Goalkeeper Psychology - It Doesn't Get Any Easier The Older You Get

Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper and legend ROMAIN LARRIEU has just reached his triple century of appearances for Argyle, after returning to the side after a prolonged period on the bench whilst young Spurs loanee David Button was between the sticks.

However, the club captain, as deferential as ever, took the opportunity to praise his young protégé who stepped aside for the Colchester game.

David Button has made 22 appearances in his loan spell from Tottenham, but was dropped in favour of Argyle's French stalwart custodian, and Romain moved quickly to praise the 21-year-old.

"I need to talk to you about Butts," said Romain. "Without wishing to sound harsh on the rest of the team, it isn't easy to play behind a team that is losing. No matter how old you are. On a few occasions, it was just a matter of keeping the score down.

"Before I got dropped when Kevin Stockdale (on loan from Fulham) came in, I had played for 18 months behind a struggling team. It's just not easy when you are a goalkeeper and the ball goes in the net all the time.

Experience can get you through it, but when you are young like Butts, you ask yourself too many questions. He was not at fault for anything, but, when you let in goal after goal, your confidence goes down. He's a great lad. Unfortunately you see the character of people when they get dropped, or when it's getting tough. There was no doubt in my mind the way he would react.

I know how I was at his age. But he's done brilliant. Anyone who has watched us play this year will have to say he's done brilliant for us. He shouldn't bang his head against the wall, and I know he won't, because he is positive and clued in."

Wise words indeed from the Argyle keeper and it sums up nicely the life of a goalkeeper - young and old.

Gavin Wilson
Senior Sports Performance Coach
www.MindsiOnline.com

Clothes Maketh The Coach

Fascinating article in The Telegraph newspaper yesterday:

Sports scientists at the University of Portsmouth studied the effect a coach's appearance had on the players' impressions of their competence.

Dr Richard Thelwell said: ''We have found that the clothing that coaches wear can have a direct effect on the players' perceptions of the coach's ability.

''Players look to their coach to provide technical skills, to motivate them and to lead them.

''A coach in a suit suggests strategic prowess which is obviously ideal for a match.

''In our study, coaches wearing a suit were perceived as being more strategically competent than those wearing sporting attire.

''However, when wearing sporting attire, they were perceived to be more technically competent than those in a suit.''

For the research, published in the International Journal of Sport Psychology, the researchers asked 97 men and women to observe and give their reactions to static photographs of four different coaches.

The pictures depicted coaches who were of lean physique and dressed in a tracksuit, large physique and dressed in a tracksuit, lean physique and dressed in a suit and large physique and dressed in a suit.

The coach who was of large build and wearing smart clothes was uniformly ranked the lowest in terms of their competence to motivate, develop technique, develop game strategy, and build athlete character.

The coach who was lean and wearing a tracksuit was rated best for technical and character-building abilities which were skills most required at training and development of players and was rated equal best for ''ability to motivate players''.

The coach who was lean and smartly dressed was rated best as a strategist, the skill most expected and required at matches.

Dr Thelwell said: ''First impressions can have a powerful and long-lasting effect, no matter how quickly those judgments were made.

''From the research, we know that sportsmen and women make snap decisions about their opponents based on first impressions.

''Such impressions then often influence the expectations of the performance outcome that ultimately results in success or failure.

''In coaching it is vital a strong rapport develops between the coach and the athlete.

''Sportsmen and women have to be willing to be persuaded to push the boundaries physically and mentally because the coach believes they can push harder or even because the coach just tells them to but, to date, very little research has been done on what happens in those first few moments, and more importantly whether the athlete is prepared to go along with the ideals of the coach.

''While we are becoming more aware of how athletes might judge coaches, we are still unaware of the processes that athletes go through to be able to develop impressions of coaches and this is something that we are now starting to look at.''

Jessica De La Souza
Senior Sports Performance Coach
www.MindsiOnline.com

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