It's always hard to start things, isn't it? It's hard to get up in the morning. Couldn't be bothered to put your goalkeeper gear into your bag? De-motivated to place your key in the ignition to get down to the park? How about starting a strength training or aerobic exercise regime? I remember reading a line from Sun Tzu many years back which stated something that epitomizes the character of the best athletes in the world. The word contained within that line was momentum. One of our readers asked me a very important question about planning to start a strength training regime and it led me to think that no good plan is executed without momentum. Following is the question:

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One of my biggest weaknesses as a goalkeeper was my goalkicking technique. There you go, I said it. Every goalkeeper has their own glitches and funnily enough they can be ironed out very easily at a young age. When I was growing up there was no backpass rule. Apart from this I never...ever played in the outfield. What a lethal combination for a goalkeeper playing at an elite junior level as I would find out in the latter stages of my development. Two of the biggest benefits to my kicking game over the past 6 years or so was the development of my leg muscles and playing in the outfield from time to time. Following is a fabulous question from one of our Keeper Skool brethren. I've added some scientific studies to help verify the above pints I have made for good measure.

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With recent news about Cech's almost fatal head clash, I decided to post a video tribute to a goalkeeper many consider one of the best on the planet. The following article at Tribalfootball.com shows that goalkeeping is definitely not a position for the faint of heart. It takes raw guts and sheer determination to fight it out in the English Premier League, and at just 25 years of age, Peter Cech shows formidable size, brilliant positioning and super fast reflexes...something every young goalkeeper can learn from and aspire to. I think the video pretty much sums up the courage that Cech has shown in goal for Chelsea. One of the stand out snippets of this selection of saves is one where Cech catches a very sharp low ball. The keyword being catch...anyone can parry, but it takes phenomenal hand skills to catch a powerful, low drive on goal. Classic goalkeeping technique.

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Like a Romulan Mind Meld, one of our fantastic readers and myself, were on the same astral plane the other night. I was watching the World Cup of Beach Soccer on ESPN late at night, and thought back to the amazing training sessions we used to have growing up as a junior goalkeeper. When I logged onto the net later on in the night, I had this awesome questions awaiting me form another fellow Aussie goalkeeper:

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Maybe it is just me being a dad, but I don't know for the life of me why children would end up brawling at a soccer match? This recent article in The Daily Telegraph, told a terrible tale of two junior socccer teams in suburban Sydney engaging in an all in brawl...50 people to be exact. My personal opinion dictates that fear for ones life, and love for football are not intertwined. I think that whoever the players were who started the brawl had no love for soccer at all. Is it a symptom of what we see in global events such as The World Cup?

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Barthez has finally retired from football, and some goalkeeping fans have shown either great praise for his goalkeeping ability, or brushed him aside as no more than a lucky clown. Winning a World Cup and a Euro championship is a phenomenal achievement. Barthez has accomplished both over a 15 year playing career that also encompassed two English Premiership titles and scores of other silver-ware under his goalkeeper jersey!Following is a video compilation  of Fabien Barthez. Barthez shows superior positioning, and amazing agility with razor sharp reflexes, you'll enjoy the following video like a fine French vintage!

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Injury prevention can be maximzed through proper strength training, we talk about it a lot here at Keeper Skool. But what about general goalkeeping technique? One of the key reasons why there should be a dedicated...and educated goalkeeper coach on the coaching roster of every club is that proper technique from an early age solves many injury problems as a young goalkeeper gets on with age. One Ver cool young goalkeeper sent me this awesome question:

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I love the fact that we get so many very cool young goalkeepers sending through their questions from around the globe. Mostly, because I know that when they have a concern, 99% of the time I have been there before them. Following is a question I recieved from a very cool, up and coming young goalkeeper from Canada. What he said in the following Q &A really resonated with me, and I hope my answer is something that many young goalkeepers can utilize to enhance their performance:

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I'm a father of a beautiful little girl. I sometimes wonder how it will feel when she tells me she wants to be a goalkeeper one day just like daddy? Goalkeepers are a unique breed. Goalkeeper's whom are girl's show a telling difference when it comes to nutrition from their male counterparts. Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus they tell us, and a recent study has seen that the way we teach young women goalkeepers to eat, can be profoundly different from us guys. In fact, we need to approach a female goalkeepers diet from a different perspective. Here are some findings from the study:

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