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Michael Mize. Zellmer represented Germany as goalkeeper in the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. After his playing career, he relocated to Huntington Beach, California, where he founded a goalkeeping academy. The perfect goalie that has trained some of America's top young goalkeepers. Known for his systematic, universal approach and the philosophy that goalkeeping is logic based rather than mystical.

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Meta is releasing his first book on the art of goalkeeping and transforming how the position is taught in the United States.

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Meta. Thanks for joining us here on the Game on Water Polo podcast. It's excited to be here. You're an old friend in the water polo community. And you have some incredibly exciting news. We were we've been texting back and forth.

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And let's just start it off with, like, your big announcement. You've got a new book that you've published. Just give us, like, we got a lot to talk about, but let's just start with that. So that's up at the beginning so people know exactly, what you've been working on here recently. Yeah. So so thanks. So on, on having me here and, also congratulations for your success over the last year with, all your activities.

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And, that is the, I love it. It's pretty much the new thing. That's the proof, cover of this, the Art of goalkeeping. So I try to, put all my, ideas about goalkeeping that I developed over the last, eight years. Meanwhile, together, in a in a book that everybody, it's accessible to everybody.

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It's called the Art of goalkeeping. And it's actually a universal, goalkeeper handbook. So not just for water polo. It's super helpful for water polo goalies for also for goalkeepers from other sports. So you won't find any technical drills there. For water polo, it's really the universal or the general approach. How to be a goalkeeper. I love that because, there are many sports out there that you need to keep the playing object ball, puck, whatever, out of the pipes.

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Right? Like, that's that's the whole idea that we're thinking about here. And so that universal approach and and again, as I said, like writing a book is a hard thing. It's not something that's even in my grasp of something that I could probably do at this point. But, congratulations on getting your thoughts together and putting that together.

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So, as you we'll we'll get into some of the details of that, the universal universality of goalkeeping. But let's talk about you for just a little bit like you, you have gone through this journey. You're an Olympic goalkeeper yourself in the sport of water polo. 2004, 2008, for Germany. Tell me, just tell me a let's just start with those Athens and Beijing experience, in terms of how you got from there, right.

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And maybe even before that, how you became an Olympic goalkeeper and then your journey. You're now living full time in Huntington Beach in Southern California, teaching goalkeepers, for water polo, primarily in your academy, the perfect goalie academy. But now, like, you're broadening that out to, being the guru for goalkeeping. Maybe. So I. How do you feel about.

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Just tell me your story a little bit? Me so. Yeah. Good. I've been. I try to keep it, keep it brief, but, I think it's a very exciting story. And hopefully also inspiring story for, many other athletes that are not necessarily in the hot spots of a certain sport, like, like water polo. So I, I, I'm coming or I'm originating from a very small village, 8000 people living there, that has, a lot of little sports.

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Soccer, of course. And Germany is a major sport there. That was my major sport that I started with, five, five years old already. And, they also had a little, multi-sports club and swimming was a part of it. And, it happened to be that there was, very low level, adored water polo team also there. And, my best buddy and I, with nine years old, decided, hey, let's let's, let's check out the water polo team.

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So with nine years with adults, together, and, we find it what we found, it was cool. And the coach there, had also a son in our age group and said, hey, let's build a water polo team in your in your age group. And, there was around 60, 70 miles around this village was no other water polo age group, water polo.

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So we were just an island for ourselves and started to have fun with that. And, it quickly developed that, we were we got kind of competitive in our state, which was lower Saxony and, northern Germany and, made, made the, after 3 or 4 years, the second spot on the state. So that was, that was great.

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And it happened to be that the top team didn't have a good goalkeeper, and they were in Hanover. And, all of the water polo enthusiasts, might know that Hanover is one of the Champions Leagues club in Europe right now. Yeah. So, and that was a different club in Hanover, but they needed a goalkeeper to play and compete highly on national team, on national level.

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And so they agreed with my coach that I would transfer clubs with 13 to Hanover, which was roughly 100 miles away from Buda, the little village that's, I was born in. And since then I, went twice a week per train. We are trained to always force towards back from school to practice back. And while I was doing this, I was still playing soccer.

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So I had three times soccer practice, two times water polo to practice, sometimes the other way around. And you're playing goalie for both teams. You're playing goalie? No, no. In soccer I was a field player, so I, I when I was little, I always felt attracted to be a goalie. But in soccer I was goalkeeper because I'm left footed and also left handed.

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So coaches didn't really want me to have the goal in soccer. Yes. Yeah. But fast forward so, with 13, I started commuting to Hanover for practices played on that level, and that quickly brought, attention, to me that I, made it into all the selections or rosters, at least extended ones for the youth national team.

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And with 17, I got the offer to move permanently to Hanover. I was still in high school, so in the same thing, that's a high school here in Germany where I had one and a half year school left. And, for everybody who doesn't know the system, water polo was not connected to school in Germany. So you play club and you go to a high school.

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And, so I, I, I moved into an athlete's, apartment that was sponsored by the Olympic Committee, in Hanover, the Olympic Center that we had in Hanover. And since then I lived in Hanover, played for, that club lots. And, is the club that is also First Division club right now. And then I transferred to Hanover, which is the club that plays Champions League right now also.

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Yeah. And that brought me with 19 into the senior national team. That was 1997. That is where I've played my first European Championships. And from then on I was a prominent member of the senior national team or the Olympic team. Unfortunately, in 2000, we did not qualify for the Olympics. So otherwise I would have would have made, through the Sydney one.

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But, then fortunately, in 2004, we got our qualification at a tournament in Rio de Janeiro, which was super exciting. And so, and maybe a cool story is that the opening ceremony for Athens, was on August 13th, and my birthday is August 14th. And at midnight they enlightened the fire. So that was a nice birthday present.

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My first Olympic opening ceremony on my birthday. Into my birthday. That's pretty cool. That is really cool. Like that's a candle. Hopefully you can't blow that candle out, though. It burned. It burned for 60 days. So burn, burn for a good time there. So you made it through those Olympic Games. And now you've transitioned. You're living full time in Huntington Beach, right?

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You've got a beautiful wife and two beautiful children. There are now, and you and you have been building this perfect goalie academy, for several years. I think you and I had connected earlier. And you had a version of it for Olympus. And I love that. It was fantastic to have those athletes on doing that. So talk about the perfect goalie and your and what what you have now, in terms of what that business that you've built.

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Yeah. And that's, that's very interesting. So after after 2008, I decided, to stop my international career. Not not because I couldn't play anymore because I had another goalie in Germany ahead of me who was ten years older and who was, one of the accepted or, admired best goalies of the world. And he is a former Russian, who got German international, young, citizenship at one point.

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And so I saw no real, chance for me to really get, get ahead of him because he was, he was great. And why change the starting goalie if you have a good one? Right. And, and there was the opportunity to be the team manager. I'll get into this, this branch of being team manager of the national team.

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And since my degree is in economics and organizing, networking, consulting is always marketing was always my favorite, favorite, fields. I thought, well, that's exactly what I want to do it. So I got into, being the team manager of the national team for seven years, which was really great, and that was what I wanted to do.

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That was my dream job. And I did everything I could not to be a coach because I thought, I'm, I'm, I'm I'm not even a coach. I don't have this gut feeling to step in the right people. So I didn't really feel good about coaching, meaning coaching teams. Right. And but, it happened that, people start started to ask me, hey, can you help with goalkeepers here and there?

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So I had a little idea what I wanted to, to help goalies with when, we made the decision, with a family that we said we want to live in the sun and not an unstable Germany, I would say Germany. Northern Germany especially has a lot of rain, a little bit Seattle like. And, so we we figured out a way how to get over to the US and picked Hunting Beach.

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Right. Because we, like my wife and I love beach volleyball. So. And, it was, said that in Hunting Beach there are a lot of sunny days, so. And that was successful. And we already had a four and a half year old daughter. So we trained to of we moved with our full family over there.

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And the the goal was not to do anything really. And water polo. So I had a, I had a company or the distribution rights for a company that made, customized water polo gear from Hungary and some other projects that I wanted to do. And that all started kind of good. But that's how it is. Once, everything is good, your partners that you are dealing with, get a little jealous, and they want to go behind your back.

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And so nothing really. After a year, everything kind of fell apart, right? And, I had to see, okay, what to do now. And it happened that over the months before, I had more and more requests of helping out with goalies here and there. I had clubs, and I always got the feedback from the parents. Whatever you did with our goalies was different than anybody did before, and they look different.

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They look like real goalies now. And so that brought me to this idea. Oh, apparently there was a need of somebody who can open the eyes, how the goalkeeper position and the techniques really work. And then I said, let's go all in. Let's make it an academy. So out of nothing, pretty much I said, okay, no, I'm a no, I'm a goalkeeper coach.

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Apparently people like what I'm doing and let's find a good name. And so that's, that's where the name The Perfect Goalie was born, because I already thought, let's make a general that in theory, I could be there for any sport. Right? And yeah, that was in November 2017, where the perfect goalie was born. And then I think in February 2018, our paths cross.

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Yeah. When I was together with Tony Oviedo, at a camp, where in at Olympus, where we had our first mutual camp. Where I took care of the goalies. Yeah. Well, and I've always loved you as a goalie coach because, I mean, I think, and at least in my world. Right, living in Utah, like, we don't have, we don't have a ton of international goalies just popping around on deck.

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So it's always fantastic to see that kind of experience. And have that. And, and I mean, you do you have a great way with the athletes. You know, exactly what you're talking about and the balance that they have. I think that's the key thing that I see, in terms of being able to understand and read the game.

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And, and so I, I have firsthand experience of that. And you've, you've, you've built on that in this academy and now, you're one of the ODP associate directors, as I recall. Remind me of the title there. But like, you're doing the evaluation of keepers all over the country, as I recall, right? Yes. That's correct. So I got, so so those were, I would say, two crucial steps, maybe to get my academy, the credibility that it needed.

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So the one thing was that I had a partnership with Tony Osservato, who is the water polo legend in the US, and, he, so we knew each other from before, and he needed somebody who covers the goalie, parts for most of his clinics. So we agreed, let's do that together, for a short time. And then, I got in contact with Shawn Nolan.

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The director from USA Water Polo, who organizes the goats for goalies and who organizes all the goalie events. And he liked my approach as well. And, so since then, I'm involved in ODP and pretty much up to the top, top level camps. I'm helping with, developing, evaluating the goalies and try to, you know, make them understand everything better.

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And that's that's until now, still there. So I'm still the associate director for goalies, as you can say, as a sidekick of my academy. So got it. Yeah. And so I mean, I think there's some really interesting challenges that we want to talk about. We want to talk about your book, but like what is one of the key challenges like overcoming and gaining credibility really as a German goalkeeper in the United States and any issues with that?

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Or like building your academy? That sounds like that came pretty easily. But what were some of the challenges of building that academy and getting the, credibility? Maybe it's the word. I'm looking for it in the United States. I mean, hindsight is always easy when when something works, but when when when when you're in it, you you feel, oh, how do I, how how does that, how will that be?

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And I feel the key word was I'm a two time Olympian from Germany. So Germany apparently still has a good image of water polo here in the U.S.. Yeah. And, when I did cold calling in January 2018 to see, okay, who's interested in goalkeeping, I always had a very skeptical pick up when they picked up the phone or they heard a German voice.

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But the moment I said I'm a two time Olympic goalie from Germany, they said, oh no, no, we are talking right and without knowing anything. So apparently that was something, that I had on my shoulders. That was definitely positive. And you legitimately have it on your shoulders because that's where your tattoo is, right? Yeah, that's how I have it behind my shoulder.

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Had little Olympic rings there. So that's, that's that's actually there. Yeah. No. And then I think my, my very open minded approach is something we are to say, okay, there's not somebody coming in who tells us this is how it works and there's no left and right. But I try to base everything on logic. And so even if somebody does it differently to me, I'm not saying to this person, no, that's wrong, don't do it like this.

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But I try to argue with them and say, do you really think that makes sense? What you are, what you are doing right now? Because my simple logic tells me, not really. And so I think that was, the part that made it easy. Plus maybe that I'm, hopefully a nice person to talk to and, correct that people don't, don't hate immediately when they hear me chatting with the.

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So you I mean, you've been fully immersed in the German water polo culture up as an athlete growing up and then as an Olympic athlete and then as a manager. And now you're kind of you're definitely fairly fully immersed in the US culture of water polo. What where is what are some of the differences? I'm just curious, like, what do you see as different between those two, places within the game?

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Yeah, I would say, it's less so. The game theory is less structured. So in Germany we had a lot more freedom when we were playing. So this this means you had certain obligations. Of course, there are superpositions and throughout certain tactics, but within those tactics there was a lot more freedom. And especially when I see it in college, water polo.

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I know there are many coaches that have a playbook with a lot of plays. We don't have those things, so we just knew, okay, when you play this position, these are the 2 or 3 options that you are doing depending what the defense is doing, what the offense is doing on defense, the opposite. And that was also the understanding of a goalkeeper.

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It's not you have one job and all the few players have have to cover everything else. You work probably pretty much filling up the holes that the defense left open. Right. Which, which made which I liked as a goalie very much, where I might see it now also, already a little different because I think a little bit more structure would probably have been good for us also.

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But that's a major difference that, there's not a playbook that we are having in Germany and that we have to memorize. So it's, we are keeping it very simple. So. Right. So as you. Okay. So that that's interesting. So as you're building the academy now, over the last several years, you're working with American goalkeepers. Let's talk about the title of the book.

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Right. The universal approach. When did this universal approach start to take shape? Is that something that you've always had, or is it how have you you it's not theory. It is theoretical, but you have a lot of things you want to practice. But like how did how did you how did you start to see those theories starting to come together?

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Yes. So I did not think, that my approach necessarily will be eventually universal. But I'm, I'm this person that says it all needs to make sense, and it all needs to be based on logic. And this is where if you think it through, why? So the block and water polo, with my hand be different than a block in soccer because my hand has to go to the ball.

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So. And that's for example, one key element is a flexible elbow. So I would say when I, when I saw it like this, a flexible elbow is way better than an extended elbow because my arm is covering the same area just in an angle instead of an extended arm. But I can move my arm here. Where here I can maybe do this.

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So and that is, that is universal. So and and that is something when some when I see somebody with an extended arm, I would ask him, why do you think Wesley Wesley advantage of having your arm extended. Because you can extend your arm anytime and that goes very fast. Where with a flexible arm you have a lot of directions where you can go.

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And that makes it so universal that there are so many principles being balanced using your senses, for example, being flexible, the right timing, being patient. That's what all goalies need. It doesn't matter if you're a hockey, if you're soccer, if you're lacrosse, or if you're water polo. All right. Let's let's delve into this whole idea of this universal approach a little bit more meta.

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The, you talked about the universal approach to goalkeeping. Tell me again, like, I know we've let's break it down. What does that mean? And why did you choose that over teaching individual styles? Right. Like I'm sure other coaches has a have a specific style, but just talk about some of those universal principles that apply to goalkeeping.

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Yeah. No, no. And that's that's great because especially in the beginning, I also was confronted in the with so many coaches that they said, yeah, but my goal is different, but my goal is different. And of course, if you're not very experienced in your field, you're saying, oh, I don't want to discuss too much with them.

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And that might be. But the more I work with different goalies, and I saw that my approach just matches to or just helps everybody, I felt more and more comfortable to say, why would it be different if I'm tall or if I'm short? Of course, a short shot goalie if we are sticking in water polo needs to jump always high out of the water because the arms are just shorter than from a long goalie.

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So. And a long goalie could benefit. Is benefiting from the arm length. Yes, that's like this. But there are also weaknesses for for a long goalie if they are just using their arms. So this means there there is a logic that if you are perfectly prepared for whatever you have to do, then you can execute any motion.

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And the key of so. So the key is not to think too much about what kind of motion do I have to do, or do I just to extend my arms and hopefully I get hit? Except you want to be an obstacle in the goal. No, the key is you have to understand how am I prepared? How am I ready for what I have to do?

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And so this is when I when I have clinics. And I don't care if there's an eight year goalie and a 17 year old goalies and I ask, what is the most important thing for a goalie and everybody throws in positioning and blocking and this and that. And I'm saying being ready, right. That's 80% of being a goalie.

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You have to be ready for anything that might come up because that's the other thing. Goalie is a reactive position at least most of the times. And to make it simple, there are actions that we can do and so on, but we depend on what the players are doing. We depend on if the ball is coming, if the ball is not coming, and with what we are doing, we are affecting how the players are eventually deciding where they are shooting.

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And this is all the same logic. If you are short, if you are tall, if you are a little chubby, if you are skinny, it doesn't really matter because the mechanics are the same and that your body needs to come out in the moment of the shot in the water, for example. So you are jumping in. The right moment is important, and not just trying to stay out, because everybody knows you can't stay out of the water forever.

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And, even that doesn't work. Right. And so so this makes this approach so universal. And I'm not saying that once you found the fundament of everything, that then there are no differences between a tall and a short goalie. But you have to perfect the fundament at first. And then you can add something because you have long arms, or you can be more efficient because you have longer arms and you have to be more explosive, maybe when you have shorter arms.

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So yes, there are things, but not when you want to learn to be a good goalie. So so let's unpack this. This is a quote from the book. Goalkeeping is not rocket science, right? It's logic. So let's unpack that. So you you you dropped in there already that your job is to be ready and I think that is universal to watch because you, you watch sports I mean, you always feel bad for the soccer or the soccer or the hockey goalies where, like, they're just totally not paying attention.

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And somehow that ball ends up so breaking out breath ends up going across all that line. Right? So break down what some of that logic. Right. The goalkeeping is not rocket science. Yeah. So it's pretty much the first thing is you have to use your senses. And everybody talks with senses about vision. But they also other senses. They are hearing.

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There's your feeling. There's your proprioceptive sense where you are exactly located. So your balance and, and and those kind of things. So feeling in the water is also important. So this gets your body information and that's important. The more information you can soak in the better. That's universal. So the more you have for your information you have the more you can process.

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Now the question is, okay, how good are you in processing? And that may be really short. That's where I think ADHD is such an important topic. Well, I think I think ADHD, you might have an opinion. Whatever. Is is it a disease, is it not? Whatever it is, but the kids that are, are very fast in processing, which is sometimes called ADHD, might even have an advantage with this because the more information they can process, the more they can so gain, for example.

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But that's the first thing. Let's just just say this ADHD is awesome and it's a superpower when it comes to sports. Like any any of the kids that come in, come into my program and they say, oh my, my kid. It might have be on the spectrum for ADHD. I say, this is the place for them. I love those kids.

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Because man, they are. They can just process like crazy. It's it's amazing. And I think you need you need to just to know how to handle certain things or certain superpowers that you're having so that there is there is so perception next. And that next part is preparation. So this means you need to know how am I in a position that whatever happens next I am prepared for this.

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And so this means this is a major problem in what I pull. If I'm too high out of the water and I'm investing all of my energy because I think I want to look tall, but I can't do the next motion, then it's nice that I'm looking, scary for some shooters, but a good shooter just says, oh, let's wait until the goal is done, and then I do it.

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Then I do my thing. So this means you need to know how to prepare. That is also also the same. Of course, there can be different ways of being prepared and we can discuss about this. But as an extended arm for example, is less prepared. I would say, than a flexible arm because I'm more flexible. And then they ask me in the middle of the action that I guess this is then sport specific a little bit.

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How does the action look like? How do I go to the ball? A soccer goalie rather goes with two hands for the ball of water polo. Goalie probably goes rather with one hand for the ball to just smash the ball down. And a hockey goalie of course, has a stick for example. So this is different. But the actions, this is what pretty much the technical part that we are learning.

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And then the next part is I have to reset after because there's always potentially a next, action happening or I have to be in a safe place. So this means I have to learn not just how how is the action, but how am I resetting that? I'm prepared for the next move. And we could even say in soccer, yes, I'm safe when I have the ball and I can lay on the ground.

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But, you know, many soccer goalies want to when I start the counter-attack quickly. So this means, yes, I can do this, but if needed, I need to be up quickly and throw the ball, for example. And this is in water polo. Even worse because you are always under attack when you block the ball. So you need to be ready for the next motion.

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It can be rebound, it can be escaping whatever you want. And then the most important part is the reflection of what you did. And this is something that is not just consciously working. You need to make your body learn that. Your body immediately realizes if that what you did was right, then saves it at yes, that's my autopilot.

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I want to do it again or it identifies. No, that was a little weird what I did. So I have to do it next time differently. And so this is the loop that I'm also describing. You have to perceive something. You have to prepare for the action. Then you have to act, you have to reset and then you have to reflect.

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So I want to talk about one of the things that you mentioned in there is using all of the senses, especially for water polo is a water polo podcast. So let's talk about that. Obviously, if a lot of people who are probably listening have played water polo, but if you have not played water polo, it's a different experience in the water than if you're watching from a live stream or if you're watching from a stand.

00:26:54:05 - 00:27:16:08

The angles and perspectives are just different, right? Because you're in the water, only your head. And if you're a goalie, probably your chest is up above the water. Talk to me about the different senses, like of of of, hearing that of hearing how how do some of those other senses play and outside of just sight in the game of water polo?

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Yeah, I mean, so so vision is definitely an important sense. So I don't want to, I don't know, but that's the one that most people would think about. Right. But nobody but but the typical thing in water polo is also that if your head is under the water and you don't specifically want to look under the water, you don't see the ball.

00:27:32:12 - 00:27:51:12

So, right. And that is the first thing that you tell a little water polo or young water polo players. If your head does not know the water, you can't see anything. And that's not good. So you don't get that information. But besides seeing your your hearing, for example, is very important because people are taught or players are talking with each other, the other team is giving each other, commands, what they want to do.

00:27:51:12 - 00:28:10:09

And so if that gets normal that without paying attention, you will still realizing that they are talking with each other and your buddy immediately, implements what you were hearing into your position, into your next action can be your goal. It can even be you field player. That is important. Your feeling. For example, your touch is especially in the water.

00:28:10:09 - 00:28:27:11

You feel how the water is floating, along your body if they are so current. For example, in certain pools, you you will feel it. And this way you will naturally need to readjust without always checking the pose. For example, am I in a good position? Right. And and so we can we can go on with proprioception with balance.

00:28:27:11 - 00:28:58:04

Balance is a very important, a sense that we are having. So that is just super important that we are training all these different senses that you your body gets fed with as much information as you can. And I would say probably 50% of the information that you are taking in is something that we as human beings are not even realizing that we are doing this, and these are the 50% that we have to add to vision and maybe hearing, which is very obvious within within those 50%.

00:28:58:04 - 00:29:24:12

Are you teaching goalies to tune into those? I it feels like a little bit like Jedi training, right? Like I'm I'm coming back to the, that that orange reference. Right. You put the blaster shield down and you give Luke the, the the, lightsaber, and they're trying to knock that down. He uses other senses. I mean, goalies are kind of doing that same idea, I mean, and and goalie and I what I want to kind of break down is like, what is one of the bigger myths about goalkeeping that you're trying to bust, right?

00:29:24:12 - 00:29:45:22

Like it's a unique position to be trained in a unique way, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, so Jedi, Jedi training or I compared often with Karate Kid for the older ones amongst us, these are the things where we might think, that is science, science fiction. And that is not really happening. But my question is, is that really or is that maybe possible?

00:29:45:22 - 00:30:12:03

We are not believing in it. And and there are some major impacts in my life that happened, I would say five years ago, like six years ago, we were on a little brief vacation. And to my, my daughter, love to watch horses and, we were in the Santa Barbara barbaro area. Solvang is this little, little area, and there was a horse ranch where they had an individual approach of teaching horses, and we could watch how they how they would do this.

00:30:12:03 - 00:30:35:08

And there was, one learning coach in the middle of this arena where the horses circle around. And we learned that just with your breath, you are affecting if the horse runs fast or if the horse runs slow, if it comes to you and so eventually it's not your breath, it's your heart rate. So the horses and they told us it's only animals with eyes to the side and so on.

00:30:35:08 - 00:30:54:01

They feel your heart rate and this affects their heart rate. Something that I would say that is unbelievable for me. Hello. How can this happen? But this opened my eyes to this. There are so many secrets in our life with senses that we just don't believe and don't think it's possible, but they are existing, but we are not working on them.

00:30:54:03 - 00:31:14:03

And and another thing to this is, I don't know, probably everybody has seen movies with a blind person who still knows everything, right? Where you would say, yeah, because you are blind. Suddenly your other senses take over. And it is not not similar to you. Are seeing everything, but because you remember everything, suddenly you know where everything is.

00:31:14:05 - 00:31:32:23

And so this is you can develop all your other senses so much more if you're just forcing yourself to do this. And if you believe that there are more than the obvious things that we are doing. And so, I don't know that our Jedi is a little different thing, but this Karate Kid Karate Kid thing was reacting without seeing something.

00:31:33:00 - 00:31:59:14

I think that is not so much, so far away from reality. So. No, it's, it's not. I mean, having that inner being able to sense that energy and, I've, I've coached water polo for 30 years. Right. And you put in your goalie. That goalie sets the tone for the team in my opinion. Like having a solid goalie, having him be in a place that allows them to be able to control the team and communicate easily, makes a total, total difference.

00:31:59:17 - 00:32:21:23

But I wanted to ask this final question on this segment here real quick is what? So this is an interesting question, I think. Can any athlete become a good goalkeeper within this system, or is there still a talent component, like is there a natural range genius that has to you have to have to be a good goalkeeper. So so the short answer is yes.

00:32:21:23 - 00:32:43:16

Everybody can can become a good goalkeeper. Okay. Yes. You need, to have a work ethic for this, for example. And, and you need to understand your body needs to provide certain things. So without training, for example. Yes. It's probably difficult to be a water polo goalkeeper if you can't keep yourself over the water. So you have to understand what is needed and what do I have to work on.

00:32:43:17 - 00:33:15:02

But otherwise I I feel talent is a totally misunderstood term because talent is not something that you get genetically given. Talent is something that. And that's at least my opinion on this that you accidentally coincidentally learned or did in your younger years. And this is why you are good in something. So this means some people, some kids are good with ten years and throwing, and that's often because they just did random things when they were 4 or 5, six, three, that's involved there.

00:33:15:04 - 00:33:34:14

And yes, then they, they know the motion. Other kids never did that. So they don't know how to throw. And so now we could say, yeah, you, you just can't throw or we can tell, hey, let's let's teach you how to throw. And of course, you need to repeat it a little bit more often in the natural or not natural talents, but the talented kids, because they have done it already a lot, a lot often.

00:33:34:14 - 00:34:00:21

And they'll their body is programed a little bit better on this. But this is but this is also something where, where it comes then in if you want talent but you did not do the motions 100% right, then you worked maybe for eight years in your life in the wrong direction, and you might be good with ten, but you might not be on a path that makes you good with 16, where the other ones who learned from scratch consciously don't learn the right thing.

00:34:00:21 - 00:34:26:02

For example, this is what you often see with early bloomers that they are good because they are superior in a certain age, but they are not open enough to change or adapt to the right way to do this, for example. So this is where I would say yes, being a talent is nothing bad, but if you're not open minded then the non talents, if they get taught the right way, quickly catch up and might even be better afterwards.

00:34:26:02 - 00:34:55:16

So I believe that everybody can do everything and that's one of my models. Everybody can learn everything if you just want to, and you put the work in and try to understand, it's perfect, all right. Means as we as we get dive into this, a couple of key questions that I've always wanted to ask you. The first one is let's talk about, from a sports psychology standpoint, the kind of the mindset that you need when you see kids selecting to be a goalie.

00:34:55:16 - 00:35:14:02

Like that's typically how it is, right? Like, oh, I like this idea outside of they don't want to do swim practice, right. What are what are some of the key, mindset elements or that you see in athletes that choose to be a goalie? Like, what are some of those mindset things that you feel like are important in the goalie world?

00:35:14:02 - 00:35:32:01

There? I think it's it's pretty simple. It's, it's it's two sides of the middle. The one thing is you must, or it's very helpful if you love to be the hero of the game, because the goalie is a potential position of theirs. And if you are, if you are willing to invest whatever it's needed to to win the game.

00:35:32:01 - 00:35:54:05

So especially these decisive games where one block makes, the difference between tie and a win or a win or lose, that's that's important. But more important is that you are not get, getting taken down. If you are getting a goal and that you are not making it about every goal is your mistake. So you have to understand you are a part of a team, and the mistake of a goalie is often a goal.

00:35:54:10 - 00:36:11:19

So that's that's just the reality. And, I think the major thing to understand is and I talk often with goalies about this is not everybody is constantly watching you and thinking about yourself. So of course you ask yourself, you are very hard on you, but you are the only person was hard on you. Everybody else has. Yeah, let's go on.

00:36:11:19 - 00:36:29:23

Everybody else also makes mistakes. That's that's how it how it is. And that's, that's important that you are a character. Yes. Who loves to be the great guy in the center of the attention, but also the guy or the person who says, I don't mind too much if I make a mistake. And so I reset and I will try to be good afterwards.

00:36:30:01 - 00:36:56:03

And I think that power of the reset is critical for goalies. Right. Like and you see that as that is their superpower. Like I mean, because you're going to get scored on. Right? That is that is going to happen. And I and I don't think we were we were at a games this past weekend same thing. And and every time it goes into a shootout I always think, oh man, you got to have you, you got to have a Warriors mindset to be a goalie in a shootout, especially in a championship.

00:36:56:03 - 00:37:16:09

And or it comes down to like, are you going to get a block up from five meters out, talk about that experience, talk about just the experience of the shootout of a goalie. I'm always been fascinated by the psychology of that. How do you set up for that? Like how how do you process that as an athlete or teach that?

00:37:16:11 - 00:37:37:10

Yeah, I mean, so so the first thing is, of course, you always want to win. So, you depend a little bit how your shooters are scoring, but eventually I feel shooters. It's it's the coolest thing for a goalie because there's no real expectation for you as a goalie. And you just can, can, can win. So if you're losing the shootout, everyone's and all that, if you are winning and blocking the decisive ball, then you are the hero.

00:37:37:10 - 00:37:54:06

So these are the situations where nothing to lose just be the hero. And, but shootout is also something where you have to understand. So if you are playing on a decent level. So let's say if I am in the goal and the ten year old is shooting on me, of course the pressure is on me because everybody says, you know, Olympic goal is to block that shot.

00:37:54:08 - 00:38:12:04

But if it's if it's a decent level, the penalty is made to be a goal. That's the toughest punishment that you can have by rule in water polo. So this means as a goalie, you can just say, wow, if I block the penalty, I'm definitely the hero. So whatever I do that the player is, either misses or screws up the shot a little bit or I just take the corner away.

00:38:12:06 - 00:38:33:18

That that is great. And so I feel shootout is very, very simple for goalies because you just need to know, hey, I have the freedom to do whatever I want to do, and if I'm blocking it, I'm the hero. So and now the thing is, you have to understand with the freedom, that doesn't mean do random things. That means have a plan and just go all the way through it so that.

00:38:33:20 - 00:38:54:04

Yeah, so when I help goalies with penalties, I say the simplest thing is go 5050 goal one one side. So and then don't think or drawing the block to change something. You want to go to the left, go to the left. Don't worry if their shot is actually going to the left because it's a 5050 chance. Besides, yeah, maybe you are good and reading the shooter or not.

00:38:54:06 - 00:39:19:23

And and if you are just good and covering one corner, then yes, you're blocking 5050 and a penalty, which is a great ratio for example. And that's, that's the simplicity. So just be great in taking away one corner and and that's it. And then you are the hero of the game. So I feel it's relatively easy. And so so this psychology psychological aspect there is rather a great part for a goalie, instead of a scary part.

00:39:19:23 - 00:39:41:10

So do you as, as the mentor here in the the perfect goalie have a segment for water polo parents who their kids are goalies because I feel like like, like that's been an ongoing lifetime joke with between Melissa and I. You know, Melissa, it's like we're never going to let our kids be goalies because we couldn't handle the pressure as parents.

00:39:41:10 - 00:40:03:00

But so so my recommendation for parents, and it doesn't even matter if it's goalies, but I talk a lot to goalie parents. Friendly. I don't make it about your own kid. Yeah, in a game? Yeah, I would say so. Be before the team and be, sad if anybody in the team makes a mistake or has a tough situation, be happy for anybody in the team.

00:40:03:00 - 00:40:21:10

So I would even say, have it as a rule. Never, never scream. You scream the name of your kid when you're on the bleachers, for example. So scream for the team, or applaud or whatever you want to do. And this makes your life easier. And you don't need to understand as a parent, the exact game and everything you should be a fan and you should enjoy it.

00:40:21:10 - 00:40:41:00

And you should. You pet your kids after after a game on their shoulders. If they did it, if they did great, hock them. When they did not great. But then that's their thing. The sport. And you know those that you're the fan. And I think that's the easiest for you as a parent to do. And it's actually great to lose sometimes because that gives you so much.

00:40:41:00 - 00:40:56:21

And so don't be don't be sad and think you have to, have to find something because your kid lost the game and you have to, have to pull them, up again because otherwise they are stopping the sport. That's usually not how it works. This is you want to come back as an athlete. And so losing is actually a good thing.

00:40:56:21 - 00:41:21:22

So yeah I love that. Fantastic. So we've talked we kind of bounce around here a little bit. But great great points because I, I as a as a coach and as a parent like having that understanding of of coaching is key. We've talked we talked in the last segment a little bit. Let's open that back up about kind of that multi-sensory component of being able to feel that whether it be sight, sound, feel, spatial awareness.

00:41:21:23 - 00:41:48:06

I, I love the idea of the being aware within your periphery, right, of being able to track what's happening right in front of you, but then like listening to your team as well as listening to the other teams. But in your, in your book, you talk about the 1 to 100,000 principle. So let's break that down a little bit in terms of like, what do you mean when you're talking about the 1 to 100,000 and the principles that come around for that.

00:41:48:08 - 00:42:15:21

Yeah. And and that idea actually comes from my soccer. So soccer career. Because as a player, you never really think about it. But I started to think more and more about it. Why am I able, with my foot, to have a perfect touch of the ball that is coming from different direction and different different speeds? How is it possible that I can give it a perfect touch, that it easily goes into the goal or direct pause, or I stop it and I thought about it.

00:42:15:23 - 00:42:36:13

I'm not really seeing and can analyze the speed of the ball. I don't even know the spin off the ball exactly, but my foot is still possible to immediately when the ball touches my foot to adjust it. So this means I am in charge to know, okay, I have to move my foot maybe a little bit backwards, or hit the ball a little bit, but how how do I hit it and so on is not my decision to make.

00:42:36:13 - 00:42:54:04

It is what my body feels. And so I did a little research and googled a little bit and said, okay, what what are the ideas of different people of all this? What is out there? And eventually it comes down that I call it the 1 to 100,000 principle. Just to make clear one, the one major decision that you are making.

00:42:54:04 - 00:43:18:01

For example, I want to move my hand to the side to the ball. There are so a lot of decisions made. Sometimes 100,000 can be 50,000. It can be to 100,000 decisions. So little micro decisions made in your body that make this, this motion successful, precise and also the right intensity. And they correct everything so that you're always in balance.

00:43:18:03 - 00:43:35:23

And of course, the more experienced you are, the more reps you will have, the better this motion is and the better these decisions are made. And this is what I feel is so important. You are not in charge of your body, what you are doing. You want shots, what you want to do in general, and now your body needs to adjust everything that it goes perfectly.

00:43:35:23 - 00:43:58:20

And this is why, not offending you, but probably when we would do the same thing in soccer, I would be way better than you. Because my body is much better trained in this. But it's not that I'm making all these decisions. It's just happening. Right? Or it's if you. It's an amazing concept, right? Like, you look at the spin you put on a ball with, you're kicking it or the touch you put on a ball to try to make it land someplace like that.

00:43:58:20 - 00:44:14:21

That is what you're talking about, right? All of the different little pieces that come together to make that. I'm going to drop that ball 25m away, put a little backspin on it, make sure it comes in, drops, pops right up into the hand for them to be able to finish. You don't think about that, right? I mean that that is what you're talking about.

00:44:15:01 - 00:44:31:04

Yeah. Or maybe you have a fun thing that many people. So when I spin the ball on my finger, like you do in basketball, in water, with a water polo ball. So this is also some people can do it perfectly, other can't do it at all. Right. And so it's not that the person that can do it perfectly constantly decides what to do with their finger.

00:44:31:04 - 00:44:52:06

It's just all happening automatically. The only decision I make is I spin the ball and I put my finger up, and now everything goes automatic and I can even pretty much close my eyes when or when my when my, haptic sense is good enough and balance the ball there. And so these are the things in life that everybody knows where you can see it's all happening on autopilot.

00:44:52:08 - 00:45:11:07

You just make the major decisions. And yes, they are important, but don't think you have to decide how to do the motion. Exactly. That's let your body do it. Fantastic. Okay. So hold your book up there again. Let's let's have people take a look at it here. We've got that up there. The the universal goalkeeper and let's see it.

00:45:11:07 - 00:45:36:18

There we go. The perfect goalie. The art of goalkeeping do things right I love it. So you've codified this, what to talk about. Just what the book covers. The structure, the core concepts. Who it's for young goalkeepers, coaches, parents. Just talk about the book here. Let's let's have you brag a little bit. Yeah. And so so you you see, I did this little the little wax seal here I love it.

00:45:36:18 - 00:45:59:18

Yeah. So my idea comes from there. And that might be, people can call me arrogant or what is, what does he think about himself? So I want to make this something that is more than just another book. So that should be the masterpiece of goalkeeping for anybody, any sport. Because I think the principles that I'm using and that I'm discussing in this book are just universal.

00:45:59:20 - 00:46:21:12

And yes, there might be minor adjustments, but this is important to think about that. And, so people know that, or many people might know the Art of War is, is one major work, that you get recommended to understand. Yes, the principles of war and use them also for business and so on. And this this led me to say, okay, let's use that title and make it about goalkeeping.

00:46:21:12 - 00:46:42:01

And this brought me to the art of goalkeeping. And, the other three words below this, so that you said this do things right, I love that. Yeah. This is a motto that I have. And, there so there's another book in the upcoming maybe in the, in the Sooner future, which is a both a method that I'm using and that in general.

00:46:42:01 - 00:47:03:17

And one major principle this is do the these three words two things. Right. You can you can also do them in different orders. Right. Doing things, for example, or things, things too. Right. For example. And this, this all have different meanings. But with three words you can pretty much so your approach to whatever challenge you are having.

00:47:03:17 - 00:47:19:15

And so you have to do something, you have to x, you have to think, is this what I'm doing? Is it in the right way? You can do it. Ethical technically. And then what do you have. Yeah. And things you have to do, you have to know what you want to do for so, so. And this is why I do things right.

00:47:19:15 - 00:47:36:12

I think there's a motto that is always helpful when you are thinking, what am I? What am I doing right now here? Am I even doing something? And is what I'm doing also doesn't make sense? So how do you feel like this book is going to change goalkeeper training? Or how do you want it to change goalkeeper training?

00:47:36:12 - 00:47:56:17

How do you want an athlete to engage in this book? What's the best way for them to, consume it? Engage it and apply what you're trying to teach? Yeah. So so there are, training principles in this book. Even so, for the certain components and certain chapters, they are recommendations. How you, for example, can train your senses.

00:47:56:19 - 00:48:24:07

There are things, if you want to train, for example, your other senses and vision to, do things with closed eyes, for example. I think that's the that's the easiest thing. And there are many others, many other areas there. So for example, one, one chapter that talks about emotional stillness. So it's, it means we don't have to shut out our emotions, but we have to learn to control our emotions and use them in the right, or channel them or funnel them in the right way, for example.

00:48:24:07 - 00:48:40:01

And so there are there are ways how you can work and create emotions. Put yourself under stress and learn how to deal with that stress, for example. And this is not what a specific this is why these rules there's not do this exactly in the water, but follow this principle and figure out how to do it in the water.

00:48:40:01 - 00:49:00:16

So this is the I this is the idea also of drills, drills in this book. And for me it's important. So for goalies but also for coaches to see these are the components or the principles that you have to include in your practice. Besides the typical go in the goal and get some shots. So when you are doing goalkeeper training, there are things that you can do on dry land.

00:49:00:16 - 00:49:27:07

For example, outside of the water that you give, you can give homework till your goal is to do certain things for a fort, for example. And and one typical example is just, so many goalies might know this drill. I don't like it at all. And it took me a while to decide why I didn't like it. So there's a typical drill where, coaches want to work on the reflexes, so they're with tennis balls behind the goalie, and they just they toss them against the wall and the goalie has to catch them.

00:49:27:09 - 00:49:46:02

And I always was not happy with this one. And I think I think that doesn't really make too much sense. And over the time I came to this, came to this, that the thing is, in water polo and in all other sports, you are never having your eyes closed. You open your eyes and the ball is coming. You always see the development of a shot.

00:49:46:02 - 00:50:21:23

So this means the part of somebody holding the ball and doing a shooting motion. Water polo is missing in this stool, but that is an important component because there is something happening or there's something that you can do while you are seeing that, it's very likely that the shot is happening. And in water polo, for example. And that is my major philosophy, is your lack explosion happens when you see the shot is likely coming, so that your hands only react when you actually get confirmation where the ball goes to, where many other coaches who train this blind doing just having fast reflexes say the faster your hands are, the better.

00:50:22:04 - 00:50:48:10

But this often leads to the fact your hands are way too early doing something because you can't wait. You want to do something with your hands. You want to be fast. Where I would say no. Your hands are very controlled and often rather slow, but your legs have to be fast in water polo now. And that's that's where I think a lot about those kind of rules, where the senses come in, your emotions come in, your anticipation, or I call it recognition of shots comes in because it's not of predicting the future.

00:50:48:12 - 00:51:06:05

It's not even about reading the shooter, but recognizing, what do I see? What does my experience tell me? And what is the outcome exactly? Exactly. And this is where where I would say when I or I'm saying when I hear young goalies telling me, oh, the first thing that I, that I'm doing is I watch the shoulder off the play.

00:51:06:06 - 00:51:24:19

I would say, don't do this. So this is something that when you're an Olympic goalie, then, then add this to your skill set, but not when you want to learn to be a goalie. Because learn to block the ball at first and then learn to read. Shoot us a little bit because they are so good with our shooting that you need to add something to your fundamental blocking, right?

00:51:24:21 - 00:51:49:22

So here's a kind of a vision question. If you zoom out a little bit five years from now, let's say if this book accomplishes what you hope it does, which is to impact and, keepers, what changes in water polo, what how will we measure that and know if it's been successful? So I hope that I would never see a goalies again, on a constant basis with having their arms extended out of the water, for example.

00:51:49:22 - 00:52:10:10

So my typical saying an extended arm is not a good arm for a goalie. So, the other thing is, if a goalie comes to high over out of the water before a shot is coming, I call it overpowering. I would hope I would not see that any more, because this takes away your explosiveness of your legs and to actually react to a shot.

00:52:10:12 - 00:52:33:09

So. So these are, I think the typical, the typical things that I would like to see. And the funny thing is I get a lot of, unasked feedback. So I don't even I don't go talk to a parent and say, can you write me a testimonial or something like this? But many parents are doing this, and, I often hear from parents back that they are saying, we are coming into a game and we see the other goalie work with you.

00:52:33:11 - 00:52:48:20

So he's he has the meta style and that's that's what I would hope in five years. That's, hopefully the majority of goalies has the meets a style or the perfect goalie style. Give it like give us one sentence or two sentence of what the meta style is. I love that, like you got you got to put a team on that for sure.

00:52:48:22 - 00:53:07:07

Yeah. So so it's pretty much knowing how to be ready and showing this. So in water polo, it's never been higher than your armpits over the water before the shot is coming or before you are convinced the shoulders come is coming. Then use your leg explosion to start with a block before your reacting with your hands to the ball.

00:53:07:09 - 00:53:21:04

And it doesn't mean that you can't play with your hands. Also, I show you a little bit. It's a little narrow here, but then you're playing with your hands out, but your legs are still reacting before your hands. Hands are going to the ball. So I'm not a big fan of saying you have to be as fast as possible with your hands.

00:53:21:04 - 00:53:40:12

So I have to say your legs need to be included into your blocking. And so if I see goalies are perfectly ready, they are flexible. Then they are, they are include their legs in every so explosively in any block. And then they are working on controlling the ball with their wrists. That would be my dream scenario is not to.

00:53:40:17 - 00:53:57:03

Amazing. I love what you're doing. I love the work. I love the book. I'm excited to get a copy of it. I know you're 7 to 10 days away from having it being published, so this is like the which is probably going to be perfect because we'll be publishing this in about that same time frame, so that'll be good.

00:53:57:07 - 00:54:15:23

I'm curious, a couple of rapid fire questions here. Kind of a fun segment as we wrap it up here. What is the best save you have ever made as a goalie, either in the Olympics or otherwise? Like the one that like, do you have that just one core moment of like, oh yeah, that was the best moment of my life.

00:54:16:01 - 00:54:35:13

Now there are a lot of cool things, but, one signature move and and I learned that it's called, hunt of the Red October. Is that, in special moments where, we were in a desperate situation. We needed the ball to have a chance, at least, of winning the ball. Winning the game. And that was in 1998 of the playoffs in Germany.

00:54:35:15 - 00:54:59:10

We won the semifinal. It was a with a knock out game. So winning, the winner moved on and we were one goal behind. We missed our shot 20s on the shot clock and the other team just went with the ball forward. Everything was lost. And, they were men up. So because three of our players just didn't even bother to come back, and I decided I go under the water, dove under the water, up to the middle line.

00:54:59:10 - 00:55:22:17

Did the Superman move to hit the ball out of the face of the player who thought he was safe with the ball, gave the ball to my teammates who were three on two? At the other goal, and our best shooter missed. Oh, he did not score. So unfortunately, no happy ending, but not really a lot. But this is, one of my signature moves where I say in special moments, I just went all in, out of the goal.

00:55:22:17 - 00:55:40:03

I know the water that nobody is realizing that I'm doing this. And then you're doing a Superman move. And I did it three times in my life. I think one brought me, the spots for the Olympic qualifier, qualification team because I was sick before and needed something special. And then one in the in a, print trophy game.

00:55:40:04 - 00:56:03:06

On the, in the pool of the other team. And everybody was pretty shocked when they saw that I did that. So I know that that was really cool. Yeah. Okay. So how about one drill every goalkeeper should do every day. Yeah. So I call it the, the basic ready, hands out jumping drill. And it's pretty much basic means you're going easy in your goalie position.

00:56:03:06 - 00:56:24:15

Ready means you're using your legs and intensity, armpits over the water with hands in that your legs are working in the intensity that you have to. Then you are just switching to your hands out. I showed here your hands are a little bit wider than just your hands out of the water. This is your one on goal. Your center blocking position and jump means you are adding a brisk kick to others, because that covers all the fundamentals that you need as a goalie.

00:56:24:18 - 00:56:44:10

Right leg intensity, a hand position, switching between hands in and hands out and then an explosive press Q to start into a block. So basic ready hands offense. I'll jump. If you do this every day, then you are training your autopilot for the perfect fundamentals. Perfect. Okay. And then last one here. What is your message to that?

00:56:44:10 - 00:57:04:23

Ten 1112 year old who wants to be a goalie? What's your message to them just starting in the goal. So what I already mentioned, I said don't start with reading the future. Read it, reading the shooter or predicting the future. So watch the ball, be ready and learn to explode in the right moments. So have the right timing and go to the ball.

00:57:05:01 - 00:57:23:21

And, don't think that because you can read another 12 year old shooter that makes you a good goalie, because everybody develops anyways, and reading the shooter often takes away your work on the real fundamentals. So I to work, work on your fundamentals, learn to be ready, watch the ball, react towards the ball and reading the shooter comes later.

00:57:23:21 - 00:57:45:22

Predicting the future is anyways impossible. So, I would, I would not try to rely on that fantastic, incredible conversation. Thank you so much. What a fun time to talk about. And it's fun to watch. Like I said, it's fun to watch people grow and develop. We're going to have to probably bring you on for the other podcast that I'm doing about find your challenge about building cool things, and that's definitely one of them.

00:57:45:22 - 00:58:02:07

I'm really proud of you, and I'm excited to kind of see how this is going, how this is going to go. So, okay, I mean, to, in terms of let's how do, how do people get this book into their hands where, it's being published here shortly. How do they find it and how do they find you on social media?

00:58:02:09 - 00:58:20:04

Yes. So so the one thing that I'm also very proud about is I did it all myself, so I try. I decided not to go through any publisher. I have my own website. That's the perfect goal.com. So relatively easy. The perfect goal.com. And then you can just click on shop and there's a link for the book, and you can simply order it, and then it will get shipped out.

00:58:20:04 - 00:58:37:03

And the cool thing is, I already sold 100 copies on the preorder, but 200 copies get the personal signature, from me, and it's numbered. So if you're fast, you can even try to be one of the first two hundreds. Okay, give me those with the with the signature on it. I want one of those. Of course.

00:58:37:05 - 00:59:02:23

Yeah. And then so social media I'm on I'm on Facebook. It's, Michael Delmar or mixer 77. So miss is 77 on Instagram, it's Missy E7777. So with four sevens or the perfect goalie, underscore by, So, that's where you can find me as well. I'm not on TikTok, and, I don't play to plan to go on this, so just Facebook or Instagram.

00:59:03:01 - 00:59:25:04

Got it. Cool. Thank you. Thank you so much. On having me here, giving me that opportunity. But I have to give the compliment again back. What you built up is also very incredible. So thank you. I appreciate that. Michael meets Zeller played in two Olympic Games. He's trained some of America's best young goalkeepers, and now he's writing the book that he wishes existed when he was learning the position.

00:59:25:10 - 00:59:53:23

Here's what I love about meets his approach. He's demystifying goalkeeping. He's saying this isn't magic. This isn't superhuman reflexes. It's logic. This is activating your senses. This is teachable. That mindset, that goalkeeping is a craft anyone can learn through systematic training. That's revolutionary. And it's exactly what young goalkeepers need to hear. If you're a goalkeeper, a goalkeepers coach, or a parent of a keeper, find meets his book when it releases Find This Academy.

00:59:53:23 - 01:00:17:04

Find his academy in Southern California and he can do his academy anywhere, virtually in the world. And remember, the best goalkeepers aren't born. They're built through logic, senses, and the 1 to 100,000 principle meets a thank you for bringing Olympic level knowledge to American water polo. And thank you for writing it down. This has been the Extra Pass podcast presented by Game on Live Studio.

01:00:17:04 - 01:00:29:07

Subscribe, share and your water polo community and stay tuned. Next week another gold legend I'm Shawn Stringham. Stay in the game. Peace.

01:00:29:09 - 01:00:29:15

From.

Michael “Mize” Zellmer is a two-time Olympic goalkeeper, coach, and educator dedicated to redefining how goalkeeping is taught and understood. From humble beginnings in a small village in Germany to competing on the world’s biggest stage, Mize’s journey is rooted in discipline, curiosity, and a relentless commitment to mastery.

As the founder of The Perfect Goalie Academy, Mize brings a universal, modern approach to goalkeeper development—one that emphasizes logic, awareness, emotional control, and readiness over raw talent or reflexes alone. His philosophy focuses on using all senses, understanding game situations, and being mentally prepared for every moment in the cage.

As a guest on The Extra Pass Podcast, Mize shares insights from his playing and coaching career, his transition into education, and the motivation behind his book, The Art of Goalkeeping. He also highlights the importance of proper training methods, the psychology of high-performance athletes, and the role parents play in supporting growth without added pressure.

At his core, Mize believes that with the right mindset, guidance, and structure, any athlete can develop into a confident, effective goalkeeper—ready for whatever the game demands.