Being an elite goalkeeper requires being a 24/7 athlete. The decisions being made every day at every hour have an effect on performance. Sleep, diet, and fluids in addition to proper training determine the degree of success. Among the most important choices a keeper makes are those that relate to physical conditioning.
Regardless of their current level of play or the level that keepers might be working toward, being in the best possible condition offers the best possible chance to excel. And those who wish to play at the highest level must keep in mind that the professional game is played by world-class athletes. Successful goalkeepers need extraordinary athleticism and discipline.
A goalkeeping coach can be of great value in putting together a physical conditioning regimen. Of course, the goalkeeper coach is a goalkeeper coach, not a conditioning coach. College and professional soccer teams have strength and conditioning coaches on staff, and keepers at those levels should take full advantage of their expertise. But even then, the keeper coach should work closely with the conditioning coaches to ensure that the training is suitable for the keeper.
The physical requirements for playing in the goal are much different than the requirements for playing field positions. Therefore, goalkeepers should be trained differently. Keepers and coaches who do not have a strength and conditioning coach can use the conditioning exercises and recommendations in this chapter to get, and keep, goalkeepers match fit.
In addressing the physical training, it’s worthwhile to recall the physical requirements in keepers: anaerobic fitness, explosive power and vertical jumping ability, strength, speed and agility, eye-hand coordination, and quick reflexes.
To play at the highest level and be competitive against field players, keepers must have most if not all of these attributes. Physical conditioning cannot increase a keeper’s height, but it does develop and enhance the other essential qualities.
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