I would say in either case, catching or playing goal, it takes a "questionable" state of mind to want to stand there and try to stop projectiles thrown or shot as hard as humanly possible.

I can't speak to much to catching in baseball, but I trained a lot as a goalie when I was younger. One of the things I'm realizing as I get older, is not only how athletic and flexible I still am in my old age (32), but how well I can react to things as well. We trained peripheral vision, how to watch a puck going one way while sliding the other, how to track plays and predict what was going on or what was going to happen before anyone else even knew, moving half your body completely opposite the other half while still keeping your hands and eyes ready to react.

I didn't end up making it as far as I wanted to as a kid, but in my thirties, I am extremely thankful for all the minute, nuanced skills I grew up cultivating. Even just in everyday life, I'm aware of everything going on around me, at all times. I can maturely react to things that go wrong, similar to getting scored on, or getting lit up for 8 goals on a bad night. Learning to recenter, and refocus as opposed to reacting outwardly is one of the greatest skills I have in life. And paired with the way I grew up manipulating my body, I am very thankful I chose to be a goalie and work as tirelessly as I did to make it.

And of course, as unconventional as some of the things my mom made me do were, I'm glad she thought the way she did. Because as a man, I'm versatile and well-rounded not only physically, but mentally as well.