BANGALORE: With just two weeks left for India’s international hockey campaigns in the Champions Trophy and InterContinental Cup Tournaments the goalkeepers are being put through their paces to adopt new strategies to conform to the change of rules.
Former Indian goalkeeper Charles Comelius, who is training the custodians, opined “that wards were shaping up well but there 1s”sti&. some way to go before they perfect their strategies
Under the new rule the goalkeepers are not allowed to lie down across the hole mouth while defending penalty corners. As such the change in the strategy would mean falling back on the old and once obsolete (bot now necessary) techniques.
Accordingly the goalkeepers are now being trained on three basic methods.
- To cover the center angle of the penalty comer hit, leaving the two other defenders to guard the posts.
- To take up the right post and center ‘while one defender would man the left post.
- To charge straight at the penalty
Smer hitter in an attempt to narrow the angle of a direct hit. In other words the vertical goalkeeping.
When the news about the change of goalkeeping rules was first made public there was considerable confusion in the Indian camp as to the exact date when the rile would come into effect. Subsequently it was decided that rather than speculate it be best for the goalkeepers to change the along the lines of the strategies mentioned above,
To this end a lot of work is being put into it; The goalkeepers now in training here initially were a confused lot as they out of ‘sheer habit tended to lie flat across the goalmouth thus, committing a breach. Although one is yet to learn of the penalty for such a breach, it is reckoned that the goalkeeper by lying across the goalmouth while defending a penalty stroke.
Charles in a chat here on Monday pointed out the present set of goalkeepers were made to adopt similar strategies as their predecessors in the previous decade. ‘We used to have an understanding about the angle one would take while defending. ‘And We are teaching the boys almost the ‘same strategies which we had adopted say 15 to 20 years ago, said Charles.
There was also some talk about the defenders manning the posts wearing abdomen guard and even a mouth piece (asin boxing) but for the moment the aocent has been on perfecting goalkeeping techniques.
Meanwhile the two Indian teams had their first taste of an afternoon match when on Monday the players laboured for 70 minutes under trying conditions, The afternoon heat took a heavy toll of the players stamina but the conditions would be quite similar (if a little cooler) when India play hosts West Germany at 3 p.m. on the ‘opening day of the Champions Trophy in Berlin next month.
Under the circumstances the teams (one bound for Berlin and the US and the other for Spain) struggled all the way.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 26, 1989
