwardly and others dictate your journey.
- This Expert Told Me: There are many experts in many different fields, it took them years to gain the title of “expert” but at the end of the day you never really know anything unless you experience it yourself, so who are you listening too, make your own mind up.
So when storm clouds roll in, and you feel that your goalkeeper training is being washed away by the rain, think about how determined you are to be patient enough for the sun to shine through again…It’s will be well worth the wait.
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