Playing For Keepers: Advice to Coaches
Author: Erik Bergland
Editor: Izzy Sangaline
Erik Bergland, playing for RPI Quidditch at US Cup 12 in 2019 against Austin Quidditch
Image Credit: Teri Wilson Moseley
About the Playing for Keepers series
Playing for Keepers is a three part series from guest author Erik Bergland. Bergland has formerly played for RPI Quidditch and Revolution Quidditch and is a current member of the Boston Pandas. In this series, he discusses the keeper position, offers insight to new keepers, and advises coaches on developing talented keepers.
Practice Makes Perfect
While there’s obviously plenty that a young keeper can do on their own time to improve their skills, nothing helps more than having a coach who understands that the position is not just a fourth chaser slot. While Quidditch is fairly unique in having goalies that play offense, we shouldn’t let it obscure the fact that keepers need to develop somewhat differently from chasers. The number one thing coaches can do right off the bat is to include time in practice that is useful to keepers. The easiest way to do this is related to what I just got done talking about in my previous article: shoot at your keepers, early and often. I’d estimate that under a typical team practice schedule like what I experienced my freshman year at RPI, a new keeper (likely second or third-string) will have faced enough shots to begin improving only after the entire fall semester. Game time will certainly supplement that experience, but it has the downside of being fairly high-stakes.
Even after a full semester of practice, there’s still quite a ways to go for new keepers. At this point, they’ve probably barely learned what an average shot looks like. They still need to learn when to expect shots, how to keep their eye on the whole field, how to coordinate a defense while doing so, etc. Not to mention, if they expect to block shots from elite players, they need to learn their tendencies explicitly. This can involve playing against them, watching from the sidelines, and studying film. While chasers marking these players may be able to get by on slightly more general-purpose principles (i.e. follow their hips, keep hands in the air, force them in the direction opposite the shooting hand), keepers are looking for much more specialized information: eye movements, head fakes before particular shots, favored shooting positions or specific shot types, and so on.
Learning Shooters’ Tells
This is a highlight reel of Teddy Costa, edited by Tyger TV.
Look at 2:51-2:54 of Tyger TV’s highlight reel of Teddy Costa. This is a common shot from Costa. He likes to “look off” the short hoop, getting a keeper to start moving, and then shoot there anyway
Give developing keepers opportunities to get that information, and you’ll be surprised how much more effective they can be. However, let’s suppose we’re past shooting drills; you’re watching your keepers in scrimmage or game situations. What mistakes should you look for to stop bad habits from developing?
Positioning in Front of Hoops
Key:
Black circles with a black line behind them = hoops
Black line = hoop line
Solid red line = the line that young keepers tend to travel along
Dashed green line = the line that keepers should travel along
Green X = keeper
Blue O = ball handler on opposing team
Solid blue dot = quaffle
Far and away, the number one mistake that young keepers make is staying flat to their hoops.
Young keepers tend to travel along the red line. It’s crucial to be tracing out an arc like the green one shown to cut down angles. An example position is shown, with a green X for the keeper and blue O for the ball carrier.
What I mean by this is, if we draw a line connecting the three hoops and think of that as the “goal line” like in soccer or hockey, young keepers have a tendency to move around their hoops on a line that’s roughly parallel to that line, and about two inches away. The reason for this is very understandable: when you aren’t used to reacting to shots yet, your instinct is to put yourself as far away from the ball as possible to give yourself the most time you can to make a save.
Even as a fairly experienced keeper, I still find myself slipping into this position on days where I’m tired or off my game. The problem is that while this position gives you more time to react to a shot, you give up the ability to stand at a good angle to the shooter and take up a large portion of the shooting lane. As a result, you aren’t able to get to nearly as many shots as you should. In a perfect world, when moving around in front of the hoops keepers should be traveling along an arc: farthest away from the hoops in the center to cut off as many angles as possible, and tighter on the corners when a side hoop is a much more likely shooting opportunity than the other two.
This video is of RPI vs UVA at US Cup 12 in 2019 and was filmed by USQ.
Look at 28:06 - 28:09 of the RPI vs UVA game. Notice where I was standing here. I’m moving along the arc, cutting off a wider angle. As a result, I pick off a pass that would’ve been an easy goal and in fact score on the offense after, a two-goal swing in what was a very close game.
Of course, the world isn’t perfect (we have to defend the back of the hoops, for starters), but making your keeper think about coming off their line is crucial advice.
Picking Off Passes
Photo from “Corner Kick,“ an article on Wikipedia
The second biggest mistake many young keepers make is getting too attached to blocking shots when they should be more worried about picking off passes. Consider a corner kick in soccer.
Notice the goalie in yellow, who will potentially need to leave the goal line to try to intercept a pass.
Depending on where the ball goes, a goalie either has to put themselves in a shot-blocking position or try to pick off the pass as another player tries a header. Similarly, as keepers we stop many offenses not by blocking shots but by picking off passes through the keeper zone. These interceptions are often especially useful because they tend to happen when the other team is fully committed to scoring, and thus not in a position to fall back on defense and stop a fast break.
This video is of RPI vs UVA at US Cup 12 in 2019 and was filmed by USQ.
However, young keepers give up many of these opportunities by obsessively guarding a side hoop when a player is in no position to score. Often, you’ll observe younger keepers standing on top of a side hoop when a player is almost level with the goal line. At this point, that player is likely looking to try to throw the ball across the keeper zone to a teammate at the other side hoop. By trying to block a shot, we give up a huge portion of the middle of the keeper zone as passing real estate. When I see this happen, I coach the keeper to drop off their hoops and stay towards the middle of the front half of the keeper zone, body facing the ball carrier.
In this footage of RPI vs UVA, 4:45 - 4:48, I can see that the ball carrier is well-guarded. He’s certainly not in a shooting position. The place for me to be is in the center of my keeper zone to take away any desperation passing options.
This is a much better position for an interception, and if the ball carrier starts driving or changing their angle we can always quickly return to the hoop. This is another one of the mistakes that we sometimes intentionally make as more mature keepers, hoping to fool the offense into doing something stupid. Once again though, younger keepers need to get the hang of the positioning first. And rest assured: the offense is still developing too, and very often they’ll hand your keeper that ball anyway.
Directing the Defense
One last area where many young keepers lack confidence is in directing the defense. When a keeper is in hoops, they are usually the deepest player in the defensive zone. As a result, they can see every single other player on their team. This kind of positioning is valuable for coordinating other defenders. When players are beat, someone needs to take charge of switching who is marking who and communicating where to go after tagging in. As I mentioned above, new keepers tend not to take charge of this area of their game. They get so absorbed in trying to remember all the other lessons they’ve been taught that they leave the communication to other players. The best way to get around this is to make coordination second nature. Run drills that specifically include directing beat players, and do so until your keeper is comfortable constantly talking while still doing their job. It can also be worth sharing with your player how important this is directly. Giving a keeper a sense of leadership over your team’s defense is often the missing ingredient that lets them step up.
All told, there’s quite a lot of room for improvement in how we develop keeper prospects. Whether it’s more specific drills, the best lessons to take from other sports, or simply increasing the number of shots young keepers face, the potential exists to fortify your team’s defense around their hoops. With rules highly conducive to better shooters on the horizon, there’s never been a better time to think like a goalie. I hope that what I’ve shared has at least outlined a few ways to move forward, and I also hope that this isn’t the end of this conversation. Whether you’re a coach or a keeper, I’d love to hear your thoughts about wearing the green headband.