Becoming a Champion Water Polo Goalie 2-Pack

Former Olympian and current U.S. Olympic Development Program National Goalkeeper Coach, Sean Nolan, presents a series of drills designed to help goalies stop more shots. Every aspect of goalkeeping is covered as Coach Nolan shows off the exercises he uses to build championship goalies.

Warm-Up and Positioning

Coach Nolan starts with a great hand-eye coordination warm-up for goalies that prepares them mentally for a game or practice. These two drills use various sizes and numbers of balls to help train a goalie's mind and reaction time.

Next, you'll be shown a slide show discussing the importance of a goalie's positioning within the triangle. By "Living in the Triangle," goalkeepers can reduce unnecessary movement and force shooters to take shots that goalies are already prepared to block.

Living in the Triangle

Train your goalies to become master of the angles between the posts. In this PowerPoint "cheat sheet," Coach Nolan gives you coaching tips and strategies to help train your goalies to find the correct position within the goal, taking away as many shooting angles as possible, while giving up a little to the left and right. You'll discover basic principles and red zone strategies.

Goalie Drills

Coach Nolan demonstrates over 15 drills that work on keeping the goalie in correct base position, keeping their hands light and ready to cover all corners of the goal, and being ready for unexpected situations. Primarily working on keeping proper balance, these drills will test your goalie's reaction and show if they are truly in good position.

You will also learn more hand-eye coordination drills based in the water. In these exercises, goalies work on being light in the water and using quick reflexes to pass and block multiple shots on goal. Coach Nolan also covers drills to help goalies react to various shots and challenge themselves by baiting shooters into certain shots.

Test Sets

Coach Nolan runs through a few quick drills to show how the goalie is improving without looking at stats of blocks, saves and goals allowed. He encourages the use of film to help the athlete visually understand where they can improve and how they are progressing.

This video contains some of the best techniques and drills for water polo goalies that are effective at any level.

80 minutes. 2016.

Passing

Being able to pass fast and accurately is a necessity for goalkeepers, so your team can get out and counter attack in transition. Coach Nolan gives you a passing checklist full of coaching tips and strategies that create correct passing fundamentals. He presents drills that focus on the technical skills of the pass and making correct reads.

Communication

Train your goalies to be better leaders in the water through communication. Coach Nolan covers communication skills, tone, strategies and more to be the leader on defense your team needs for success.

Game Situations

Besides being the last line of defense, a goalie has the best view of game situations. Coach Nolan discusses the importance of a goalie's communication with teammates and how they can be a leader on defense using positive and constructive communication.

You will see five examples that give goalies the tools they need to stop the most common game shots. From one on goalies to penalty shots, these "tricks" will help reduce the probability of an "easy" goal for your opponents.

Mental Game

The goalie's mental and emotional state should be consistent to keep them from going down a spiral of discouragement. Sharing the blame, being confident and positive, and being able to brush off mistakes while learning from them will keep a goalie's head in the game and help them stay prepared for the next shot to come.

Coach Nolan covers nearly every aspect of the goalkeeper position in this information-packed video. This is a great resource for coaches and goalies of all levels.

69 minutes. 2016.