Protect Your Potential: Goalkeeper Injury Prevention
On average, an elite football player suffers between 1.5 to 7.6 injuries in 1,000 hours of training and 12 to 35 injuries in 1,000 hours of matches. Players and teams that are able to manage their injuries are more successful. A particular concern with shoulder injuries is that 1/3 of shoulder injuries sustained are classed as severe with players missing a minimum of 28 days.
Shoulder injuries are a greater concern for goalkeepers when compared to their outfield teammates. Therefore, we use the FIFA 11 + Shoulder Program, which targets the prevention of shoulder injuries. FIFA 11 injury prevention programs gave proven to decrease injuries in teams that adopt these approaches by between 30 - 70 %.
The program is split into three sections:
General Warm-up exercises
7 Minutes induration
Exercises to improve strength and balance of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and finger muscles
9 - 10 Minutes with low resistance and high repetitions (3 Sets of 15 - 20 repetitions).
Advanced exercises for core stability and muscular control.
High-speed movements with players completing 15 - 20 repetitions of 5 sets.
Maximum 5 Minutes
Foundation Phase
Youth Development Phase
Focused on using fun activation games to build on the strength and balance of the upper body.
Each week the goalkeepers will complete various exercises of the youth development program.
The youth goalkeepers will strictly follow the program designed and will be advised to complete this in all of their sessions.
All goalkeepers will have a PDF copy of the program to complete prior to training and match days
Speaking from experience
Our director of coaching, Lewis has stated about his injury experience.
''I broke a bone in my wrist (Scaphoid) within the first few training sessions of the futsal preseason. I wish I had greater preparation physically in the off-season to build greater strength in the muscles around the wrist to reduce the risk of injuries in the area.'' ''Additionally, I often see a lot of goalkeepers within the academies I have worked with sprains, due to the high physical demands of lots of training and games''Interested in Additional Reading? Check out our reading list below
Boyd, K.T., Brownson, P. and Hunter, J.B., 2001. Distal radial fractures in young goalkeepers: a case for an appropriately sized soccer ball. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 35(6), pp.409-411. Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1724423/pdf/v035p00409.pdf
NİSHAD, H., KADYAN, G., SİNGH, H., Harsirjan, K.A.U.R. and CHHABRA, C., 2023. Amplification of Upper Extremity Power, Balance and Shoulder Stability in Soccer Goalkeepers With FIFA 11+ Shoulder Injury Prevention Programme. Pamukkale Journal of Sport Sciences, 14(2), pp.220-233. Link: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/3154792
Kaux, Jean-François et al (2023)-Goalkeepers: main injuries https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/303305
Gramage Medina, Kevin et al (2023)-The cross technique: coaches' perceptions & implications for injury prevention https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/303307
Eslami, A., Sahebozamani, M. and Bahiraei, S., 2023. The Effect of the FIFA 11+ Kids Warm-Up Training Program on Lower Limb Injury Prevention and Football Player Performance (A Systematic Review). Journal of Sport Biomechanics, 9(1), pp.2-15. Link: https://biomechanics.iauh.ac.ir/browse.php?a_id=307&slc_lang=en&sid=1&ftxt=1&html=1
Interested in having your own copy of our Injury Prevention Program?
If you would like a copy please contact us through our social media to have the PDF sent to you.
Cost £TBC
