Author(s): Mauricio Ferreira de Castro, Vivianne de Oliveira Landgraf de Castro and Rosanne Coutts

Abstract:
Positionally, the football goalkeeper is a unique player who can use their hands within a specific area of the field. Playing as the last line of the defense, one miss by the goalkeeper can result in a score for the opponents. Consequently, this is a role where the player is considered as being under constant pressure. This scoping review examined research literature focused on the application of psychological skills by football goalkeepers. The databases searched were SPORTDiscus with full text (Ebsco), PsycARTICLES (Ebsco), Scopus and Web science. From all databases, 178 articles were found. After exclusion criteria were applied, 9 papers were selected for this review. It was identified that most of the research was focused on situations related to the penalty kick. In summary, this included, the benefits of the use of video, the role of verbal cues and practice, skilled athletes being able to anticipate events based on postural cues and perceptual home training being useful even for skilled keepers. However, even though, clear recommendations are made about the positives of applying psychological skills to reduce anxiety, improve self-confidence and enhance skill acquisition, this scoping review found only one study where techniques were applied; albeit without improvement detected. Based on the positive outcomes of the implementation of psychological skills in other sports it is considered that football goalkeepers may benefit from psychological techniques applied specifically to their position.

Pages: 17-22  |  2279 Views  1604 Downloads