By: Eleanor Liang

Penalties have always been important in soccer history. In fact, according to the Washington Post, “the stakes of a penalty kick” were insane because “almost half of all World Cup games, including two women’s World Cup and three men’s World Cup title matches,” were determined and settled by penalty shootouts.

The Washington Post was not wrong.

Penalties had been pretty popular in the men’s and women’s World Cups. The last time a women’s World Cup didn’t consist of a penalty shootout was in 2007. It was even longer for the men’s World Cup; you’d have to go all the way back to 1978 for a shootout-less World Cup.

“A penalty kick takes place either when a foul is called in the penalty box or a knockout game ends in a tie and goes into overtime,” The Washington Post explained. “As a tournament progresses, the likelihood of a tie — and thus a penalty shootout — increases as the competition gets closer and closer in skill, as will happen in the women’s World Cup, which has now progressed to the knockout stage.”

“So many games have been won by a single goal that has been a penalty,” remarked Robbie Wilson, a professor of motor performance at the University of Queensland. “It’s disproportionately more important than any other kick in the game.”

The simplicity of the penalty kick’s setup contradicts the complexity behind the scenes.

“It looks like a simple duel between the goalkeeper and the kicker,” said Rafael Monteiro, a graduate student of rehabilitation and functional performance at the University of São Paulo. “But actually, it’s a really complex environment.”

How Quality of Kicking Limits of Human Reaction

In a penalty kick, the goalie’s on the ropes. All odds are stacked against the goalie.

They have to shelter a goal that is 24 feet wide and 8 feet tall against a kick from just 12 yards away. That strike is also speedy— traveling, on average, at 70 mph.

“ From the time the kicker’s foot makes contact, the ball takes about 400 milliseconds to reach the goal — roughly the amount of time it takes to blink,” the Washington Post commented.

“The problem for a goalkeeper is the time involved,” said Greg Wood, a sport and exercise psychologist at Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport.

The human eye needs time to register optical information, which the brain processes .It takes roughly 200 milliseconds in total.

Then there is the dive. “The movement itself can take 500 milliseconds if the goalkeeper wants to cover the post,” Wood remarked.

Because of the odds, roughly 80 percent of kicks score.

The average was for men;for women, everything is a little slower–including the goalie’s movement.

Foreseeing the Shot

Because of the goalie’s major disadvantages due to the ball’s speed, they can’t wait and react–that would be way too slow. Instead, they have to roughly predict the shooter’s strike.

There’s no best strategy, though; it depends on the player’s movement.

“The good goalkeepers don’t guess, but they try to anticipate based on a number of cues that the penalty takers give off,” Wood said.

“In one analysis of 330 penalty kicks, professional goalkeepers dived about 220 milliseconds before the kicker kicked. Eye-tracking experiments show that experienced goalkeepers use cues that the kicker gives off with their body, particularly focusing on the movement of the torso and legs, to make their prediction,” the Washington Post reported.

Pressure for the Kickers and Trade-offs

When the strikers kick penalties, almost all the pressure is on the striker since no one thinks the goalie can save the ball.

“There’s no pressure on the goalkeeper,” Wood said. “If they save one, they are ‘a hero,’ since they weren’t expected to save it,” he added.

“The biggest problem for penalty takers is anxiety,” Wood said.

In low-pressure conditions — no financial reward, with no goalkeeper present — “we found a majority of penalty takers looking where they were going to shoot,” Wood said.

“Add some more pressure, with a goalkeeper and money on the line, though, and the kickers appeared more anxious and looked more at the goalkeeper, who is a source of threat,” Wood said.

“ Goalkeepers can influence the penalty kick in other ways. One study found that a goalkeeper standing slightly, imperceptibly, off to one half of the goal could bias the kicker to aim toward the more open side, which could make the shot more predictable,” the Washington Post remarked.

Also, kickers can choose speed over accuracy and kick very hard (risking missing the goal) or choose accuracy above speed, risking the ball being caught by a goalie.

Everything matters for this penalty kick.

Sources: https://eb18600f7bb2916037f5ee8e636ce199.cdn.bubble.io/f1691331773019x431325124213836500/The%20psychology%20behind%20penalty%20kicks%20and%20reaction%20time%20in%20the%20World%20Cup%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf