The Keeper
By Tim Howard
Below are my notes and key hi-lighted passages from The Keeper by Tim Howard. (Italics = quotes from the book. Bold = my personal notes)
“I finally had the experience and conviction to take control of my own preparation. Eight years and 500 games later, it still works - it puts my head in the right place, a place that tells me I can handle whatever comes my way. I can’t know what’s coming. I only know how to make myself ready for it.”
Tim Howard displays what goes through the mind of an elite performer. Highly successful individuals all have developed a routine over time. Routines of life help us all prepare for all of life’s personal and professional challenges.
On his youth soccer coach: “If a kid came to practice even 40 seconds late, Mulch would yell at me. “Go have a word with him. I’m making you a leader. Go.”
Some coaches and leaders do a phenomenal job nudging and encouraging leadership development in youth athletes.
“I put those trophies in a box and sealed them up. I was afraid if I looked at them too much, if I had them on display, it would make me complacent. I wanted to stay hungry.”
“I watched Kasey get ready for the Venezuela match. The guy was totally relaxed. No clenched jaw, no apparent jitters. I realized something about him then: Everything that could happen in this sport had already happened to him. Over the course of his career, Kasey had faced thousands of shots coming at him from every angle, every speed. He’d stared down some of the best strikers in the world. There was nothing left that could surprise the guy; he’d already seen it all.
There is nothing quite like experience and wisdom.
On being a backup: “I can learn from this guy, I thought. If I don’t let my ego in the way. Edwin can make me better.”
From David Moyes of Manchester United: “We’re hungry, but I don’t tolerate egos. We’re a family club. An old-school working-class club, through and through. It’s a great playing environment.”
Elite teams create elite culture. Elite cultures do not tolerate big egos.
“My new goal keeping coach, Chris Woods, was confident enough to trust me, to ask what I needed. On our very first day of training together, he set up a bunch of drills, but added, evenly - If you feel like you need something specific, something I’m not doing, let me know.”
On Chris Woods: “Chris was taking me to the next level. Yet he was comfortable enough in his own skin, his own success, that he didn’t need to micromanage me.”
Great coaches have the humility to include the athlete in the athlete’s own development plan. You don’t have to have all the answers.
On Landon Donovan: “That’s the thing about Landon. He doesn’t broadcast his presence like some of the flashier players. He glides in, cool-as-you-like, and no matter how high the stakes, no matter how pressurized the situation is, he does what Landon always does - executes the finish with flawless precision.”