Additional Post: March Part 2: Beating the Mind

As a goalkeeper, there are situations you have to be able to handle that most would consider scary, even borderline crazy.  Several times throughout the game keepers are challenged one-on-one and are required to dive at the attackers feet.  Other times the keeper might be called on to make a big save that requires you be close to flying.  For this instance, it's the flying that has always scared me.

The ball is flying to your right, nearing the point where the cross bar and the post meet.  You need to make the jump to get your hands high enough to catch the ball, and the only way to do that is to take the leap of faith.   You have to have total trust in your body and skills that you know how to land properly and hold on to the ball.  It took a very long time for me to be able to know that everything would be okay.  I'm not going to break anything in the process because I know how to land.  I have been taught how to dive.  I can do that in my sleep (well, maybe not.  But you get the point).  I know how to land and how to hold on to the ball, the next step was diving to high balls.

Essentially, you need to make a rainbow with your body.  My coach (and mentor) used to have me jump over cones, ball bags, anything that was high enough for me to dive over.  I have never been able to do it.  I get scared, I jump over it instead of let my body fly.  Finally though, I conquered it.  It took a new technique, rope between 1 and 2 feet off the ground, and about 30 more minutes.  Then I got it.  I broke the mental barrier, and also led myself to what is most likely my best answer.

The following is a picture of me making the leap of faith (and fall of doom), catching balls I never would have previously been able to save.  These pictures are without the rope since my photographer didn't show up in time for that demonstration (thanks, Dad).  However, you can see my feet off the ground.  This is towards the beginning of my dive, so I was still on my way up.  With the rope you can really see how high I get.

This next picture is of the fall of doom (as mentioned earlier).  I've got to land with my arms outstretched, ball first.  As you can see in the picture, the my hands are more on top of the ball.  This is so I can hit the ground with the ball first.  My legs then follow, one up to protect myself, and the other sliding along the ground.  This is the end of the high dives I was never previously capable of stopping (I can thank my height for that one).