The Soccer Penalty Kick

I remember watching the 1994 World Cup Championship Game (I think I was living in Poland at the time). The final game came down to Italy vs. Brazil. Roberto Baggio, a very good soccer player, stepped up to take his penalty shot but sent it over the cross bar. 3 other Italians also missed their shots, while Brazil only missed one. The rest is history.

Should Youth Soccer Players Look at Goalie Cues

 A study looked at 32 expert soccer players (23.2 yrs old, Please notice these are not youth players). The study found that by providing an advance cue players would significantly improve their rate of success compared to players without an advance cue. The study went on to mention that providing instructions about the advance cues available from goalkeepers’ actions before the dive during practice can improve penalty kick performance. (1)

A word of caution before you apply the cues theory to your players. Ask yourself is it age specific? Would it be too much information for a young soccer player to think about, and put together a positive try? As a coach that is for you to decide. My hunch is that there are many youth coaches who would advise very young players to pick a spot and let it fly. In another study they looked at both keeper dependent (the shooter making the penalty kick based on the anticipation of the goalkeeper’s movement) and keeper independent (the shooter picking a location to shoot at and disregarding the goalkeeper’s actions during the run-up). They concluded that anticipating the goalkeeper’s movements may degrade penalty kick performance. (2)  Coachfx

With that as some background here is what the experts on our soccer roundtable say on how to take penalty kicks:

Tony Wyman - USA

The penalty kick is, perhaps, the most mentally difficult part of the game. Unlike every other moment of the game, players have an abundant amount of time to stand and think, and that's where the problem lies, in my opinion. I had a player once who scored more than 30 goals in a season, but who missed ever PK he took that year. And by "missed," I mean he didn't put a single ball on frame! Why was it, then, that this player who scored brilliant goals against determined defenders and properly positioned keepers more than 30 times that year couldn't put a ball in the net from 12 yards when he had 192 square feet to shoot into? The answer is he overthought each of the three PKs he took that year. Instead of treating the PK the same way he treated each regular shot that he took - picking a spot and blasting away - he looked for clues in the keeper's face, measured whether the keeper was centered or favoring one post over the other, worried about the wind, tried to remember if the keeper liked to dive to his right or left, and tried to figure out a stutterstep sequence that would lure the keeper into giving away which way he was going to dive before the shot was taken! Miss, miss, miss. My best PK shooter was a center defender who rarely scored during matches, but who NEVER missed taking PKs. He'd set the ball on the spot, take one look at the goal, pick a spot, march back a few yards, stare at the ball, and wait for the referee's whistle. When it came, he charged forward and blasted the ball into the net WITHOUT EVER LOOKING AT THE KEEPER!

I always tell players to do this when they walk up to take the shot: Without thinking any more than is necessary, allow a visual image of the ball going into the net to enter your mind. If that image shows the player hitting the ball into the net from a strike with the inside of his boot into the side net to the keeper's left, then take that shot. If the image shows the players blasting an 80 mile-per-hour ball into the center of the net driven off the boot's instep, take THAT shot. In other words, let you subconscience choose the shot for you. DON'T THINK! The more the player thinks - and worries - the tighter his muscles will get, the stiffer the body is, the more likely the shooter will fail to put the ball on frame. Place it and pop it!

Bob Dawson - USA

In youth soccer, there is almost no way to adequately scout opposition keepers to a level of being able to accurately determine behavior patterns for PKs so, yes, the pick-a-spot-and-fire-away theory is the best.

That said I do prepare my teams for PKs by regularly having PK competitions, usually as a kind of cool down at the end of training sessions a couple times a month. The game is simple: divide the team in two and go completely through the groups at least a couple times, depending on roster size and available time. When one team misses or the shot is blocked, that team makes a quick run (60-80 yards or so) around a cone or some other convenient target. Keep score so there is a winning team that gets to celebrate and cheer their teammates. My boys love this and, really, at this level, it’s the team that is most comfortable in this situation that will stay composed and put the balls in the net.

This gives the players who are good at it already, a chance to hone their craft - and they love to show it off - and it gives the players who aren’t so good at it a chance to get some coaching and build their skills. Additionally, it gives coaches a look at which players are best at it so we have information on which to make the difficult decisions of who will shoot when it comes down to that.

Calvin Toussaint-Trinidad and Tobago

Players from all ages can be conditioned to take high percentage kicks. I have found that placing cones three feet from either post thereby proving a small goal target to aim at focused the player prompted visualisation and increased player average and confidence. It coincidentally also helped the young goal keeper to acquire a point to stretch extend to. So when a conditioned kicker meets a conditioned goalkeeper, success is determined by pace and accuracy within either three foot target. For the young player, re petitioned success is found when getting the ball between the three feet zone at pace before the keeper can reach it.

Mark Wilson-USA

I think penalty kicks are nerve racking enough for youth players and to ask them to make a last second decision based on the keepers body action and reaction is too much to ask for. I think if you teach them to pick a spot and teach them good technique and keep their body movements less obvious to the keeper the better. I tell my players to keep their eye on the ball and never look at the keeper or the spot they are shooting at. I also tell them not to open their hips too early and not to line up too far to one side of the ball. I tell them to keep their head down and shoulders over the ball. Practice, practice, practice. I tell them not to worry about the keeper, if they hit their spot the keeper won't get it.

Todd Corabi-USA

Shooter: The shooter should STARE with a stern blank look into the goaltender's eyes as they slowly approach the penalty mark. Then scan the entire width of the goal (as not to accidentally give away where they are shooting). If they are going to look....look at a spot of the goal OPPOSITE where they will be aiming. Preferably, look down at ball and stare at it as you approach it and through your entire kick...do not look up. Many players accidentally lift the ball by quickly removing their eyes from the ball and looking at the net, which of course throws the head back, angles the body back and, depending on where the foot contacts ball, could aid in lifting it.

Goaltender: Slowly walk to the spot while staring at the shooter. Try to scan the eyes and see if they give away their shooting placement as they approach ball. then...guess....what do you have to lose.