It has occurred to me many times and after Smithies attempted penalty save on Saturday it appears if he had just stood still he would have a great chance of saving the penalty. I am convinced that if keepers just stood still in the middle of the goal obviously they can move a little either way, they would save at least 25%, if not more, penalty attempts. Does anyone agree with this or am I missing something?
The keeper would be known to always stand still making it easy to roll it into the corner. There is a technique to it which I was always crap at as a keeper. The body positioning of the taker gives you a reasonable indication of where it will go and about 70% of pens from right footers go to the keeper's right.
Really? I'd be interested to see some stats on that. I used to take penalties for my Sunday league team and, as a right-footer, always put them to the 'keeper's left. I had 100% success rate (about 12) until I missed two in one game. I was relieved of the duty after that.
12/14 isn't bad. Certainly better than Austin. Of the few I've taken I always go to the keeper's right (I'm left footed) but I'm sure I've read that the vast majority go across the keeper.
I find it strange that say someone like Hazard at Chelsea takes a penalty and all and sundry know that he waits for the keeper to move before rolling the ball into the opposite corner, that keepers still commit to diving before he kicks the ball.....if they just stood there and made him make up his mind where he is going to place the kick they would have a greater chance of making a save........ Best way to take a penalty is hit it as hard as possible into the top corner, no keeper saves them........mind you do look bit of a plank when you blaze it over the bar......
If you stand still and wait for the penalty taker to kick the ball you'll almost never save it as by the time your brain registers which way the ball is going it's already flying past you. It's down to putting off the taker, reading which way they are going to put it and a huge slice of luck. I've been playing in goal for about 24 years and I would say more penalties get put to my left then right, probably down to it being easier to put power through the ball that way. I usually stand very slightly to the right, then as the taker runs in I take a big step out and to the right to encourage them to shoot to my left and then luanch myself that way, I've got a pretty good save ratio from it!
Thanks for those views, I suppose what I really mean if the keeper stays central in the goal and on his toes he could make a reaction to those penalties hit centrally 1 or 2 foot either side of him. In my opinion, there are far too many goals scored from the spot where the keeper commits himself, one way or the other, that appear to go straight down the middle.
They only go down the middle because the penalty taker is good enough to let the keeper dive and direct it down the middle at the last second, if the keeper stayed rooted they would just slot it in the corner and the keeper wouldn't have time to get anywhere near it, it's 100th/sec stuff from ball hit to back of the net, there just isn't time to react to that.
As an ex-goalkeeper I used to adopt this principle as well Supergod. Saved 3 from 12 As an outfield right footed player when taking a pen I would put it hard and low to the goalies bottom left hand corner. Scored 12/13 The only one I missed was down the middle, hard and high
As a goalkeeper I was told to watch the penalty taker like a hawk, as at one point in the preparation they would have a look at where it was going. At lower levels it was during the taking of the penalty, but even better players would look whilst preparing. I had a pretty good success rate including saving a penalty from an international player that won my team the cup. .........definitely my sporting highlight.....it was all down hill from there.
That's interesting. As a right footer, I always found that I could apply much more power when striking the ball in a "natural" way; ie: swinging the foot across the body. I used to place penalties to the keeper's left, but I couldn't hit the ball as hard.
Maybe it is just my technique of tempting people to shoot to my left that does it! Although when I've taken penalties myself I've always found that it's putting it to the keepers left as a right footer you can pretty much drill it straight from your run up but putting it to the right you have to aim more as you're cutting it back across yourself and so more likely to miss.
I normally leave an extra half a yard to my right when in goal as I'm better at diving that way, being left footed and right handed.
Me too....especially if the taker was intending to put the ball to the left, consciously or subconsciously they note the slightly smaller area to the left, and they start to dither.... So making uneven sides was always one of my ploys too.
Can't ever remembering missing one as was taught to only look at the side netting and it was a simple decision left or right IMO let the keeper do all the thinking. Any other method invites confusion. If the keeper doesn't cheat and move forward or early and you can shoot a dead ball straight to just two areas regardless of how you lift the ball then IMO you cannot and shouldn't miss I would look and line up straight at where I was shooting and never yield on this… the times the keeper would dive the other way was crazy. They cannot save it if you can shoot straight .. well not in the leagues i played in: National Football League for the Blind 1977-1984 The Peter Dinkelage League 1984 -1986 The French League of Worm Fussball 1986 - 1987 Football League Division 2 The Health and Safety Assessment League 1995-96 … (dis-banned due to high risk and that after they banned the use of a ball) The Brighton and Hove Intermediate Homosexual Forum 1996 - Present Day
