 |
STRIKING EAGLES SOCCER CLUBPO Box 34, Gilbertsville, NY 13776 E-mail rwingjr@citlink.net
|
|
Striking
Eagles Home Page |
|
|
|
Penalty Kicks by Chris Ducar, SoccerPlus Goalkeeper School, www.goalkeeper.com Penalty KicksOne hundred and twenty minutes have gone by and the score is locked. You have done your best to keep the opponent from taking the trophy home during regulation and overtime and now it all comes down to "THE PENALTY KICK SHOOTOUT"What is your mentality? What should you do? Can you stand the pressure? This article is designed to establish a tactic and a mentality for this very situation. There are many views on how one should approach the penalty kick situation. Some advocate reading the shooter's body positioning to get a line on the shot and then anticipating (guessing) which side the ball will go to. I will attempt to make it easier for you. When you find yourself in a PK situation take these following steps. Relax. The pressure is on the shooter. The PK was designed to give the opposing team a goal because of some infraction that presumably took a goal away from them in the first place. The bottom line: you are not supposed to save it! Center yourself in the goal (I do not advocate "giving" a side). Start on your line and prepare with a light training bounce. Focus on the ball. Do not get distracted or "psyched out" by player posture, eye contact, or verbal confrontations. Steal ground at the last second before the player takes the shot. One, it improves your saving and/or deflection angle, and it shows the striker movement which may prove to be distracting. Here we are at the point of the shot. What's next? React to the shot. Let us take a few things into consideration. What are we really responsible for saving with little or no angle play? About the best we can hope for is the ball played up the middle third (roughly eight yards depending on the pace of the shot). That would fall into the area that many refer to as the goalkeepers "control zone". That is the area that a goalkeeper is expected to save shots in on a high percentage basis. To refresh: The control zone is comprised of the four basic catches: contour, basket, high contour, and side contour (all saves inclusive from the ground up, and one step left or one step right including collapse dives). Be realistic. If the striker hits the ball with pace from twelve yards and finds its way into the side netting, most would concede that it was a legitimate goal. We have all seen the spectacular saves that professional goalkeepers make in highlight films: jumping off of the line, taking a couple of steps, then making the save. Unfortunately I have not seen many referees at the youth or collegiate level that will allow those sort of liberties. Secondly, you would not (hopefully) anticipate or guess on a shot during the regular course of play. You have learned that it is better in the long run to take up a proper position, set with a balanced shape, and react to the shot. I really see no reason to abandon this sound advice when it comes time to face the PK. Therefore you must make the save that is within your power and ability level. As a coach I would much rather see a goal against my keeper that goes through the outer thirds than one that goes straight up the middle while the keeper dives hopelessly to one side or the other. Lastly, as stated previously, the pressure is on the shooter. Sure, there will be a couple of players that are going to bury the shot beyond reach. We are not concerned with those. We are looking for the high percentage save. The remaining two or three players are the ones who will most likely crack under the pressure and you will be there to absorb their less than surgical attempts. |
|
