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You are in: Football: Features |  |
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Mind over matter | |
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Around the Academy: |
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Thierry Henry hangs his head after missing
While some strikers will try to outwit the goalkeeper, others will attempt to blank their opponent out of their mind.
But psychologist Peter Naish believes there has to be more thought involved in scoring a penalty than just running up and blasting the ball. "Penalty takers mention not thinking too deeply, yet trying to fool the goalkeeper," he said. "We do many things on two levels, such as thinking where to put the ball (or where to fake it) but not thinking about what the feet, legs and body will do to achieve it. "The more we practice, the more our actions become automatic skills - unconscious memories of how to react. "These memories take over when thinking fails, such as in front of 80,000 fans."
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