Wondering How To Take A Penalty Kick? Let Us Help You!

Wondering how to take a penalty kick? Stepping up to the penalty spot can be one of the most nerve-wracking, pressure-filled situations in not only football but any sport.

Wondering How to Take a Penalty Kick? Let Us Help You!

Trying to pull-off a penalty kick can make most of us nervous. No matter how good of a player you are, you can make mistakes during this kick.

While scoring from 12 yards out

may sound easy, the prospect of the kick being saved, or even worse, not hitting the target, is not an easy task.

Be it Andrea Pirlo’s ice-cool composure, Fr

ank Lampard’s precision or Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier’s consistency, penalties take some practice not only in placing the ball away from the keeper but also mental training to cope with such pressure.

So, let’s have a look at how you could hit them into the back of the net like

and other great penalty takers.

Place the ball in the penalty spot and don’t be bothered or ruffled by what the goalkeeper may say; goalkeepers tend to try to put off players by saying things to get in the penalty taker’s mind.

Your focus should totally be on the ball despite all the mean stuff that gaolkeepers say. They do that just to distract you.

decide upon where you want to hit the ball

. Make up your mind at the top of your run-up and don’t have second thoughts about where you want to hit it when running up to hit the ball.

[pullquote]Listen to the referee’s whistler and strike the ball.[/pullquote]

How to set-up

There’s no hard-and-fast rule about how or where you have to hit the ball.

[pullquote]You could shoot powerfully low or into the top corners, or place it to perfection to the corners of the goal, or even try a cheeky Panenka kick like Pirlo, where you chip the ball into the goal. [/pullquote]

While practising, ensure that you find one spot and keep hitting it there and replicate that in the game.

How to hit the ball

There is no hard and fast rule on how to take a penalty kick. All you need is some practise and knowledge about your opponents move.

If you want to hit the ball hard and with power, hit the lower part of the ball with the top of your shoes, also called

. Ensure that your standing foot is pointing towards the goal.

Things to keep in mind

; lower shots are tougher for the goalkeeper to save than ones that are waist or shoulder high. For this, hit the ball with the inside of your foot which will give you greater precision and control.

You can put off the goalkeeper by

delaying the shot or even stutter on your run-up

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. If you think that the keeper may move before you kick the ball, wait for him to move when you’re running up to take the kick and then

shoot the ball in the opposite direction

[pullquote]Don’t try to anything different to how you’ve practised. [/pullquote]

Sticking to what you’ve done time after time in practice may come good in the game. By changing where you’re going to hit the ball could confuse you.

Practice the same shot that you want to replicate in the game time after time in practice and you may well score; more than

into the back of the net in football!

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