Mental preparation and handling of pressure in football goalkeepers

Abstract

The psychology that goes into a goalkeeper is crucial and even more so in the high-performance psychological preparation where their cognitive and mental strength capacities are amplified, reinforcing their self-esteem, raising the level of consciousness, developing the ability to correctly interpret the various adverse elements that are faced on the playing field such as conceded goals, technical-tactical errors or poor decisions taken (Rodriguez, 2019). Mental preparation and mental skills such as visualisation, positive self-talk enhance the goalkeeper’s performances and tend to eliminate any pressures or psychological issues. This study aims to understand how football goalkeepers use and pertain mental preparation in their build-up to competition and how they handle pressure and get the most out of their performance. Six semi-structured interviews were performed to collect data using a qualitative method. The participants making up the study consisted of six Maltese football goalkeepers over the age of 20 and all have played in Malta’s top leagues. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and then analysed using Thematic Analysis which generated four themes: need for mental preparation, utilisation of mental skills, mental attributions and sport psychologist assistance. The study found that mental preparation and mental skills are a vital asset in today’s modern football goalkeepers and are important to be utilized constantly. Furthermore, these techniques were found to help in handling pressure and establishing confidence and positive thinking in goalkeepers. Lastly, it was found that there is a need for sport psychologists to help apply and teach mental preparation and other psychological skills to gain better performances from modern goalkeepers.