That's all well and good but any good coach will tell you to hit it low into the corner though. I'm a left footer and I take the penalties for my team and that's my method. I would say I've about a 90% success rate because keepers generally can't get down quick enough to them. As soon as you put it in the air you're giving the keeper a better chance.Originally Posted by d f x-
it is difficult for keepers to get down, but I agree that putting it high, and by that I mean just inside the angle of crossbar and post, and simple gravity will stop the keeper from reaching it. The problem is that a little high, low or wide and you've missed it.
but would you say its less or more difficult technically, to take them in your way as opposed to clipping a ball high into the net? i reckon its a more difficult skill to get over it and hit it low,hard and accurate than it is to place it high up.
Nah I think it's more difficult to put it into the top corner. Yes you can aim there but the chance of it going precisely into the small gap that would guarantee the keeper couldn't reach it (legally) all the time are slim. Admittedly practice would better your results.
At least if you keep it low you can sometimes afford it to be a foot inside the post because if it's hit with pace (and by that I mean general pace, not having to smash it thus losing control) he won't get down in time. That's what I think anyway and what seems to work for me most of the time...
As a former keeper I'd say a well placed low penalty is hard to save unless the keeper guesses correctly. Even he does guess correctly a keeper simply can't cover the last 12-18 inches inside the post unless he's a giant. In fact sometimes even a penalty only a few feet from centre, but hard & low, is hard to save even if you guess right. It can easily go under your body if you don't get your hands down in time.
Hard & low & to the corner:
Keeper could guess wrong & a poor kick will still go in
If you hit it too high you could still be lucky if you hit it near enough to the post.
But if you aim high I think you could easily put it over, or at a height which a keeper likes. A high penalty to the corner is impossible to save but it's harder for the taker to be accurate. You've a far higher margin for error. It's much easier to get both line & trajectory right if you aim low. It's much harder to get the trajectory right if you aim high. I've taken a few in my time too & that's what I think!
Waist high kicks are easiest to save by far.
I posted this "theory" before but if a guy takes a diagonal run up, like Zidane last night or Timofte, I'd always dive the way Ricardo or Bonner did, i.e., to the side the taker started his run from.
Why? A well placed penalty will nearly always beat the keeper. But a less accurate penalty opens the door for the keeper. In my opinion, it's harder to get the ball just inside the post if you try and pull the ball back from where you ran from. But putting it straight in the direction your run is pointing makes it easier to put just inside the post. Any thoughts on this drinkfeckarse?
When I played LSL we actually won both the Liam Hyland Cup QF and SF on penalties. Like the look on Lampard & Gerrard's faces, the guy who missed in our SF just looked like a lamb to the slaughter on his walk up. I knew I had him!
I saw on TV a few years ago that sports psychologists recommend that the best penalty takers go later in the rota as that's when the pressure is highest.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 06/07/2006 at 2:07 PM.
I'm not sure if I agree with you Stuttgart on a personal level but I understand your point and that would be the natural thing for a lot of people I think.
More often than not I put it the Zidane way as it feels more comfortable for me that way than aiming it in the straight line of my run. I'm a left footer as I mentioned and I prefer to tuck into the keepers left hand corner, it just seems easier for me.
I have put it to the keepers right before with success too but I found it more difficult to keep it as low and accurate with the same amount of pace I'd use for the other side although by rights it should be more natural to put it that way probably. It comes down to the individual I suppose and practice also.
I just feel more in control of it by putting it to his left but I always make sure I'm glancing to his right just to try and confuse him
I think it's possible we're all over analysing -so in that spirit...
Penalty shoot outs are random scenarios - a "lottery" so to speak -but we are not random creatures. We are creatures of habit.
Perhaps the way for a non random creature to endure or survive a random situation is to increase the creatures own random behaviour. Example - the first penalty taker is told which way to shoot by another squad member. this removes the burden of decision from the taker and shares the burden of guilt should his shot be unsuccessful, the first takers final duty is to tell the second which way to shoot and so on it goes ....
as a penalty taking science goes -it's no more hogwash than anyone elses ...I tend to agree with Big Jack -"don't try to place -blast 'em" ...again encouraging random behaviour.
" I wish to God that someone would be able to block out the voices in my head for five minutes, the voices that scream, over and over again: "Why do they come to me to die?"
For anyone that wants to know how the take penalties, watch the FA cup final between Arsenal and Man Utd. Arsenal took the best 5 penalties I've ever seen. All 5 were in the top corner where it's impossible for the keeper to get them. Wenger said they didn't practise but that was a blatent lie.
He probably just didn't see them practice.Wenger said they didn't practise but that was a blatent lie.
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
I always took the penalties for whatever team i played for and i never missed.I came close on a couple of occasions but that was it.I always had my mind made up where i would put it even before i placed the ball.Lots of pace and just inside either post always done the trick and people who say that you can't practice penalties are talking crap.I practiced after every training session for 30 mins and i built up a good technique.The two things i focused on was the Ref and the ball.I never looked at another player or anyone else and i never delayed taking it.
"At the age of twelve, my ambition was to become a gangster. To be a wiseguy was better than being President of the United States. To be a wiseguy was to own the world." - Henry Hill
8 of the 9 last night were emphatic. But I think both ZZ (in normal time) and Trezeguet's kicks exemplified my thoughts on high kicks: it's not as easy as it looks to get the trajectory right. ZZ clearly hit his higher than he wanted to but got lucky. Trezeguet didn't. As far as I'm concerned yes, a well hit high penalty is impossible to save but you're increasing your chances of missing the target too.
De Rossi's penalty was a prime example of how to survive a penalty shoot out, specialist keeper or not.
The Model Club
Tell all the Bohs you know
that we've gone and won two-in-a-row
and it's not gonna be three
and it's not gonna be four
it's more likely to be 5-1.
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