Drag flickers get their groin strength monitored more closely than anyone else in Eyles’s squads, along with extra rotational work in the gym, hip and groin maintenance exercises on Fridays and plenty of hip mobility work. For goalkeepers he keeps the Nordic hamstring extension in the programme, because throwing a leg out to the side is a rapid eccentric action for the hamstring, exactly what that exercise trains. Watch the full masterclass: Injury Reduction Training Methods.
A good goalkeeper mantra has three parts, Warriner says: a reference to your strengths, a physical anchor such as gripping the stick or feeling your feet on the floor, and something calming. Counterintuitively, she finds most goalkeepers are more at risk of being over-pumped than flat, so a line that recalls why they play the game often produces cleaner, more clinical focus than a hype phrase. Watch the full masterclass: Confidence: a choice and a skill.
Kerry makes the goalkeeper part of the zone, managing the space between the posts and the five metre marks when the ball is distant and taking away the aerial threat, so the outfield players keep their shape and press higher up the pitch. Australia failed to do this against Belgium in the Tokyo final, he argues, collapsing their whole left side. GB’s keepers found the role unnerving at first, then grew to enjoy it. Watch the full masterclass: Closing and tackling in a zone defence.