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Activity profile of elite goalkeepers during

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 J SPORTS MED PHYS FITNESS 2008;48:443-6

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Activity profile of elite goalkeepers during football match-play
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DI V. DI SALVO 1, 2, P. J. BENITO 3, F. J. CALDERÓN 3, M. DI SALVO 2, F. PIGOZZI 2

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Aim. The purpose of this study was to analyse the activities of 1Real Madrid Football Club, Madrid, Spain
a goalkeeper during a match and to identify the distances cove- 2Department of Health Sciences
red at different velocities between the first and second halves. University of Rome “Foro Italico” (IUSM), Rome, Italy
3Laboratory of Exercise Physiology
Methods. Sixty-two goalkeepers belonging to 28 teams in the

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English Premier League were monitored over 109 matches
using the Prozone® system. All values are averages and standard

V
deviations. Pearson product moment correlation was used to
Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Science (INEF)
Polytechnic University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

H
examine selected bivariate correlation. To analyze the diffe-

R
rences in averages, the paired Student t-test was used. The

G
analyses were performed using SPSS (v.13.0; SPSS, Inc.
Chicago, IL). The significance level was set at P<0.05.

E I
keeper.17, 18 Reilly and Thomas were the first to look at
Results. Mean total distance covered by the goalkeeper during
the match was 5 611±613 m. There were no differences between
the specific activities of players during a match.16
However, these authors do not identify the distances

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distances covered in the first and second halves. The distance
covered at different velocities and the number of vary-

I
covered at high-intensity was 56±34 m, while the distance cove-
red sprinting was 11±12 m. The average number of high speed ing activities in which the goalkeepers are involved.

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actions was 10±6, with a total range between 0 and 40. The

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goalkeeper walked during 73% of the match, while spending
just 2% moving at high-intensity.
Conclusion. The goalkeeper’s physical activity was not as great
as that of the field players, but the high-intensity actions car-
It is extremely important to know exactly which
activities are carried out by the goalkeeper so that
training programmes can be modified appropriately. In
this way it is possible to design specific programmes

O
which take into account the physical demands placed
ried out will be very decisive in the final result of the match.
on a goalkeeper.
KEY WORDS: Football - Physical fitness - Muscle, skeletal. In addition, the use of new technology that allows the

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n studies carried out over the last 30 years, the dis-
tances covered by football players during official
matches have been analysed.1-16 Physical activity com-
paring the different positions within the team has also
been studied, but no one has yet focused on the goal-
Received on February 15, 2008.
Accepted for publication on October 1, 2008.
Corresponding author: Prof. V. Di Salvo, IUSM di Roma, Piazza L. De
Bosis 6, 00194 Rome, Italy. E-mail: valterdisalvo@hotmail.com
coaching staff to record data from all players is
extremely important, thus allowing for the designing
of specific training programmes according to the phys-
ical demands of each position. Recent studies have
demonstrated the validity of these measures during
competitions.5
The objective of this study was to analyse the activ-
ities of a goalkeeper during a match and to identify
the distances covered at different velocities between the
first and second halves, with the added aim of analysing
the time and frequency of these activities, which when
looking specifically at a goalkeeper, should focus on
short distances.

Vol. 48 - No. 4 THE JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE AND PHYSICAL FITNESS 443
DI SALVO ELITE GOALKEEPERS DURING FOOTBALL MATCH-PLAY

TABLE I.—Distance covered at different intensities. Statistical analysis

All match All values given in the text and figures are averages
Mean SD CV(%) and standard deviations. Pearson product moment cor-
relation was used to examine selected bivariate corre-
Total distance (m) 5 611 613 10.9%
lation. To analyze the differences in averages, the

A
Distance walking (m) 4 025 440 10,9%
Distance jogging (m) 1 223 256 21.0% paired Student t-test was used. The analyses were per-
Distance running (m) 221 90 40.9% formed using SPSS (v.13.0; SPSS, Inc. Chicago, IL).

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Distance high-speed run (m) 56 34 61.2%
Distance sprinting (m) 11 12 104.2% The significance level was set at P<0.05.

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N.=109; CV: coefficient of variation (%).

DMaterials and methods Match activity

Results

Subjects
E Mean total distance covered by the goalkeeper dur-
ing the match was 5 611±613 meters, as shown in

M ®
Sixty-two goalkeepers belonging to 28 teams in the
English Premier League were monitored over 109
matches (n=37 in 2003/04, n=41 in 2004/05 and n=31
Table I. There were no differences between distances
covered in the first and second halves. It is very impor-
tant to show the increase in the coefficient of variation

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in 2005/06) using the Prozone® system.17
The movements of the goalkeeper were recorded

V
during the entire match by 8 fixed cameras.
(CV) as the speed of the goalkeeper’s displacement
increases.
The distance covered at high-intensity was 56±34

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Data collection

G H meters, while the distance covered sprinting was 11±12

meters.

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The movements of goalkeepers were studied during

I
every game using Vicon surveyor 23x cameras
dome/SVFT-W23. The 8 cameras were positioned so
Number of actions
The averages of distances covered at different veloc-

IN YR
that the whole pitch could be covered. All cameras
were cabled back to a central point and connected
through a video distribution box. PZ Stadium
Manager® acquired the videos from the frame grabbers
ities throughout the entire match by the goalkeeper
are shown in Figure 1A. The average number of high
speed actions was 10±6, with a total range between 0
and 40.

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and converted them to AVI-MPJPEGs with minimal
compression to preserve image quality.17
The average number of sprint actions was 2±2 with
a total range between 0 and 15. The highest numbers

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The data collected for later analysis included the of sprints were between 0 and 5 meters as shown in
distances covered by the goalkeepers according to dif- Figure 1B.
ferent threshold speeds and the number of activities that

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they carried out at different thresholds.
From the stored data, the distances covered by the
goalkeeper at different velocities, the time spent in 5
different intensity categories and the frequency of
occurrence for each activity were obtained by spe-
cially developed software (Prozone® System).17
Match-analyses were carried out distinguishing the
following 5 selected categories of intense motion: 0-
0.2 km/h standing, 0.3-7.2 km/h, walking, 7.3-14.4
km/h jogging, 14.5-19.8 km/h running, 19.9-25.2 km/h
high-speed running, >25.2 km/h sprinting. High inten-
sity (HI) was considered speeds exceeding 19.9 km/h
and included high-speed running and sprinting.
Time of actions
Table II shows the time that the goalkeeper spent
at different thresholds throughout the match. It is evi-
dent that the goalkeeper walked during 73% of the
match, while spending just 2% moving at high-inten-
sity.
Table III shows the relations among the different
competition variables. What stands out is the rela-
tionship between high intensity actions, time and dis-
tances covered. However, the relationship between
the number of sprint actions and the number of sprints
between 0-5 m is even greater.

444 THE JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE AND PHYSICAL FITNESS December 2008
ELITE GOALKEEPERS DURING FOOTBALL MATCH-PLAY DI SALVO

800
2.1

1.8
600
1.5

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Average

Average
1.2
400

200

IC 0.9

0.6

A
0

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Walking
actions
Jogging
actions
Running
actions
High speed
actions
Sprint
actions
B
0.3

0
0-5 m 5.1-10 m 10.1-15 m 15.1-20m >20.1 m

M ®
Numbers Number of sprint
Figure 1.—A) Average number of actions at different velocities in a match. B) Average number of sprints at different distances (m) in a match.

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TABLE II.—Time of actions at different intensities.
Mean s
TABLE III.—Results of bivariate Pearson correlation.

r
Signifi-

H
cance
Time standing (s) 918 350

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Time walking (s) 4 290 335 Total distance (km) - Total distance walking (km) 0.83 P<0.001
Time jogging (s) 460 95

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Time high-speed run (s) - Distance covered at high 0.97 P<0.001
Time running (s) 48 19 intensity (Ohashi et al.14) (m)

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Time high-speed run (seconds) 9 5
Time sprinting (seconds) 1 1 Distance covered at high intensity (Osashi et al.14) 0.98 P<0.001
(m) - Distance high-speed run (km)

IN YR
N.=109.
Number of high-speed actions - Distance covered 0.95 P<0.001
at high intensity (Osashi et al.14) (m)
Time high-speed run (s) - Distance covered at high 0.97 P<0.001
Discussion and conclusions intensity (Osashi et al.14) (m)

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Number of sprint actions - Number of sprints on 0.92 P<0.001
The Prozone system used in this study requires a 0-5 m
player to maintain a velocity for at least 0.5 s in order

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N.=109.
to classify which threshold he has reached. Considering
that a goalkeeper works in a limited space, it is more

C
difficult to reach a large number of high-intensity
actions. Given that the goalkeeper’s activities are more
abrupt and there is no existing precedent on this posi-
tion, further studies need to be carried out. According
to our study, goalkeepers covered 5 611±613 m per
game.
The only existing evidence is that contributed by
Reilly and Bowen,15 stating that the travelled half dis-
tance was 4 000 m, which we consider to be signifi-
cantly different from the value of 5 611 m which was
obtained in this study.
A look at the literature shows us the distances cov-
ered by the rest of the field players during the first
half of a match. The Di Salvo study, for example,
shows that players covered a distance of 5 709±485 m
in the first half and 5 684±663 in the second.5 The
field players carry out completely different tasks from
those of the goalkeeper, thus requiring completely dif-
ferent training programmes,18 based on the require-
ments of the game and the competitive activity.3, 19
At high speed and sprint velocities, there was greater
variability and so heterogeneity between goalkeepers
was greater, while at lower intensities (walking, jog-
ging, and running) there was more homogeneity
(reflected by the increment in CV, Table I).
Other studies allow us to deduce that in the second

Vol. 48 - No. 4 THE JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE AND PHYSICAL FITNESS 445
DI SALVO
halves of matches the number of action thresholds and
the number of chances/shots at goal increase due to the
physical fatigue of the field players. The intensity of
the match also diminishes, thus increasing the number
of scoring chances and the goalkeeper’s action thresh-
A
old due to the fact that he has to cover greater distances.
According to Figure 1B, most of a goalkeeper’s
movement during a match is done at a walk or low-
C
intensity run. Although there are fewer high-intensity
I
actions, they are most decisive in a match, especially
the sprints between 0 and 5 m, which are the most
D
common. This is also evidenced in relation to Table III.
When it comes to training, we must focus on high
E
intensity actions which are usually carried out during
each session. The goalkeeper makes complete recov-
eries as each of these actions is followed by several
M ®
walking or jogging exercises. When it comes to the
goalkeeper’s training, it is really important to improve
explosive movement by combining short high-intensi-
A
T
ty exercises with good rest periods,18 because the most
frequent action was the save, control and clearing.19
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In general, a goalkeeper’s activity is quite intense.
H
It is necessary, however, to link their activity to the
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technical skills and the final match result, as their
G
movements are probably related to the attacking pres-
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sure of the opposing team.
Furthermore, our data suggests that more studies
IN YR
should be carried out to understand the physiological,
neurological and technical demands placed on a goal-
keeper.
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December 2008