For my digital product I have decided to create a hockey coaching eBook especially for Goalkeepers. This will include full session plans for each skill a goalkeeper will need to learn, from beginners to experienced. As an experienced goalkeeper coaching and playing at a representative level, little research will be required on my part and the creation of the eBook will reduce the time spent researching for all coaches and will include some at home drills for goalkeepers wanting to improve on their skills.
I have watched a high amount of goalkeeper coaching sessions in person and online and notice that incorrect information being passed to the players, this causes bad habits to be developed and continued through their career. The book is aimed at a target audience of young/inexperienced coaches so that they can produce good sessions for their young goalkeepers at whatever level they play at to reduce the amount of bad habits being picked up by young goalkeepers and to try teach them more advanced skills younger.
To research the existing market I started to do some ‘desk research’ on amazon and other online retailers. Most of the existing products I found are physical books and look dated. Some examples below…
I found an eBook created by one of the top goalkeeper kit producers in the world and it too is dated, not presented in an aesthetically pleasing way and not easy to understand. click here to view.
As the hockey market was limited, I decided football might shed more of an insight on pricing a product like this. Some examples below…
The football resources included ebooks and gave me a better idea of pricing for my product, these examples also look dated but they have provided me with confirmation that there is a market for these resources - although the hockey side has not been fully explored.
Currently, the main method to research drill ideas is on youtube or social media platforms by following some of the top coaches in the world in countries such as Holland, Belgium or Germany. This can be a timely process to find a good drill at a suitable level for your players, my product will take this time out for a small charge (to be confirmed) and present the information in an appealing and easy to understand manner.
This process has been very rewarding, I now have a rough figure for pricing my eBook and understand who my target audience will be. There is definitely an opening in this market as I myself would buy a product like this if produced by a top level goalkeeper or coach, like David Harte or Martin Drijver.