Smart Guys: Keepers can Gain Penalties Advantage by moving a few Centimetres

Watching goalkeepers get ready for a spot kick is a bit like watching a criminal line up in front of a firing squad. You know things are going to be ugly for them. Nearly eight times out of ten a keeper will see the ball go past him and into the back of the net. During those rare moments when a keeper guesses right and stops a penalty he is the hero, but the advantage is always with the penalty taker, especially if he aims high.

Some guys with fancy letters behind their names have once again used science as an excuse to watch football matches and have discovered that keepers can level the playing field a bit if they just line up a few centimetres off center during penalties.

But researchers at the University of Hong Kong, China, and Vrije University in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, say goalkeepers might nudge the odds a bit more in their favour by moving imperceptibly to one side of the goal, and then diving for the other. By edging just 6 to 10 centimetres to the one side of the goal, a goalkeeper can encourage a kicker to shoot at the other side.

Although the kicker does not consciously perceive the difference – he thinks the keeper is exactly centred – he is still more likely to kick to the wider side of the goal.

Testing their theory by projecting an image of a goal and Oliver Kahn on a wall, researchers found that volunteer penalty kickers were 10% more likely to kick the ball towards the wide side of the goal.

Their theory might be right but using an image of Olivier Kahn might have skewed the data. I know that if I saw his mug up on a wall I would probably want to close my eyes immediately and kick the ball directly at his face.

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Category: World Football