Posted by ericsaints on October 22nd, 2007 in News bulletin, Feature articles, Varsity activities

The bane of HEdCen Football Varsity teams, especially for the ‘98 boys team and even for the ‘96 stalwarts, has been the penalty shootout.

HEdCen has an attacking style of play generally favored all over the world, by players and spectators alike, because the flow of motion generated elevates football and transforms it to the beautiful game. Most of our teams dominate on the pitch in terms of both length of possession and occupation of the other teams’ half of the field. We create more scoring opportunities than our opponents, attempt more shots on goal, gain more corners, and otherwise make life hell for the defensive line. Ask anyone, even a non-HEdCenite, who has watched our teams compete. We play football with flair and excitement.

However, the attacking style does not guarantee more goals actually scored. We’ve peppered and banged the crossbar and the posts often, eliciting oohs and groans of “Muntik na!” followed by the customary “Nice try.” But hitting the woodwork and finding the back of the net are two different things. Only the latter goes on the referee’s scorecard. Moreover, the opposing side may rely on its counterattack tactics, and manage to convert on most of the few times they get goal attempts.

What’s worse, youth soccer has a greater share of fluke (tsamba) goals, such as high-arcing volley kicks of goalkeepers that bounce off the turf and over the other keeper’s reach at the opposite end. (Some teams with less talented forwards or limited attacking options often pass the ball back to a keeper who’s a better-than-average volleyer.) These tsambas may not be pretty but hey, guess what, they still count as goals.

Given all these, it’s not uncommon for HEdCen teams and their opponents to find themselves tied after regulation time. Thus, at the final stages of most tournament formats, penalty shootouts are necessary to determine who wins the match.

Penalty kicks in shootouts are different from those taken in regulation. In shootouts, all the keeper has to do is stop the ball from crossing the goal line, with any part of the body. Since follow-up kicks aren’t allowed in shootouts, the keeper doesn’t have to catch the ball or scramble to regain possession should he or she succeed in just stopping it initially.

In preparation for the final stages of the RIFA Cumulative Festival held today (Saturday, 20 October 2007), the varsity teams devoted part of training earlier this week to practicing penalty kicks. Coach Sugar favors the technique of blasting the ball low toward the goal with the instep of the foot. (The instep is the top part of the foot, the portion where most of the laces of your shoe are.) The reasons for this are simple. They apply particularly to youth soccer where smaller goals are traditionally used:

• On kicking with the instep: This maximizes the power and speed of the ball. You can’t blast the ball as well by using the inside of the foot. While using the inside of your kicking foot makes for better placement, the loss in pace of your kick either gives the keeper who waits and relies on quick reflexes more time to react or the keeper who gambles, (correctly) guesses and dives in the direction your shot will go a better chance at stopping the ball.

• On keeping the ball low: Young players tend to miss the goal completely, usually by kicking the ball over the crossbar. (Remember that the goals are smaller in youth soccer; the crossbar is positioned much lower.) Keeping the ball low will prevent this common miss-take (pun intended; he he).

Thus, our coaches gave our players the following tips during the practice:

1. Decide beforehand where you want to kick the ball. Aim for either of the deep bottom corners of the goal.
2. Choose a spot for your run-up (buwelo) which is neither too near nor too far from the ball. (Being too near will not give you enough momentum for power; being too far will make it more difficult for you to get to the ideal position in nos. 3 and 4.)
3. Plant your non-kicking foot close to the side of the ball, pointed in the direction you want the ball to go.
   
4. Keep your head down and bend your body forward over the ball. (Nos. 3 and 4 will make it easier to kick the ball with your instep and keep the ball low after you kick it.)
5. Kick the ball with your instep as hard as you can. (Kick with your toe pointing down and ankle locked.)

The practice paid dividends for HEdCen Boys ‘98 today, as it won a nerve-wracking extended sudden-death penalty shootout in the first knockout game of the RIFA Cumulative Festival held in Colegio de San Agustin. Both sides took more than a dozen shots to decide the outcome, and the ‘98 boys finally broke their long-standing shootout jinx and got the monkey off their backs!

There’s more to come for Part II of this series, including tips for keepers. Meanwhile, you can read up further on this controversial way of deciding matches (and even on some suggested alternatives), as well as other advice on how to take penalty kicks, at the reference links below.

REFERENCES:

Penalty Shootouts
Taking Penalty Kicks in Football
Penalty Kicks: Strategy & Drills