So Jens Lehmann just discovered what it means by “extension clause”, as Arsenal dusted off the cobwebs to the German’s contract, extending it for another year.

The Arsenal shot stopper has been given a “professional” thumbs up from Asene Wenger and the Gunner’s management. Lehmann can thank his lucky stars for the power of sports science. “What’s sports science got to do with it”, I hear you gasp! Plenty. Let me explain.

Longevity for the top flight goalkeeper (or any competitive athlete for that matter) revolves around the sound knowledge of coaching staff with their collective brains deep in cutting edge sport science. In fact, Lehmann should thank his lucky stars for the healthily growing science of soccer nutrition and training, for without it, most Premiership players would not be able to cope with the over arching demands of the competitive season.

Overall, I feel that Lehmann has shown some fantastic growth as a top-flight goalkeeper, even though at times he has been “just average” for Arsenal. I have spoken briefly about his evolution as a competitive goalkeeper here. The Premiership is a non stop affair, and goalkeepers also have a very stringent and taxing training regime throughout the competitive season.

Mark Schwarzer of Middlesbrough was once quoted as saying “I don’t see why with the aid of sports science a keeper can’t play up to 40 and beyond in the modern game”. The top-flight Premiership player has a whole array of weaponry in their training “arsenal” (no pun intended) to utilize. Training environments world’s apart from players even a few division’s below them.

I recall many training sessions with good ol’ Sutton United in The Conference, where we did the “usual” sprinting, kick on goal, “sod off to the shower boys” kind of jaunt. Now I know that in Premiership clubs, you have a state of the art gym, with a dedicated “trainer”, a horde of therapists and even a sports psychologist, like a Club Med for the soccer illuminati. “Gimme some of that at good ol’ Battersea United” I hear you say! At least the Battersea boys had a dedicated pub, with a pint of ale after a training session to help clear up the lactic acid.

I digress. The fact is that Premiership goalkeepers have a tonne of scientific resources to help maximize their performance. Goalkeepers like Lehmann should count themselves extremely lucky to be provided with the ability to utilize sport science to enhance their longevity between the sticks. Sometimes, longevity in top-flight football is not just the luck of the Gods, but the behind the scenes work of cutting edge sports science.

John Stevanja (Big J) writes on Keeper Skool, a blog on the science of goalkeeping. He’s also written a guide to selling goalkeepers on ebay, and also offers the G-Code, a goalkeepers’ fitness guide, on his website.