We live in a world where that “big” word is considered a good thing, or at least we’d like to think so. We love the big cars, the big house. Being taller can get you the girl…no lady likes the small runt-like guy. Oh, we also love the big paychecks and the big dinners. Did you smell a waft of generalization in the air? Thought so.
When it comes to goalkeeping, the age old question resonates (well at least in goalkeeping circles it does) around whether being a tall goalkeeper, compared to being a short goalkeeper, has its advantages? It’s a great question.
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Thomas Reilly’s Science & Soccer (1996) pg. 27, pointed to the following research:
Citat:
Data on height and body mass of soccer teams suggest that players vary widely in body size. Lack of height is not in itself a bar to success in soccer, though it might determine the choice of playing position. Being tall is an advantage for the goalkeeper, for centre-backs and for a forward player used as a ‘target’ for winning possession of the ball with the head. In contrast the players deployed in midfield, in full-back and on the wings tend to be smaller in size than those in other positional roles.
A mean test of heights (cm) from players from various elite level soccer clubs and national teams around the world (based on the above research by Reilly, et al.) showed some of the following results:
English League, First Division (180.4 +/- 1.7)
Danish National Squad (183.0)
Aberdeen FC (174.6 +/- 0.9)
The list goes on…but it shows that anthropometric measurements can vary widely from country to country at an elite level of soccer, possibly due to genetic traits inherent in certain nationalities. We can look at a range of between 174 cm’s to up to 180 cm’s on average. So what about us goalkeepers?
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Great goalkeepers such as Jorge Campos only stood in at 1.68 m (5 ft 6 inches), so we must look to other factors other than height when it comes to the impact of a goalkeeper on the professional playing field. Having, strength, agility and other fitness characteristics alongside solid technique (especially positioning and timing) are vital facets of any goalkeepers game.