192ft2

This Is Not Innate

The LMSC GK Corps has spent substantial parts of the past couple training sessions working on physical courage.  Contrary to the conventional wisdom, we are not born with courage; we learn it.  Are there genetic traits that make it easier for some to stand tall and take a hit?  Of course.  But any determined person can find the grit within themselves to make a tough play. 

Roman Weidenfeller of Borussia Dortmund shows the results of being trained to be brave in the image below.  Some find this funny.  Some think it's nuts.  GKs watch and think, good boy, you closed down the shooter and got close, your hands are below your knees as the ball is about to be struck, weight is on the front half of your feet, movement is forward, but controlled, and you didn't flinch until after the ball hit you.  And he stays on his feet; he knows that ball won't go far, and he's going to need to make a second play.  

How did Weidenfeller get here?  Thousands of repetitions of close-in saves.  Being put in situations very much like this in training over and over and over.  If you threw a rock at him from this distance, he'd duck like any normal person; through training he's learned that on the pitch, the ball is not to be feared (though this certainly stung a little) and his job is to cowboy up and take the hit.  The context, the training, and the faith in his skills and technique let him make this save...in any other environment, his "instincts" will be just like yours and mine.