Goalkeepers at Every Rec League Are Begging You to Stop Doing This One Thing
You think you're being polite. You're actually being dangerous.
Talk to any recreational goalkeeper this summer and you'll hear the same complaint, and it isn't about hard shots or bad defenders.
It's the courtesy follow-through. A keeper smothers the ball, and an attacker — trying to be nice — keeps jogging in and takes a soft little poke at it, or hurdles the keeper at the last second.
The unwritten law of soccer at every level: when the keeper has both hands on the ball, the play is dead. Pull out of the challenge early. Every finger injury in rec soccer starts with 'I thought it was still loose.'
New World Cup-inspired players, welcome — keepers want you here. Just remember the one rule they all agree on: hands on ball means hands off keeper. That's it. That's the whole sermon.
