The secret to successfully shooting the penalty of the goalkeeper

A penalty kick puts the goalkeeper in such a disadvantage that they only capture about 18% of penalties. However, some football fans think that goalkeepers can capture penalties more easily by standing slightly to the left or right.

It turns out these fans are right! In an article published in the March issue of Psychological Science , Professors Rich Masters professors, John van der Kamp and Robin Jackson Institute of the Hong Kong University of Human Behavior discovered that bridge A penalty player usually drives the ball into a corner with more space.

(Artwork: mlsnet.com) After observing 200 video clips of penalty kicks, including videos from the World Cup, the matches of the African Nations Championship, the European Championship and the UEFA Cup matches, the scientists found that the goalkeepers stood slightly to the left or right of the center of the goal to 96% of the time . While the goalkeeper's average displacement was 9.95cm, there was no connection between the goalkeeper and the direction they took the ball (94 of their 190 shots were on the side). The frame has less space. Therefore, it is not their strategy to keep the goalkeepers out of the center

It is noteworthy that, although all factors can affect a penalty kick, the majority of free kicks tend to face the goal with more space.

After conducting empirical studies and evaluating the results carefully, Professor Masters and his team have concluded that the goalie has the potential to influence the way of looking at space and by that is the direction of the free kick by standing slightly off one side or the other of the center of the goal . Therefore, the goalkeeper can shoot the ball towards the goal with more space according to his strategy.

Extrapolation of the research data shows that the best displacement of a goalkeeper is in fact 6 to 10 cm. The research results show that the penalty kick player does not notice the goalkeeper's move in this range, but there is at least 10% chance of a free kick on the goal with more space. .

Thanh Van