The Influence of Anthropometrics on Goalkeepers’ Penalty-Saving Performance in Elite European Football

In this chapter, we examined the important anthropometric parameters associated with goalkeepers’ penalty-saving performance in European championship tournaments. It was demonstrated from the findings of the study that certain anthropometric variables including weight, height, BMI, and age are discriminating factors for a successful penalty-saving performance. The high penalty savers are essentially taller, older, and heavier in comparison with the low penalty savers. In addition, it was demonstrated that the use of feet could play a role in penalty-saving performance. The high penalty savers commonly used their right legs as a dominant foot, while larger proportions of the low penalty-saving GKs are left-footed and a few used both feet.