Bundsen’s game: “Being a goalkeeper is really about playing with the shooters”

“That can cause a lot of frustration. My goal, entering the court, is to take zero goals, but in the meantime, everyone knows that this is not going to happen. So being a goalkeeper is, to me, about being positive all the time and always focusing on the next action,” says Metz Handball goalkeeper Bundsen.

This is not something that one can learn overnight, more a long-term work. But moving on to the next action does not necessarily mean forgetting about the last shot, no matter if you have conceded or stopped it.

“The more experience you gather, the better you get at not being frustrated by taking a goal. And I guess that the way handball evolves also helps,” says Bundsen, before adding: “It has become such a quick game, that if you make a save, you have to look up and see if you can make a long pass to your wingers running. If you take a shot, you have to take the ball as quick as you can for your team to launch another action.”

This ability to repeat the efforts and to shift from one action to the other is, for the Swedish goalkeeper, something that she describes as being “natural”. But she also insists that the way she was trained in her youth has a lot of impact on the way she plays now.

“I owe quite a lot to the coaches I had as a kid. They would make me train at long passes, putting a square on the wall, and I had to do it after running or after receiving the ball. Back then, I did not quite like it, but I see now the benefits that it gives me.”

Of course, moving on from one action to the other is helped if you do not spend 10 seconds moaning or raging because you have just conceded a goal. But Johanna Bundsen comes off as a pretty calm person, who does not waste her energy focusing on the wrong things.

“That is just who I am, actually. Of course, some things in life will infuriates me, as everyone. But I am overall a calm, reflective person,” she says.

As often with goalkeepers, the experience the 34-year-old has gathered over the years has also helped on the court.

“I think that growing up, or getting old, as you want, has increased my self-confidence,” she says, reflecting on the years she spent playing in Sweden, Denmark, Germany and, lately, France. “I am not so worried anymore, I don’t ask myself questions so much. I have played so many games that I know that taking four goals in a row without touching the ball can happen. The most important is the next shot, and what you are going to do to stop it.”

Having played in different countries made Johanna Bundsen grow, both as a person and as a handball player. But she says she has not had to adapt to the different playing styles or the different leagues she plays in.

“As a goalkeeper, you stick to what you do best, what you know. You will adapt to the defences, for example, but I don’t think — if I look at myself, and only at myself — I play any different whether playing in Denmark or in France.”

What has also remained the same is the time that the EHF EURO 2014 bronze medallist spends every week studying videos of her opponents.

“Ninety minutes to two hours per game, a little bit more lately as I don’t know some of the opponents in the French league I just arrived in,” she says, adding: “I don’t do it on game days. The day before, very often, but when I play, I want my mind to be fresh. I know I have done my homework and that I can then use it on the court.”

Finding the balance between using videos and letting her experience speak during the game is just another topic where experience has helped the Metz Handball goalkeeper.

“I keep all the videos I have seen at the back of my head, but for me, it is not good if you think too much. If you are on the court, thinking, this player usually shoots like this, but sometimes she lobs and so on… it’s just not good.”

Being a goalkeeper, more than any other position on the handball court, is, as Bundsen puts it, “a lot of mind games. Like, if you have stopped the first two shots of a winger, is she going to change? It’s like, a game within the game, but with every shooter. It’s really interesting, but it’s can be mentally exhausting sometimes.”

Exhausting, yes, but there is often a reward at the end. Whether it is a good pass that turns into an assist or a game-winning save at the end of a tight game, Bundsen says she likes it all the same. But not because she likes to be in the spotlight; more because it will help her team shine.

“It’s all about sharing the emotions with the girls. As long as I can help the team win, no matter how, I am happy.”

Feature photos © Kevin Clement; Istvan Derencsenyi