Question for the coaches out there: Fitness training and keepers

Mystery Train

Mystery Train

GOLD
This is part gripe, part legit question.

Every soccer season my kid has been through since AYSO, youngers club, olders club, Middle School, HS, the various coaches she's been through put the team through the fitness gauntlet just before season starts. Some coaches are more fanatical/brutal than others about it. And I understand that before her freshman year of college, it's going to be even more intense. But, like a lot of other details we keeper parents have commented on about goalkeepers and soccer coaching, I see an incredibly obvious and, in my opinion MORONIC mistake being made with regards to keepers that is rampant across all levels of coaching: Goalkeepers are put through exactly the same fitness regimen as the field players.

This makes very little practical sense, and I'd like a club, HS, or college coach to explain or defend this widespread practice. Why???? Do professional clubs do this? Why don't soccer coaches have a fitness program designed for the keeper? This isn't some lame effort to get out of doing hard fitness testing. I think ultra hard-core demanding fitness training is a must for elite athletes. But shouldn't that training be targeting the athlete's needs? Usain Bolt doesn't prep for the Olympics by running half marathons and Meb Keflezighi doesn't try to max out in the squat rack.

The only legitimate factor in why a keeper should have to do the beep test and try to run 3 miles in x minutes or do 800 meter interval sprints is for the simple spirit of team unity. Otherwise, it's not only pointless, it's potentially detrimental to the type of fitness that a keeper needs to establish to be at an elite level. Several of her coaches have at least taken the route of not holding her to the minimum standard required for the field players, but some of them do. Even the ones who let her slide still make her do all of the training with the team on those events leading up to the testing. That's ok, except she's a freaking competitor, and hates being last. So she busts her damn tail trying to raise her beep test score, when that sort of endurance does nothing for the type of short anaerobic bursts of explosion she needs to be at the top of her game. One of the big issues my player personally has is that she's got a lighting metabolism, so putting weight on her long frame isn't easy (yes, I know everyone should have such a problem) but she's got aspirations to play in college and looking around at D1 keepers, they are thick, muscular and powerful. The last thing my kid needs going into her hot recruitment years is to lose weight.

I would love to see her have to hit some sort of metrics on her leaping, on repetitions on a 40 yard dash, squats, the shuttle run, etc. A goalkeeper should have fitness tests comparable to basketball players. That's much more in line with the type of physical demand on their muscles and aerobic endurance.

Am I way off base?? Willing to be wrong on this point, but seriously frustrated.
 
Mystery Train said:
This is part gripe, part legit question.

Every soccer season my kid has been through since AYSO, youngers club, olders club, Middle School, HS, the various coaches she's been through put the team through the fitness gauntlet just before season starts. Some coaches are more fanatical/brutal than others about it. And I understand that before her freshman year of college, it's going to be even more intense. But, like a lot of other details we keeper parents have commented on about goalkeepers and soccer coaching, I see an incredibly obvious and, in my opinion MORONIC mistake being made with regards to keepers that is rampant across all levels of coaching: Goalkeepers are put through exactly the same fitness regimen as the field players.

This makes very little practical sense, and I'd like a club, HS, or college coach to explain or defend this widespread practice. Why???? Do professional clubs do this? Why don't soccer coaches have a fitness program designed for the keeper? This isn't some lame effort to get out of doing hard fitness testing. I think ultra hard-core demanding fitness training is a must for elite athletes. But shouldn't that training be targeting the athlete's needs? Usain Bolt doesn't prep for the Olympics by running half marathons and Meb Keflezighi doesn't try to max out in the squat rack.

The only legitimate factor in why a keeper should have to do the beep test and try to run 3 miles in x minutes or do 800 meter interval sprints is for the simple spirit of team unity. Otherwise, it's not only pointless, it's potentially detrimental to the type of fitness that a keeper needs to establish to be at an elite level. Several of her coaches have at least taken the route of not holding her to the minimum standard required for the field players, but some of them do. Even the ones who let her slide still make her do all of the training with the team on those events leading up to the testing. That's ok, except she's a freaking competitor, and hates being last. So she busts her damn tail trying to raise her beep test score, when that sort of endurance does nothing for the type of short anaerobic bursts of explosion she needs to be at the top of her game. One of the big issues my player personally has is that she's got a lighting metabolism, so putting weight on her long frame isn't easy (yes, I know everyone should have such a problem) but she's got aspirations to play in college and looking around at D1 keepers, they are thick, muscular and powerful. The last thing my kid needs going into her hot recruitment years is to lose weight.

I would love to see her have to hit some sort of metrics on her leaping, on repetitions on a 40 yard dash, squats, the shuttle run, etc. A goalkeeper should have fitness tests comparable to basketball players. That's much more in line with the type of physical demand on their muscles and aerobic endurance.

Am I way off base?? Willing to be wrong on this point, but seriously frustrated.
Click to expand...
Not totally off base but consider this..

You mentioned team unity and that's a big thing. A keeper is already out on an island when it comes to training so anything they can do with the team is a plus. If you want to be considered part of the team don't expect to be treated differently.

Aerobic before anaerobic. If you are going for overall fitness you should be training your aerobic motor first then your train your anaerobic. There will be games that a keeper is standing in the heat and just because they are not running doesn't mean they won't suffer. Better to be fit.

Confidence. It's just a mindset that a keeper needs. Knowing that they are fit just adds to it.

These are all just my opinion and coming from a parent who's kid sufferers from exercise induced asthma. My son has to work extra hard not to be last on any run over 5 minutes.
 
Multi Sport said:
Not totally off base but consider this..

You mentioned team unity and that's a big thing. A keeper is already out on an island when it comes to training so anything they can do with the team is a plus. If you want to be considered part of the team don't expect to be treated differently.

Aerobic before anaerobic. If you are going for overall fitness you should be training your aerobic motor first then your train your anaerobic. There will be games that a keeper is standing in the heat and just because they are not running doesn't mean they won't suffer. Better to be fit.

Confidence. It's just a mindset that a keeper needs. Knowing that they are fit just adds to it.

These are all just my opinion and coming from a parent who's kid sufferers from exercise induced asthma. My son has to work extra hard not to be last on any run over 5 minutes.
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Get the fitness thing, but one of the problems with the US is that 1) it specializes positions from the earliest ages, but 2) then tends to train all these positions the same way. As the kids advance in age, and get specialized in their position, their fitness requirements are different. The players on the wings and in the center mid need to focus on their endurance. The strikers on their short burst speed. The defenders on their lateral movements. The center backs have some of the same requirements as the goalkeeper as well, which are different. The reality, though, is it's 1) a time thing (the coaches don't have time to properly direct their attention to every position), and 2) a culture thing (the US tends to emphasize offensive requirements to the detriment of the defense, let alone the goalkeeper). In Spain, for example, even inside the academy system, while players (even the keeper) have some endurance running thrown in, they try to emphasize that even all fitness training must be done with the ball at your feet (5k running with the team in the morning yes....suicides no). Our college coaches, some of whom trained in the American physical education system which emphasizes general fitness above all else, also reinforce this, which is one of the ways the college system hurts developing the professional side.
 
Grace T. said:
Get the fitness thing, but one of the problems with the US is that 1) it specializes positions from the earliest ages, but 2) then tends to train all these positions the same way. As the kids advance in age, and get specialized in their position, their fitness requirements are different. The players on the wings and in the center mid need to focus on their endurance. The strikers on their short burst speed. The defenders on their lateral movements. The center backs have some of the same requirements as the goalkeeper as well, which are different. The reality, though, is it's 1) a time thing (the coaches don't have time to properly direct their attention to every position), and 2) a culture thing (the US tends to emphasize offensive requirements to the detriment of the defense, let alone the goalkeeper). In Spain, for example, even inside the academy system, while players (even the keeper) have some endurance running thrown in, they try to emphasize that even all fitness training must be done with the ball at your feet (5k running with the team in the morning yes....suicides no). Our college coaches, some of whom trained in the American physical education system which emphasizes general fitness above all else, also reinforce this, which is one of the ways the college system hurts developing the professional side.
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All good points. But in reality it's up to the player/parent to either seek additional training or do it on their own. Don't expect 2-3 x a week training to address your kids deficiencies in conditioning. You nailed it when you posted that coaches don't have enough time..
 
Multi Sport said:
You mentioned team unity and that's a big thing. A keeper is already out on an island when it comes to training so anything they can do with the team is a plus. If you want to be considered part of the team don't expect to be treated differently.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's a big thing for sure, and I know it's tough enough to incorporate keepers into the regular practices if the coach isn't very educated on keeper coaching, and you don't want to isolate them even more. Creating a separate fitness testing program for your keepers probably does create some issues there, but I'd like to think a good coach could manage it.

Just to clarify, in no way am I suggesting that aerobic fitness isn't important, or that keepers don't gain anything from distance running. And as I said in the original post, this isn't about devaluing fitness AT ALL. But you want the right kind of fitness.

Speaking from experience on this point. While recovering from an ankle injury (basketball) I worked on my fitness in the swimming pool. I worked my tail off and got to the point that I could swim around two miles in just over one hour. I was the most cardiovascular fit I've ever been. But when I played my first full-court pick-up game, my muscles were toast after 20 minutes. My heart and lungs were just fine, but I didn't have any basketball fitness. So if I want to set a bar for a field player, yeah, they should be able to run 2 miles in 15 minutes. But I'd rather see my keeper do burpees for 15 minutes straight. It's going to be working the muscle groups and endurance factor for the actions they specifically have to take in game. These are totally different things.

Now, if you have an overweight or unfit keeper, then yeah, they better run with the field players to get in shape. But that's not really what I'm talking about.

Also, to Grace's point about specialization, this gripe is strictly aimed at the olders ages to college. I personally don't think really young players should have intense fitness testing anyway, even for the field players. But what fitness and running they do, everyone should do it.

Finally, I am sure that the biggest issue for most club coaches on specializing training for their keepers is available time and resources. They have to evaluate the investment/benefit ratio, and for the most part, it's always going to be better in the win column to focus on the 14-15 field players first and 1 or 2 keepers last.
 
Mystery Train said:
Yeah, that's a big thing for sure, and I know it's tough enough to incorporate keepers into the regular practices if the coach isn't very educated on keeper coaching, and you don't want to isolate them even more. Creating a separate fitness testing program for your keepers probably does create some issues there, but I'd like to think a good coach could manage it.

Just to clarify, in no way am I suggesting that aerobic fitness isn't important, or that keepers don't gain anything from distance running. And as I said in the original post, this isn't about devaluing fitness AT ALL. But you want the right kind of fitness.

Speaking from experience on this point. While recovering from an ankle injury (basketball) I worked on my fitness in the swimming pool. I worked my tail off and got to the point that I could swim around two miles in just over one hour. I was the most cardiovascular fit I've ever been. But when I played my first full-court pick-up game, my muscles were toast after 20 minutes. My heart and lungs were just fine, but I didn't have any basketball fitness. So if I want to set a bar for a field player, yeah, they should be able to run 2 miles in 15 minutes. But I'd rather see my keeper do burpees for 15 minutes straight. It's going to be working the muscle groups and endurance factor for the actions they specifically have to take in game. These are totally different things.

Now, if you have an overweight or unfit keeper, then yeah, they better run with the field players to get in shape. But that's not really what I'm talking about.

Also, to Grace's point about specialization, this gripe is strictly aimed at the olders ages to college. I personally don't think really young players should have intense fitness testing anyway, even for the field players. But what fitness and running they do, everyone should do it.

Finally, I am sure that the biggest issue for most club coaches on specializing training for their keepers is available time and resources. They have to evaluate the investment/benefit ratio, and for the most part, it's always going to be better in the win column to focus on the 14-15 field players first and 1 or 2 keepers last.
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Burpees for 15 minutes? That would kick anyones rear.

I know most clubs have an official keeper trainer. Hopefully these trainers are sharing the importance of fitness, specifically, what the keepers can be doing on their own in this area to help their game.
 
Multi Sport said:
I know most clubs have an official keeper trainer. Hopefully these trainers are sharing the importance of fitness, specifically, what the keepers can be doing on their own in this area to help their game.
Click to expand...

It's hard for the club trainer. For example, if they follow the NSCAA guidelines, the player isn't specializing in the position until age 12. The first year, if the trainer knows what they are doing, should cover basic technique, particularly catching and basic dive technique. Once the player is confident, there's high balls, basic tactics, smother, and distribution to add (and note Tackett's article complaining that distribution is getting shorted). Once those basics are mastered the keeper coach can begin extension high and low diving. Take the high dive and their a wide range of elements the keeper needs to perfect: positioning, power step, judgement of pushing or catching, technique for both pushing and catching, height, the landing, post-landing, each of which requires sessions and time to perfect. Then there's general reflex training, and the keeper coach is expected to do this with 1-2 sessions a week, with kids with various needs in the group, and different skill levels and ages in the group. But I agree, and am a big proponent of keepers have to look for training outside of just the basic club training.

The "fitness for fitness sake" is a uniquely American thing. I just watched a CCTV special on training in China (they have many of the same problems that we are having in building their national team)....even they don't do it that way. We have the President's physical fitness test (yet our kids are among some of the biggest in the word). We pioneered physical education in schools. Our youth sports leagues spread post-WWII into the suburbs with us, largely as a way for parents to get their kids fit. Our physical fitness education emphasizes general fitness. The rest of the world seeks to build soccer players. We build athletes (which is also why we've historically done well in the non-team events in the Olympics). The roots of it go back to the progressive reforms in the late 19th century (the same progressives that gave us prohibition, the women's vote, and the progressive reforms of the early 20th century). YMCA's grew out of it, basketball as a sport was created, football was adopted by colleges (first the Ivies, then the others), It's a uniquely almost puritanical mindset that is uniquely American. No other nation in the world trains their soccer players to run 2 miles in 15 minutes (well...maybe the English...a little bit)...the rest of the world focuses on building soccer players.....which is o.k., depending on what we want out of youth soccer.
 
After reading a post on an ACL injury yesterday, I started doing some research on injury prevention for Keepers and found the article below. Besides providing specialized fitness training for Keepers based on the unique demands of the position, they should have specialized fitness training for the prevention of injuries that are specific to their position.

https://www.keeperstop.com/goalkeep...ed_strength_and_power_for_today_s_goalkeepers
 
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