The Technical Skills of Rink Hockey Goalkeeper in Direct Free Hit

The aim of the present study was to identify the technical skills of the rink hockey goalkeeper in the direct free hits in the high competition, proposing, at the same time, the functional structure of the technical skills and highlighting the most effective chains. The observational methodology was used analyzing the direct free hits in the Spanish professional league (n = 637). An ad hoc observation instrument was created with the technical skills of the goalkeeper, the technical skills of player and the laterality of the player. The observation instrument was validated by the authority criterion and intra and inter observer reliability was calculated. Correlation analysis was performed using Pearson's chi-square test to identify the relationships between skills. The results confirm the existence of a significant relationship between both skills (divided by 2 = 273.980, p < .05), the most stable relationships being the screen with the shots and the fence step with the driblings, although, his last technical skill of the most used goalkeeper is not the most effective. It is observed that the goalkeepers respond with different skills depending on the player's laterality. This information can help the coaches to create specific training situations to improve the performance of the goalkeepers in the direct free hits and provide a specific knowledge for the goalkeeper to prepare the appropriate strategy in the direct free hits.