Men in women's sport the Swiss size comparison (pitch, ball, goalposts)

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I came across this today. Article is in French.

They argue that an average female footballer playing on pitches designed for men with normal ball, goalposts, have a tougher time of it.

To show the increased difficulty, compared to men, they created an oversized pitch for men to play on, then recorded men's reactions. Very interesting.

https://www.24heures.ch/football-feminin-une-experience-demontre-linegalite-physique-787765673330

It's also very relevant when men pretending to be women get to infiltrate women's sport, and society pretends they're stunning and brave...

That sounds really interesting! I don’t have the know how to read the article but the concept is great!

I think this is the TV programme https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/einstein/video/frauen-sind-die-heldinnen-im-fussball---wissenschaftlich-belegt?urn=urn:srf:video:ab5bb8fa-f3ba-4c41-b945-55a6b7a7f195

The science of sport podcast talk about this regularly. Women are hamstrung by what is effectively outsize equipment and their skills lag behind as a result.

Recently they talked to a pro cyclist and the subject of minimum bike weight & handlebar sizes came up - exactly the same concept as man size footballs, goals and pitches. Women have to work harder to get the equipment to work for them.

Don't you get the offer of a translation when you click on the link?

I look forward to reading it later, thanks OP.
Just the other day I was watching a bit of a women's soccer match on TV and it occurred to me that as the goal is the same size for men and women, it must be extra hard for women goalies to make saves, esp penalties. This article seems to take that even further.

There is also the issue of football boots - it has probably improved as women's footie has become more professional and more profitable, but women used to have to wear boots designed for boys, which were unsuitable for their feet and caused injuries. And if they were having to run further and faster as well...

Thanks gruebleen for the tv prog. Just seeing the big goals brought it right home.

I am totally loving the Swiss German accents.

Thank you for the nudge- I know it used to but haven’t seen the option for years. Turns out the link has moved but is still there if you click through various links.

I notice everytime they show a female goalie in goal and then a male goalie in goal.

It is remarkable how some of these female goalies perform. Considering they also don’t have the % of fast twitch muscles (including jumping ) as a man, the height, the arm span and I remember reading that women have a slower reaction time from first sight. Ie. Slower hand and eye reaction.

Brava all those remarkable female athletes!!!

The standard goal size of 8 feet by 8 yards was set over 250 years ago. Men in those days weren't that much taller than women are today.

This said, there is undoubtedly an issue of sorts. If the facilities are available, u-13s and u-14s boys are supposed to play on a regular sized pitch with a slightly smaller 7 foot by 7 yards goal. The boys who play competitive football, even at grass roots level, tend to be much taller and/or mature much earlier than average, so for sure an average boys' u-14 team, certainly by the end of a season, would be on average taller than an average women's team.

Pretty sure I meant 150 years, not 250. Maths not my strong point. You get my drift, though.

Caroline Criado Perez might have covered issues similar to this in her book Invisible Women.

There may not be a lot of traffic on this thread as football (male, female, amateur, professional) leaves many people cold but for those who are browsing here, do ponder on this women vs men football result. A match played "behind closed doors" 🤔

m-allfootballapp-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/m.allfootballapp.com/amp/news/EPL/Arsenal-Women-suffer-5-0-defeat-to-boys-U15-side-in-behind-closed-doors-friendly-at-London-Colney/2895564?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17549315115755&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fm.allfootballapp.com%2Fnews%2FEPL%2FArsenal-Women-suffer-5-0-defeat-to-boys-U15-side-in-behind-closed-doors-friendly-at-London-Colney%2F2895564

Goal width was set in the 1860s and the height about 20 years later. Men in the UK at the time were 5' 7" on average. That is closer to the average height of men today (5' 9") than it is to the average height of women (5' 4").

And it's not really relevant. So men would have found it harder 150 years ago, but we compare women's performance (and enjoyment) today to men today, not men 150 years ago.

One of the reasons for the program above was that the Swiss National team lost 7-1 against U15 boys.

Thanks for adding this - good to have another case to quote 😞

As an amateur footballer for 30 years, I often thought this about the size of the pitch and goals etc. There are lots of implications, e.g. a typical male goalie can touch the top bar when jumping, so in theory they can stop any goal. Women typically can't so there is always a 'dead' spot where they will never reach the ball.

More sobering, women have weaker neck and head muscles, making it riskier when heading the ball, which is already comparatively larger for us.

It was only in the last 10 years I had access to football kit made for women, previously we had worn outsized men's shirts and had to try to roll up the sleeves so they didn't come halfway down our knees. I never wore football boots made for woman's feet. There are some now just starting to be available but they are hard to get hold of and very expensive still.