Penalty kick: When to decide where to kick

Experimental sport psychology is an emerging reality in human sciences for a better understanding of how athletes develop mental strategies to optimise their performance. A striker can use two strategies to kick a penalty: to wait for the goal-keeper movement before choosing where to kick the ball, or to decide a priori on the direction to give to the ball. By using visual cues (lights placed behind the goal), fifteen strikers were asked to shoot the ball in a specific region of the goal while the run was already started. The experimental variable was the temporal gap between the visual stimulus and the foot contact against the ball (anticipation: none, 300 ms, and 600 ms before the contact). Results show that, in our conditions, an anticipation of 300 ms is the best temporal gap for improving the performance. On the contrary, a reduction of the performance was observed when the visual stimulus was set on a temporal gap equal to the reaction time of the striker. The method used in our experiments, and the results obtained, underline the possibility of implementing specific training sessions for penalty strikers based on individual strategy aimed to determine the best timing for each athlete.