Able to leap tall defenders in a single bound? Check.  Super human cat-like reflexes to dive for, and save any ball with ease? Got that too. So how do you do it? "It's all in my fingers"! Huh? A recent study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine has indicated that the difference in ratios between the index and ring finger of women athletes can dictate how athletically inclined some women may be. Now i've heard it all, but definately food for thought. Here are some findings from the study:

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The best goalkeeper of his time? Some may debate it. But to receive the highest goalkeeping accolades in the World Cup, a goalkeeper must be handed the Lev Yashin Award from FIFA, testament to the legend of Yashin and his amazing abilities. From 1949 to 1971 he played for one club, Dynamo Moscow. During his playing career he blocked 150 penalties...no goalkeeper has matched this feat to date (not that I know of anyway). When asked to give insight into his awesome penalty-blocking prowess he suggested "to have a smoke to calm your nerves, then toss back a strong drink to tone your muscles"...not the best way to enhance performance, but he must have done something right! Following is a video of Lev Yashin and his remarkable goalkeeping ability:

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With the pre-season nigh, especially down-under many young soccer stars are begginning the shuffle toward increased fitness. Before you begin running 14 km's and lifting a dead horse with your bare mitts...slow down and listen to some words of wisdom. Strength training and endurance training at high intensities don't mix. In fact, if you want to say goodbye to your pre-season training faster than a sushi chef to sashimi then be careful not to tax yourself into over-training blues. The following excerpts give an insight into what I mean:

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It seems the US has something over us Aussies when it comes to development of their young athletes. Actually I witnessed the power of great organization, phenomenol sporting spirit and culture that encompasses most US sporting institutions. The same can be said about most australian "football" codes...except for the one that is actually played with the foot and a round ball! Following is a fascinating article about why our youth soccer players are struggling to develop into professionals at home.

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You have no time to train huh? Excuses run rampant when we are short on time, but then again who isn't running against the clock these days. We live in a society where work comes first...play comes second. Isn't that a sad state of mind? So what if we played reverse psychology for moment and made your play time first up on your daily "to-do" list. The benefit of increasing your fitness will pay off in spades if you can use a little bit of time management and and get your training out of the way first thing in the morning? "Oh, but it takes too long to train, and I have to go to work on time, and...etc...yawn". Rise and shine lady's and lads, let me show you why interval training is the shortest and sweetest way to a lean, mean goalkeeper machine!

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Some people call the penalty shoot-out an art, some call it a science. Whatever you think, I can tell you that penalty situations can be nerve racking and extremely taxing on the mind for the goalkeeper. One thing that I have noticed is that top level goalkeepers are extremely cool in this situation. Having your head screwed on properly goes a long way in helping you settle and focus on the penalty situation. Many posts back I blogged about the BBC guide to goalkeeping as being a little disappointing. I stumbled across a cool little game on the BBC site that you may enjoy playing.

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I was researching some scientific journals the other night, when I stumbled across what I like to call the "Big Fat Reality". Obesity is an epidemic, and funnily enough we face it in most developed Western countries, most notably Australia and the US. That's right, both nations hold major sporting clout (more recently the Socceroos adventure at the World Cup 2006), though both face the conundrum that is obesity. How do two nations that are so ingrained with their sporting history not transcend these same values to more sedentary populations? Shouldn't sport (especially soccer) be an outlet to better health? Sometimes I don't see it that way.

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I was on the way back home from work today thinking about the past year and my eventual return to goalkeeper training (which should be in the next few weeks). More to the point, I was thinking about excuses we make for not getting back into training, or why we don't continually pursue our fitness so that we maintain peak performance, even when injured. Goalkeeping is extremely demanding, and if we think that a couple of weeks away from exercise because of injury is going to be ok, then think again. Are you serious John...train while injured? Read on to see what I mean.

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You have to love the blunders that some of us goalkeepers can make. Well, better that they are made in practice so that you learn from your mistakes, rather than during a match where you are getting paid to play. Pepe Reina had a little bit of a blunder mid-week against Everton (it happens to all of us at one time). I'm a Liverpool FC fan, have been since the big hair days of Craig Johnston, the infamous moustache of Ian Wright, and the big man himself John Barnes. It seems that Liverpool also have a penchant for over the top goalkeepers like Grobbelaar and to some extent Dudek. Recently I stumbled across a cool You Tube video of Reina in action against Kaiserslautern (must have been a friendly), where Reina played on the park...hilarious stuff, and you know what they say about goalkeepers playing out in the field...they just don't mix. Take a look for yourself, even the trainers had a laugh and so did Reina.

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For anyone who is a Keeper Skool Platinum email subscriber, you get the unique opportunity to add your pics or videos to the Keeper Skool blog. So, if you have not already subscribed, now is a great time to strut your stuff to the wider Keeper Skool community. Well I just got back in from San Francisco and had the wonderful opportunity to see that one of our members (I don't know who?) sent some very cool pics of her in the midst of some serious goalkeeping action. Check out these super cool photos from our unknown goalkeeping goddess!

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Sometimes when you think that people are well past their prime, they amaze you. Other times you think "well, that person is uncool", and they end up surprising you. I have just returned from San Francisco, and I learnt some valuable lessons about judgement, hard work and learning from your peers. All of these points are great towers of strength in all facets of your life, even soccer. Let me tell you, San Francisco is an awesome place to be and I had a great adventure over the past two weeks. Kick back and relax, let me take you on my journey through the Golden State.

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