How-To Take A Penalty Kick

A penalty kick, or pk, in soccer occurs when a player gets fouled inside the eighteen yard box. A penalty kick is the equivelent to a free throw in basketball, it is a free shot from twelve yards away from the goal, and all you have to do is beat the goalkeeper. This skill is important for any soccer player because if you know how to take one correctly and cosistently it is an almost garanteed goal. There are many different techniques to use during a pk, however I will teach you a simple and effective way to kick one. There are alot of factors that go into taking a good pk, such as: nerves, timing, power, placement, and awareness. I will teach you how to control these factors in this manual.

1. The first step in taking a pk is to control your nerves. A penalty kick can be scary because the crowd is watching only you. Also, there is so much pressure on the shooter that it can cause some players to forget their technique and miss the shot. It is important to have a mental routine. As I am setting the ball on the spot, I will look for a good pace of grass (so the ball is not in a hole), and visualize my foot hitting the ball then going into the net. As I am setting my run up, I take three deep breaths to calm my nerves.
2. The second step to a pk is to not show the goalkeeper what direction you will kick the ball. It is very important to have deception to the shot. As you take your deep breaths to calm down, it is very important to not look the direction that you are going to take the shot. What you want to do is either look straight into the keepers eyes, or look straight at the ball. It is okay to glance at the spot you will shoot it, but if you do you should look both ways to confuse the keeper. The last deception piece that goes into a penalty is to not move your hips too much. A good keeper will read the shooters hip positioning to guess the correct way the shot goes.
3. The last step has to do with the technique of shooting the ball. Most pk takers have a preferred direction to shoot the ball, for example I mostly go to my right, the keeper’s left. The shot itself is almost like a pass, but it has more power on it. I say “pass” because it has more accuracy if taken with the inside of your foot. After you run up to the ball you need to plant your foot directely next to the ball, hit the ball directly in the middle and follow through with your body. That means that you should end up in front of where the ball was originally placed.