It is very important for an athlete and, in particular, for a soccer goalkeeper defending against a penalty kick, to choose the right time of motor action. Goalkeepers usually try to make a save moving their legs before the kicker touches the ball. In a preliminary experiment, we obtained data showing that the performance of goalkeepers improves when the temporal gap between the goalkeeper action and the beginning of the kick is near to zero. By using acoustic stimuli, twenty goalkeepers were tested in order to study the possibility to induce them to start the save at the right time. The experimental variable was the temporal gap between the acoustic stimulus and the beginning of the penalty kick (anticipation: none, 300 ms, and 600 ms from the beginning of the kick). Results confirm the improvement of the performance of the goalkeepers when acoustic stimulus induced them to move only when the kicker touched the ball and not before: the number of saves almost doubled. The method used in our experiments, and the results obtained, underline the possibility to implement specific training sessions for goalkeepers based on individual strategy aimed to determine the best timing for each athlete.
The best action time for a goalkeeper engaged in penalty
GALMONTE, Alessandra;
2004-01-01
Abstract
It is very important for an athlete and, in particular, for a soccer goalkeeper defending against a penalty kick, to choose the right time of motor action. Goalkeepers usually try to make a save moving their legs before the kicker touches the ball. In a preliminary experiment, we obtained data showing that the performance of goalkeepers improves when the temporal gap between the goalkeeper action and the beginning of the kick is near to zero. By using acoustic stimuli, twenty goalkeepers were tested in order to study the possibility to induce them to start the save at the right time. The experimental variable was the temporal gap between the acoustic stimulus and the beginning of the penalty kick (anticipation: none, 300 ms, and 600 ms from the beginning of the kick). Results confirm the improvement of the performance of the goalkeepers when acoustic stimulus induced them to move only when the kicker touched the ball and not before: the number of saves almost doubled. The method used in our experiments, and the results obtained, underline the possibility to implement specific training sessions for goalkeepers based on individual strategy aimed to determine the best timing for each athlete.
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