U-21 team get keeping coach

Though it was one of those regulation age-bracket practices,there was an uncommon sight on Wednesday afternoon at the Ambedkar Stadium.

Though it was one of those regulation age-bracket practices,there was an uncommon sight on Wednesday afternoon at the Ambedkar Stadium. The Delhi under-21 probables were divided into two groups,the goalkeepers and the rest.

And for the custodians,the lessons from former Delhi keeper Ishwar Singh Brar were entirely different from what Chaman Bhandari was teaching the rest. Providing a separate coach for the goalkeepers isnt a first in Delhi,but this year the state body is hoping to fine tune 50-60 percent of the work well ahead of April 28 when the tournament begins in Goa.

Our goalkeepers never had the proper training ahead of these national-level tournaments. They need to improve on the skills which a normal coach cant give attention too. A goalkeeper constitutes a teams 50-60 per cent of the strength, said DSA secretary NK Bhatia.

Specialised assistance

Brar calls it the little details and says he missed assistance of this kind during his playing days. In our time it used to be a laymans exercise for goalkeepers. We used to follow the strikers and mid-fielders in everything they did. But a goalkeeper has different things to do which a normal coach doesnt bother too much about, Brar said.

A goalkeeper is the first attacker and the first defender. A few dives and blocks are not enough. Hand-collection,angle of receiving,gripping,body position,difference between collecting a ground and air ball and communication with defenders are a few facets of goalkeeping that a normal coach can easily overlook or might not have idea of. Here the role of a specialist becomes important, he added.

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