Goalkeeper-specific coaching for field hockey players in Sasolburg and across the Vaal Triangle — for keepers who want to own their circle.
Why GDC exists
Ten minutes at the end, if there is time
You are the only player on the field who cannot hide. One mistake is a goal, one save wins a game — and yet keeping is the last thing most teams get round to coaching. A handful of shots after training, taken by whoever is still on the astro.
So keepers end up teaching themselves. You copy what you have seen, you find something that works often enough to get by, and you keep the habits that come with it — a set position that is half a second late, a first step that goes the wrong way, hands that arrive after the ball has already passed them. None of it gets corrected, because nobody in that session is watching for it.
Then it starts costing you. Not every week, but in the games that matter, against the strikers who are quick enough to punish it. And because nobody ever explained what went wrong, the only thing left to do is train harder at the same mistakes.
GDC exists because that is not good enough. Every minute here is goalkeeping. No borrowed outfield drills, no standing in the net while the strikers warm up, no waiting your turn. Just the position, taught properly, by someone who plays it every week and knows exactly what it feels like to get beaten at the near post and have no idea why.
That is the whole idea. You should know why the ball went in, and you should know what to do about it before the next game.
The clinic
Where we are, and what we are for
Where we are based
Sessions run on the astro at Sasolburg High School, Taunus Street, Sasolburg. Easy to reach from anywhere in the Vaal Triangle.
Who it is for
Placeholder — the age groups and levels you coach, from first-time keepers through to provincial players.
Our goal
You walk off knowing one more thing than you did walking on. Over a season that adds up to a keeper your team can build a defence around.
The work
Six things you will leave better at
Every session pulls from these. Which ones we spend the time on depends on what your last game looked like.
Positioning and angles
Great keepers do not dive more, they dive less. Depth, angles and reading the play so the ball comes to you instead of past you.
Footwork
Balanced, quick, and set before contact. Most saves are won two steps before the shot is taken.
V-sliding
The one that ends a one-on-one. Timing the commit, getting big across the ground, and staying square so the striker runs out of net.
Shot stopping
Close range, deflections, drag flicks and rebounds. Hands, feet and body shape when there is no time left to think.
Playing under pressure
Traffic in front of you, a short corner, tired legs and a one-goal game. Reps built to feel like the seventy-fifth minute.
Distribution and voice
The save is half the job. Clear it safely, start the counter, and run the circle so your defence knows exactly where to be.
How we coach
Your first session, step by step
No mystery and no sink-or-swim. This is exactly how we start, and where it ends up.
- 01
Meet and greet
We talk before you touch a ball. Where you play, what has been going wrong, and what you actually want to fix. No drills yet.
- 02
A practice run
You keep, we watch. Your set position, your hands, how you move across the circle — everything gets read before anything gets changed.
- 03
We refine it
Now the work. We rebuild what is costing you goals and sharpen what already works. Your style made better, not swapped for someone else's.
- 04
You ask, we answer
Every question gets a technical answer and a demonstration. If you do not know why you are doing something, it will not hold up under pressure.
- 05
Take it home
You leave with two things to work on and a clear picture of what better looks like. Then we do it again.
Who is coaching you
Coached by someone still in the net
Nine seasons. Provincial from u/13 through to u/21, school captain, and seven straight years in the North-West University premier league.
That matters because none of this is theory. Every drill you will do is one that has been used in a real game the same season — and when something is not working for you, you get told why, not just told again.