James Trafford’s goalkeeping masterclass

Written by:

Holly Hunt

The stopper shares his top tips on how to thrive between the sticks

Are you an aspiring goalkeeper? Do you want to learn from the best?

England and Leeds United goalkeeper James Trafford delves into techniques, decision-making and the attention to detail behind his game.

What are your top tips for goalkeepers?

Try as hard as you can and enjoy it as much as you can.

What are your strengths as a goalkeeper?

Speed, athleticism, timing, balance and coordination.

What are the areas you’d like to improve on?

Half-space and crossing positions.

How do you get better at making saves with your weaker hand?

Practice. Just practice the ball hitting it. You can isolate it by just sitting down and hitting the ball back with your weak hand. The more you practice, the more coordination you get with touching it, and the better you get at it.

What makes the difference between getting a hand to a shot and keeping it out?

You've obviously got to have a strong hand, strong wrist. You've got to time when you parry it. It's also about where you make contact with the ball. Then it becomes muscle memory.

"It can depend on how you're feeling," explains Trafford, on the subject of catching, parrying or holding

How do you decide whether to catch, parry or hold a shot?

It's about how hard the ball comes, how far away it is to you. But then also, it can depend on how you're feeling, because when you're really confident and doing well, then you obviously catch a lot more than you don't catch. And also, it’s down to the conditions, if the ball bounces, whether it's coming through bodies, if you can see whether the ball's moving. It sounds like a lot of things but through repetition, you just know if it’s the right or wrong thing to do at the time.

What’s the key to getting your body behind the ball when making a save?

It depends if it's out of line, but when getting your body behind you've got to be balanced. You can't really flinch too much and you've just got to keep your weight forward and move behind the ball, whether you take your dart, jump behind it, whether you move your feet. It just sort of depends on the pace of the ball.

What are the first things you look for when a shot is coming towards you?

Where it's going, and if it is going somewhere, then your thought is simply ‘I’ve got to try and save this’. And just how hard it is, if it's moving, whether you're going to catch it or parry it.

Trafford: "There's never a right or wrong. You're the one playing it."

How do you stay calm when you receive the ball under pressure?

You just trust that your teammates are going to be there, and if they're not there, you know where to kick it to. If you're getting pressed, you're close to your own goal, so if it goes wrong it goes in the back of the net. But you get used to it.

When should you play short and when should you go longer?

There's never a right or wrong. You're the one playing it. You're the only person in the world at that moment that's playing it. Obviously, you want to try and do certain things, but if it's not right, then you just don't do it. It can depend on the pressure, the state of the game, and how things are going.

How has goalkeeping evolved since you’ve been a keeper?

It's evolved a lot. I remember when I was a first-year scholar, they brought in the goal kick rule where you could receive the ball inside the box. Obviously with corners now, the rules are always changing. But I think apart from the rules changing, the only other thing is the pace of the game's got quicker. Everything's got physically better, technically better. More duels, more space. You have to think quicker.

James Trafford’s goalkeeping masterclass

The stopper shares his top tips on how to thrive between the sticks

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