The average height in football is around 5'11" (181 cm). The shortest players tend to be mostly forwards, while the teams get taller and taller and go all the way to the goalkeeper. Some of the best players in the world have been too small, but certain positions have additional benefits to being higher. There is no correlation between the average height of the teams and the results achieved.
The gaps observed reflect rather different approaches to the game. While some coaches prefer tall players, others give priority to the lower ones. However, very short players will find it difficult to establish themselves as professionals. The average height of all footballers in the surveyed leagues is 182.1 cm.
In a survey of major European football clubs, the average height was 182 cm or just under 6 feet tall. This is much higher than the world average of 5 feet 9 inches for men. According to the Football Observatory, the average height of football players around the world is about 182 cm. In one study, they found that of the 572 clubs surveyed (11.7%), 62 had players playing with an average of less than 180 cm.
Height can significantly influence success in sports, depending on how the design of the sport is linked to factors that are biased by height due to physics and biology. The balance of the intricate range of links will determine the degree to which height plays a role in success, if any. Prospects may exaggerate their height while in high school or college to make themselves more attractive to coaches and scouts, who prefer taller players. Shorter fighters, on the other hand, tend to be stronger than taller opponents of equal weight and tend to deliver a stronger blow.
Perhaps this is no more true than in the National Basketball Association in the United States, where players seem to get taller and faster with each generation. The NCSA has marked the heights and positions for the entire college football roster for the past 6 years and below represents average heights, broken down by position and division level. Although some tall players can reach a high top speed, they often have no ability to accelerate. In addition, if footwork skills are equal, a smaller fencer finds it easier to coordinate his footwork when moving in and out of distance than taller opponents because of his lower center of balance.
Goalkeepers, central defenders and targets heading forward tend to be taller, while players in wide and attacking positions tend to be lower. A taller player has a clear advantage in winning aerial balls, since he is naturally in a better position to do so. In general, it depends on the position they play in, but yes, size does matter in certain situations on a football field for players. However, as a general rule, according to Richard Witzig in “The Global Art of Soccer”, the ideal height for a football player is between 5 feet, 6 inches to 6 feet, 2 inches tall.
A defender who is taller than a striker will have the advantage in each aerial match in which the pair face each other. Greg Inglis 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in), Israel Folau 1.94 m (6 ft 4+1/2 in), Shaun Kenny-Dowall 1.94 m (6 ft 4+1⁄2 in), Mark Gasnier 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in), Jarryd Hayne 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in), Colin Best 1.89 m (6 ft 2+1/2 in), Manu Vatuvei 1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in), Krisnan Inu 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) and Jason Nightingale 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) are examples of the trend in the extremes and higher centers. Examples of very tall players are Ivo Karlović 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), John Isner 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), Reilly Opelka 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), Kevin Anderson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilić, both 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), all known for their powerful serves. In the oar, the height is advantageous, because the higher a rower is, the longer his stroke can be, so the boat moves more effectively.
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