May 23 2007
Soccer Tips on How to Save a Penalty Shot
At no other time in the game does a goalie’s blood pressure rise higher than when a penalty shot is taken at the goal. After all, during a game there are defenders who will do their level best to ensure that nobody comes too close to the goal, yet during a penalty kick, the opposing player and the goalie are the only participants. And since the kick is taken from about twelve yards away, the odds of its hitting the goal are more than just good.ÂÂ
Penalty kicks may occur at any time during the game when a foul is incurred against the other team within their 18 yard box. Because penalty kicks almost always result in goals, these kinds of goals are the easiest to score, and it is not at all surprising that players will at times attempt to manipulate the system to score a penalty kick for their team against the opponents, but purposely either running into the path of another player or by employing theatrics to goad a referee into believing their have been fouled.
What makes the shot so hard for a goalie to capture is the fact that she or he will have to remain on the goal-line between the posts until after the ball is kicked. This only affords her or him a split-second to make a decision where to dive to. Soccer tips on how to save a penalty shot are plentiful, and it is not surprising that each goal coach has his or her own philosophy on how to stop the guaranteed goal from happening.
A goalie has to understand two things about a penalty kick: it will happen quickly, and there is only a split second after the kick to decide on a side.
The only way a goal keeper will be able to defend against this kind of kick is by making his or her best guess as to where the ball will go. There is no scientific method of ascertaining the trajectory of the ball, or the corner for which the kicker may be aiming.
Veteran players have devised a number of strategies, such as studying their opponents closely. Very often a player has a sweet spot that he will try to aim for whenever he or she will have the opportunity to take a penalty kick. When the goalie knows of this habit, it will be much easier to guess in which corner the ball will most likely be headed. In addition to the foregoing, little bits of information, such as whether a player is right or left handed, whether she or he may have some superstitions, and even if she or he is using a pattern in other games, will frequently be considered as extremely helpful to a goalie.
Some goalies have found that many players will actually aim their kicks to a certain spot in the net rather than just kicking toward the goal in general. Keeping this in mind, the goalies are then able to see which leg the player will kick with, and thereby calculate the ball’s trajectory. While this may not be foolproof, it is the closets to scientific methodology a goalie can get. Adding to this the psychology of the game, for example it is common knowledge that most kickers who will kick with their right legs will also aim to the left, a goalie may stay closer to the goal post away from the left than to the one which is on the side for which the kicker will most likely aim, thus giving her or him the illusion of a bigger entry surface. In reality, the goalie is ready to pounce on the ball the second the kick has occurred, and by anticipating the left side, the goalie will begin moving in that direction before she or he had even a chance to process the information.
Of course, the reverse is sometimes the case as well. Seasoned kickers notice when a goalie is trying to offer them a corner of the net on a silver platter, and may try something different to throw off the goalie.
Some goalies have come to the conclusion that the weight bearing foot almost always points in the direction of the kick. For this reason they pay no attention to the leg with which the player will be kicking the ball, but instead they will look for the direction of the weight bearing foot.
Of course, some penalty kicks have become a matter of psychological warfare between the kicker and the goalie. Both parties are trying hard to unsettle the other, and it is not uncommon to see them wink at each other, making little jerky movements in an effort to out-fake each other.
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There is plenty more a goalie can do then to just look at which foot the player is kikcing with. A goalie can observe then angle the player is apraoching. For example, say a player has the ball on the marked spot, 12 yards away, and walks back and far to the right. This can tell a goalie the kicker is going to try to swing the ball in the direction he is running at the ball.
A goalie can also tell which side the ball is heading by the swing of the kicker’s foot. If he strikes it on the right side, it’s most likely heading to the left side, or toward the centre of the net with a curve. Though this takes a great deal of reactions, and is very risky, almost 80% of the time the side you chose is the right side.
There are also tactics a goalie can use to help pysch out the kicker. Since movement attracts the eye, a goalie can swing his arms, to attract the kickers eye toward the centre of the net. Altough this helps, it’s not garunteed, you still have to dive, you cannot expect the ball to go right ot you.
One trick I have heard of working is telling the shooter where you think he is shooting and that you will save it. Usually he will shoot to the other side but if nothing else, he wiill be more nevous and likely to mess up
I think it is also helpful to look at the hips of the shooter. I know this tactic would be pointless against a curve ball, but one’s hips most of the time tell in which direction the ball will go. Its also important to wear bright colors to attract the eye, and make yourself look as big as possible.
I have come up against many penalty kicks and have coached keepers on how to successfully read penalty shots. There are, in my experience, five reads that a keeper can use.
1. Eyes - I’ve never seen any place where this has been mentioned as a read, but most penalty takers will look at where they will shoot. Usually they won’t look once they are set to take the shot unless they are not good or trying to be clever. The truest read for this one is where they look before they even place the ball. I picked this one up in high school and it has proven to be successful.
2. Stace - How taker stands in relation to the ball once it is placed. Are they lining up dead center, just off center, or far off to one side. By itself, I’ve found this one isn’t effective, but is ver effective in combination with the next one.
3. Approach - Is the player leaning forward & down or more straight up and casual? Players coming in hard at the ball are more likely to go across their body since it is difficult to place accurately when driving in that direction. A player who “lifts” his shoulders up and opens their body is more likely to be trying to place the ball and not go across the body. Their stance combined with this can be very helpful in determining where the ball is going.
4. Hips - The hips don’t lie. Takers might try to use a chip or outside of their foot, but these are uncommon. Although they may be more common after I believe it was Zidane’s pk in the ‘06 WC. A good rule of thumb is that closed hips means across the body, power shot; open hips is finesse shot to the post.
5. Plant foot. This is typically the last one i will train keepers to read since it leaves the least amount of time for reaction, and I’ve found it unneccessary as the other four combined provide around at least an 80% read rate by a skilled & well-trained keeper. Basically you look at which way their plant foot (or knee) is pointed and that’s where they’re going. I find it less advantageous to use since it does leave so little time to respond.
A keeper I had trained for 4 years using these “tells” to look for, became a very successful penalty stopper in year three. Now, he is a student of the game, and a very, very intelligent young man, but the key to being successful with these reads is in training. I started him with one read, and worked with that, and they I would incorporate another and another after he was starting to have success with what he was using. He even had a game where he read correctly five times, and saved four (though he and I both agree that the other should have been a save also).
To be successful in a game setting, a keeper must know the reads so when that he doesn’t have to consciously process all the information. A keeper should be able to go by “feel” since they have practiced that reads so many times. It doesn’t take a good deal of time. Maybe 20min every week while learning, and then a refresher every couple of weeks and before conference/tourney games so they are ready.
If all else fails, research I’ve read (from France ‘98 & I believe one of the Euros) shows that somewhere around 60-70% of the time, the taker shoots across the body.
I don’t know why FIFA bothers to keep the rule that the goal keeper can’t come off of the goal line until the ball is kicked- this is routinely ignored, even in the highest level matches, & is almost never flagged/rekicked by the officials. I’ve even seen the keeper start early & make it nearly half way to the ball before it was kicked- ridiculous!
I’ve always watched where their hips/plant foot line up & their eyes BEFORE they set the ball. Of course the approach also tells you something too and is definately something to watch. This worked great for me when I played High School & College soccer.
RV: I don’t agree on this, you make it sound like this happens a lot, I’ve seen it occasionally but EVERY time I’ve seen it, it’s called unless it’s a goal, if it’s a goal there’s no point in redoing it…