[Football] Penalty taking.

[Notters]

I would suggest doing the opposite to whatever it was this fella did:

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

I would suggest doing the opposite to whatever it was this fella did:

Kicking the ball into the core of the Earth, rather than into hyperspace you mean?

 

[Easy 10]

Exactly this. Practising something is no guarantee of success, but it's a way of reducing the chances of failure. It's why golfers practise three-foot putts, snooker players pot the colours off the spots, darts players hit double-top etc etc. Every sport has these. The point is is that when it comes to those high-pressure moments in competition, which of course can't be replicated in training, then that muscle memory kicks in. Alan Shearer has often said how he would practise one penalty over and over, and then hit that one when it came to being needed. Not a guarantee of success, but stacking the odds in your favour. I'm just not convinced that the penalties hit by Sancho and Saka were the ones they had practised in training.

There was an interesting piece in The Mail today from Sir Clive Woodward (yes I know, but I like the sports section), where he talks about his time as a coach / adviser at Southampton. When it came to penalties, he was all about endless practice to infuse muscle memory, it was something he did with Johnny Wilkinson. On the Saints training ground, he would hang two ropes down from the crossbar around 3ft away from each post. This would give the players around 24 sq ft to aim for on either side to plant their penalties, and they would then be drilled at it, every session.

He was also a big advocate of a 'J' shaped run-up as opposed to a 'C' shaped one. He said Alan Shearer was one of the best examples of a J shape, where you arrive at the ball without broadcasting your intention to the keeper, and in the optimal physical shape to drive through it with power, and commit to whatever side you'd decided.

Now I don't know it Southampton became penalty demons during his time there, but it made for interesting reading I thought.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

There was an interesting piece in The Mail today from Sir Clive Woodward (yes I know, but I like the sports section), where he talks about his time as a coach / adviser at Southampton. When it came to penalties, he was all about endless practice to infuse muscle memory, it was something he did with Johnny Wilkinson. On the Saints training ground, he would hang two ropes down from the crossbar around 3ft away from each post. This would give the players around 24 sq ft to aim for on either side to plant their penalties, and they would then be drilled at it, every session.

He was also a big advocate of a 'J' shaped run-up as opposed to a 'C' shaped one. He said Alan Shearer was one of the best examples of a J shape, where you arrive at the ball without broadcasting your intention to the keeper, and in the optimal physical shape to drive through it with power, and commit to whatever side you'd decided.

Now I don't know it Southampton became penalty demons during his time there, but it made for interesting reading I thought.

He was there from 2005 to 2006. Their penalty record at the time was immaculate - because they had Rickie Lambert taking them (36 in 36 for Southampton!)

 

[Glawstergull]

He was there from 2005 to 2006. Their penalty record at the time was immaculate - because they had Rickie Lambert taking them (36 in 36 for Southampton!)

I think that shows it can be done.

Practice taking the "right" penalty technique and not your goal celebration dance.