There are all sorts of
strategies for making penalty kicks and most will work. You should use a strategy that guarantees
success at least 90% of the time. Don't get fancy. The strategy
below is my choice for a good conservative strategy that should
eliminate the nervousness that often causes the kicker to fail.
Your only chances of failure are to
kick a ball that totally misses the goal which is the worst possible shot since there is
no rebound and there is no chance of a goalkeeper blunder resulting in a goal OR to kick
the ball where the goalkeeper can stop the shot OR to bounce a shot off of a post or bar.
Pick out a point in the goal where
you are going to shoot and don't change your mind after you start your approach to the
ball. It's not necessary to stare at the point or concentrate on the
point, BUT know where you're going to kick the ball before you hear the
whistle.
You can not kick the ball under
the goal but you can kick it over so try to keep the ball on the ground. Get
your knee and head over the ball, lock your ankle and strike through the ball with your
laces. That approach will almost guarantee that the ball will stay on the ground.
(I am amazed how often professional players kick the ball over the bar on PKs.)
Aim for one of the two bottom
corners. If the goalkeeper remains in the center of the 24' wide goal and does not
move along the line then it is virtually impossible to stop a crisp low short which is
tight in a corner.
You don't have to blast the
ball with your laces but you do need to have pace on the ball.
Practice using the same "run
up" to
the ball every time.
To practice penalty kicks take a
smaller goal such as those Kwik goals used by Under 8 and Under 10 leagues. Place
the smaller goal on the goal line and in the center of your 8' x 24' goal. Only
those shots which go in the larger goal but miss the small goal count. Practice
until you can make 9 of 10 shots and you will be almost unbeatable.
One other note about this method is
that other attackers should sprint toward the posts since most missed shots will result in
rebounds off of the posts.
