Watching the Olympics this afternoon I saw a possible solution to the dreaded football penalty shoot-out when I saw the end of the Holland v New Zealand hockey match after it had finished 2-2 after extra time. They call it a shoot-out and the players start outside the scoring area and have 8 seconds from the time they touch the ball with their stick to dribble the ball into the scoring area and score. The goalie is also allowed to come off their line to block the shot and if the ball rebounds and the attacker has time they can shoot again. If the players were made to dribble the ball from outside the penalty area from a fixed point and had to score inside the penalty area within a limited time, it would be a fairer way of deciding a contest as it would require an element of skill to score and not luck.
I don't think the English FA would be to keen, 8 seconds is a long time for an Englishman to keep possession of a ball.
there is very little luck involved in a penalty shoot out - changing it would make little difference. the only luck involved is if a keeper guesses correctly and makes an unbelievably good save which rarely happens as some penalties are so poor. believe it or not, there is a huge amount of skill involved in taking a penalty kick! if you place the ball correctly it is effectively un-saveable. you deal with the pressure and if you've practiced taking endless spot kicks you'll perfect the art. our problem is our players can't be arsed to practice. i remember hearing the german thomas hassler used to do an hour of penalty taking after training in his spare time every session - he wasn't even a regular penalty taker! our players don't have the dedication to get better, hence why half of them can't even kick the ball properly with their weaker foot.
It would certainly abrogate the arguments about the keeper coming off his line too early in traditional penalties.
