Goalkeeping tips by George Pinner, Team GB’s Goalkeeper
How to hit harder in field hockey?
England Hockey & GB’s number 1 Goalkeeper George Pinner shares his goalkeeper tips and talks about his mindset shift from 2nd keeper to first choice, plus some of his motivational highlights. Visit Hockey Performance Academy, Lauren Penny has built a premium training system which has been designed to help hockey players improve their performance in order to take their game to the next level.
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George’s Top 5 Tips For Field Hockey Goalkeepers:
Lauren asked me for my top 5 tips for any goalkeeper looking to improve, so have tried to come up with things that will hopefully improve all areas of your game:
1. Keep your weight forwards at all times
You should try to always stay on the balls of your feet. This helps you keep the ball flat when kicking and making foot saves but is also key when diving or smothering to ensure you don’t rotate back. Your head is very heavy so is key in keeping your weight forwards.
2. Keep your hands in a high and open position when facing shots
Find a height that is comfortable and allows you to be able to move and react to high shots, whilst being able to drop and extend if you have to dive. If you keep your hands low and by your side you will struggle to get them up to save high hard shots.
3. When diving or smothering always look to land/slide on your hips
Too many GK’s use the front face of their leg guards or over rotate and end up on their front. Whilst there will always be the odd save when you finish in this position, try to groove the correct side on technique so it becomes natural.
4. Try to stay relaxed and always watch the ball
This sounds obvious but when you have someone nailing the ball at you from the flick spot your natural reaction can be to tense up and make yourself smaller. If you stay nice and big and watch the ball you will be amazed and how many you naturally react to and save. Plus it means when the forwards mis-hit a shot you are in a position to save it. The same applies against flickers at PC’s. A lot of players have good disguise on the corners, so try to just stare at the ball and wait for them to release it before you react. Try not to predict or get fooled by their body movement.
