Goalkeeping Tips, Tidbits and Random Thoughts

An athlete talking to themsleves during competition is hardly a new phenomenon.... The talk does not have to be vocal. By merely thinking you are talking to yourself and sending a message.
-- Tony DiCicco, Goalkeeper Soccer Training Manual

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Orange highlighter

In this week's Champion's League final between Manchester United and Chelsea, Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech wore a flourescent orange uniform:

One poster over at The Glove Bag wrote: "My brother sent me a text during the game saying 'Cech looks like a highlighter pen'". That was after some discussion about whether bright goalkeeper kits would influence strikers to hit the ball right at the keeper.

I've heard that theory bandied about for many years, but I've never seen any scientific study on it. I'm not convinced it makes much of a difference.

In fact, when I am playing striker, I want to see the keeper. My target is a specific area of the goal, where the keeper isn't... and to know where the keeper isn't, it stands to reason that I also need to know where the keeper is. My visual target is a "frame" formed by the ground, the crossbar, a post, and the keeper. I almost never look at the keeper directly, but I do see the keeper's body as a part of the target frame. A brightly outfitted keeper just makes that frame easier to distinguish against a mottled background.

Other strikers may, literally, see things differently, but particularly at the higher levels I don't think a bright goalkeeper kit has any big advantage. The keeper should wear whatever they feel is most comfortable and makes them the most confident.

Labels: Equipment, Matchday observations

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 | Permalink