I played GK about a year ago. Some guy decided to do a preety powerful shot at like 20 yards away. I defended it. 5 minutes later a ambulance is carrying me to the ER cause of 2 fractured bones at my wrist, and i had to wear a cast for a month.
Now i watch some matches of football, with GK’s defending shots from like half a meter away going at like 80km/h with absolutely no harm or anything.
I get adrenaline is a big painkiller and i’m not the most in-shape guy, while they are athlethes, but you’re telling me a shot from 20 yards broke my hand and yet a shot from 10 centimeters has no efect on them?
In: 531
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Dude, a shot, or ball doesn’t instantly reach the projected speeds. That takes time. Don’t know about you but in my goalie time I had special (finger) protection gloves and learned myself to punch the hard balls away instead of trying to catch them with a flat hand…
Goalkeepers, professionals, launch themselves around 15-20 times a week & naturally there’s an art to falling without injuring crucial body parts.
Though, to stop their fingers from breaking, they’ll wear fingersave gloves which are laced with long material strips to stop any fingers from bending back, and padded palms. As for wrists, some also wear a bandage, which adds an extra layer of protection (especially if the glove is loose) and similarly stabilizes their hand.
A lot of training. Just like formula one drives can sustain g forces that for most people would brake their neck. Another point is how you try to catch the ball, like are your arms fully stretched out or are they close to the body so you can use your arms and shoulders to take a lot of the hit. The last thing is, injuries do happen even to pros.
There’s technique to catching the faster balls. If you cannot deflect it, you have to find a way to extend the duration from first contact to the ball becoming stationary. You’ll also see a lot of goalies bucket the ball with both arms in front of their chests, while hunched over. Increasing the contact area and decelerating the ball over a longer period are both techniques to lower the peak force transferred through your tendons and bones. If you just block catch it from full speed to completely stationary with just your hands, you’re taking on the full force of the impact.
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Why did you take an ambulance for a wrist injury?;
It happens, but is rare. I think Albertz once broke the wrist of Klose at Rangers in the 90s? A lot of things have to align to break a wrist with a football. Not only are you less trained (technique and strength) than a pro, you were also really unlucky.
Most goal keeper gloves have those metal braces behind the fingers for a reason, I had a pair that extended down the back of my hand and to my wrist.
Most high powered shots you will not and cannot catch just because it will bounce off you before you can actually grab it. So you’re supposed to either tip it with your finger tips which is if you’re not in reach and just need to make some contact to direct the ball, or punch it which is the most effective.
I’ve taken many shots close up and jammed many fingers and probably sprained a few fingers even with my protection. The most dangerous part about being a keeper isn’t the ball flying towards you at 80mph+ it’s the person behind it who isn’t slowing down.
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