Scoring from a penalty kick is not as easy as it seems. Whether you will score or not will depend greatly on how good your confidence is.

Poor confidence means often a missed penalty kick before you even have placed the ball on the penalty spot – think positive!

Performing the Penalty

Now let’s take a look on how to perform a penalty kick in 6 steps:

1. Place the ball on the penalty spot. Try to spot any little holes or obstacles that could cause the ball to fly off course.

2. Now, let the ball lie on the spot and start to focus on how to beat the goalkeeper. Do not listen to your opponents talk or any other attempt that could distract you. Simply put, forget everything around your besides the penalty kick.

3. Decide which corner you will aim at. Don’t look straight at that corner as the goalkeeper may spot that and figure out where you are aiming. You may also look at the right but place the ball to the left. On this way the goalkeeper will have no clue which corner you will choose.

4. Take a breath and start to run towards the ball.

5. Your kick should be hard and decisive. Whatever you do, don’t change your mind about where you will kick the ball at this stage. Ignore any shout from defenders and keep an eye on the goalkeeper’s movement.

6. Try to place the ball in the area that lies about 1.5m from each post. The goalkeeper will be standing in the middle which gives him a 4 meters range. He will get hard to defend the 1.5m at each post. This is why you should place the ball in that area. If you place the ball with power, low and with accuracy the goal will be yours.

Tips

• Watch for the goalkeeper’s movement. Try to decide whether the goalkeeper will dive at the left or the right. However, you need to be aware of that your opponents’ goalkeeper may want to fool you so be cautious.
• Keep yourself calm and breathe properly. Penalty kicks are one of the easiest ways of getting a panic attack. However, think positively and avoid thinking: What if I miss?
• Do not reveal where you will shoot as the goalie will usually spot this and take advantage of that.

Summary

A penalty kick is pretty easy to perform during your soccer practice. I bet that if you shot 10 times you will score 10/10.

However, the problem you’ll face during your games is not the level of your soccer skills, it’s the mental part.

You see, your mind will start to bother you and you will start to have doubts about your performance!

This is why great soccer players miss penalties, they start to doubt in themselves!

Who needs that type of doubt? Clear yourself of negativity and watch your soccer game soar!