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
One thing they I haven’t seen mentioned – if you’re going to deflect the ball, you also jump/lunge towards the ball with your whole body so using that momentum there’s more force for pushing the ball away and it’s not just your hand absorbing all of the impact. It’s mostly down to the technique, you get used to how you should move or dive or angle yourself after doing that day after day.
Bone density gets raised by vibration which is caused through multiple times of impact. The reason why muay thai kickboxers kick palms (to the ground) and karate/ wushu masters are able to break stones.
Also goalkeepers wear gloves which supports fingers and wrist like medieval gloves from knights. They have plastik stacked on each other behind fingers to prevent them from bending to the back while still beeing able to make a fist.
Alot of goalkeeper reflections go via fist or stable wrist.
Your bones were just weak and you were not fit enough for a solid shot.
Edit: from the bright side: the part which broke in your hand doesnt break again. Bones heal stronger together but at least you got more small bones in your hand which you can break the next time.
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Rolled ankles are more common on the pickup court than in the NBA, but they still happen in the NBA, and the reasons are the same: better technique, better training, more strength, better equipment. Injuries still happen at the top level.
A lot of talk here about training etc but that’s all irrelevant. Goalkeepers aren’t the only people that get hit, it happens all the time but the ball is a big bag of air and it’s not very heavy so you have to be unlucky for it to actually hurt you. You don’t need years of training to learn how to take hits etc. Most impacts at full speed will be by defenders blocking shots anyway. The ball has usually slowed down substantially by the time it reaches the goalkeeper.
I’ve played 1000s of games of football and I’ve only seen 1 broken bone from the impact of a ball and that was when I had a shot and it hit a friend on his finger (not playing in goal).
A big part of it is the angle of your wrist, which is probably what you got unlucky with. I’ve only ever seen one dude break his wrist, and it wasn’t even on a particularly hard shot, but it was because he was bending it in an odd way. The proper techniques and the way the gloves fit both encourage safe wrist positions naturally, which is why you don’t see it too often in games. Some keepers also tape their wrists as well.
That said, goaltending at higher levels is *hard, hard work*. It’s one of those things you can explain but never fully communicate to someone who hasn’t been there. The first thing I noticed after I stopped was my baseline level of pain suddenly being much lower.
the same reason a mlb catcher catches 100 plus balls with speeds of 90+ mph (145 kph) 162 games a season. simple answer fragile people don’t play sports. especially at a professional level.
Part of the factor is, and this is not to criticize you, but those professional goalies have played throughout their life. And those who have bones that are at risk of breaking or broke, didn’t move up to the next level, eventually making the pro level.
I’ve played in goal with nothing on my hands making double and triple saves, my hands are usually fine you’ll get the odd painful shot but it wears off in about 5 minutes but that might be due to my hands being destroyed from mechanics
same reason boxers can get punched in the face more than you without falling over crying, cricketers can catch balls better than you, surgeons can do brain surgery better than you, brickies can build walls better than you, singers can sing better than you, shaolin monks can do headstand flips better than you, rock climbers can support their weight with two fingers better than you. etc.
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