This article could well be called things I didn’t know when I got myself into this! I’m going to try to paint a real picture of the pain that you feel when being a goalkeeper. Is it painful to be a goalkeeper? To be honest, there are a lot of times when you’re going to feel the pain. There’s physical and emotional pain that you’re going to have to deal with. I want to make sure that I talk about that side of the argument as well.
Many people are going to cringe when reading this, but there’s actually a good type of pain in goalkeeping. When you’re getting pain in your thigh area and a little off to the side, it means you’re hitting the ground with the right part of your body. What you don’t want is to have your knees or other more vulnerable parts hitting the ground first on a consistent basis.
When you look at what the goalkeeper is asked to do, and this actually applies to both hockey and football, there’s no way that it won’t hurt. The job description contemplates that you must put your body at the service of the team. You need to put your body in some way between the ball and the goal so that the ball doesn’t hit the back of the net. Sometimes, all of the technique that you’ve learned along the way goes out the window, and you have to put your face in front of a ball without hesitation.
What Hurts the Most About Being a Goalkeeper?
I had to really think about this one because there are what I call incidental pains and consistent ones. Incidental pains happen when you hit your head or your back on the post. Another incidental pain is going to come from taking a ball to the face, the groin, or wherever it is that you get hit. If you collide with a teammate or an opponent, those can hurt a lot as well. Those incidental pains are usually going to be the hardest to overcome at the moment.
In most cases, though, if you take a shot to the ribs, that’s not something that’s going to linger for a week. I’m trying to remember here, but I’ve never heard of a broken rib from taking a ball to the rib area. Broken fingers and wrists from a hard shot, yes, that’s more of a possibility. All of these incidental pains hurt a ton. I’d say that any broken bones from a fluke play are going to be the worst because the pain and, more so, the discomfort are going to last at least a few weeks.
Goalkeepers also have to contend with a set of continuous ailments. These are usually bruises on your sides. Many of these can come as a result of regular training. This is what a lot of people who don’t play the position may not understand. Even if you’re doing things right, you’re going to be dealing with some discomfort. The same thing applies to nagging pains in hamstrings, thighs, and things like that. These won’t hurt as much as a shoulder injury, but they can be your everyday feeling.
“Good Pains” For Goalkeepers
This is essentially the topic that I mentioned in the last paragraph. There are always going to be “good” pains. Obviously, no pain is necessarily good, but there are many days when you’re going to have to push through some of the bruising. That’s especially going to be the case on your way up. Some of the older goalkeepers who are at the top may be able to take more rest days and be even better because of them.
When you’re fighting for the top spot on the team, you don’t have rest days or off days. That’s just how it goes, and I do think your body takes a bigger toll when you’re a goalkeeper than in any other position on the field. A lot of the bruises on your sides are going to be consistent. I had an issue I remember with my shin being bruised from making a save with that part of the body. Then I kept getting hit there, so I aggravated the thing.
As a goalkeeper, a lot of these “good pains” are a part of life, and you have to find a way to pull through. Otherwise, it’s going to be really tough for you to climb the ladder in your career. I know that society wants to say that it’s okay not to be tough and things like that. In these situations, there really is no other way. I’m talking about the mental state and some of the recovery elements where you don’t want to be tough. The reality is that if you want to go pro, you’ve got to answer the bell for training and games when you’re likely in pain.
Ways to Avoid Pain
Wearing the right equipment is going to be key to being able to avoid the pain. A lot of times, though, young goalkeepers make very dumb decisions. I’m talking about their play on the field in this instance. Wearing short shorts and no knee-high socks or pads on a rough turf field is a bad idea. I see it every single day, and I cringe because one, it makes me feel old. That’s something I wouldn’t be able to do anymore.
The other reason I cringe is because these people are putting their bodies through more wear and tear than they need to go through. If you scrape your knees and thighs on hot turf, it’s going to burn for days. It’s true that not even wearing long pants and a long-sleeved jersey are going to be 100% foolproof methods to avoid these issues. You’re still better off, though, than you are if you’re wearing short shorts and a T-shirt.
Other than wearing the right equipment the only way to avoid more pain is using the right technique. When you dive wrong or you attack the ball with your hands the wrong way, you’re putting yourself at a higher risk of injury. As mentioned, there are fluke plays where the contact can’t be avoided, and you’re going to hurt. That’s part of goalkeeping and pretty much any contact sport that you could play. With the right technique, particularly for diving towards the ball, you’re going to be able to avoid a ton of pain.
Recovery is Very Important for People Playing Consistently
Recovery is the key to being able to answer the bell for the next session. It can also be the key to being able to get up for work on Monday after your Sunday league match. I’ve said many times on this site that when I was training every day, I would do some light swimming and sauna baths after training. That allowed me to keep the blood flowing without going through another high-impact workout.
Ice baths are always going to be a good idea. Even in those days when I was younger, I tried to avoid them. When you’re feeling really stiff, getting in the cold tub is always going to help. Anything that you can do to move that’s low impact, particularly if you can move some of the extremities that you have bruises on, can be a good idea. Of course, check with a doctor to see if you’re not dealing with a bigger issue than just your daily bruises.
Massages can be another one of these elements that can help you cope with some of the daily issues. I’d recommend trying all of the things that you can before you resort to popping pills. This can be a real issue down the road. A lot of times, I found myself resisting some of the pain just to not feel like I’d had to take pills every day of the week to be able to get out of bed. Yeah, it can get that bad!
Can You Cope With the Position Mentally?
This is a real issue, and there’s no shame in realizing that you can’t. Field players usually won’t get too down on themselves after conceding a goal unless we’re talking about a situation where it’s clearly their fault. With goalkeepers, I’ve seen two main issues that take place when conceding a goal that can get you down on yourself. The first one is when you clearly make a mistake, and the ball ends up on the back of the net.
There’s no way around some of these, and they’re going to happen. That’s the first thing that you’re going to have to realize. I still have scar tissue from some of the goals I gave up in key moments. There’s no reason to sugarcoat this. Some of them were career-defying. Making those mistakes potentially led me to have a shorter or less successful career. You have to find a way to deal with the internal struggle that’s going to come your way. If you can get help from a sports psychologist, that could really be a game changer.
The other issues usually show up when someone is blaming you for something that wasn’t your fault. In both situations you need to be able to not get too down on yourself to the point where your performance dips after conceding a goal. When it’s not your fault, and you’re being blamed, you also need to stand your ground at times. All these are mental battles that are painful, and you have to deal with as a goalkeeper.
Is it Worth It?
I’m going to be extremely biased with my answer. The people who know me know that goalkeeping has, in many ways, defined my life. That’s coming from someone who didn’t necessarily have a long career in the professional game. It’s an activity, though, that builds character and, in many ways, shapes your personality, particularly if you go all into goalkeeping. I don’t get the sense that this is something that necessarily happens to people who play different positions on the field.
What I will say, though, is that it’s not for everyone. There’s no shame in coming home after a week of training and realizing that you can’t deal with the pain. I’ve had to put my training on hold in my later years, and I’m talking about my late 20s and early 30s because I couldn’t recover in time to be able to answer the bell. The pain is real, and you have to be willing to deal with it.
There are a lot of great things that can come as a result of exploring this world. It is the hardest position to be able to excel at. If you want to go pro, you’ll have a better chance to do so playing anywhere else on the field. You won’t have to deal with as much pain in most cases. There’s a lot of magic that happens between the sticks, and most of us who’ve seen it and felt it don’t regret it!