Why do goalkeepers dive the wrong way for penalties?

[Nick Bateman]

Watching the Europa final and the penalty shoot-out, I witnessed no penalties being saved until De Gea. The United goalie was always trying to second guess the penalty taker, as was the Villareal 'keeper and none were saved.

If goalies did this for normal shots there would be 20 goals in a match, but they insist on trying to out-guess the spot taker. This makes it a lottery as people have said. But years ago "Big Ron" Atkinson said one of the most sensible things ever spoken in football. He told his goalkeeper to wait for the ball to be kickced and then dive to try and save it.

If only more goalies did this very basic tactic they would find they would save far more then the current trend of "lazy" goalkeeping. They certainly would save every penalty hit down the centre so why not give it a go?

[Nero]

Paul Cooper who had a good record of saving penalties always took a small step to one side so one side of the goal was bigger, he would then dive that way

[FFC In Oz]

Paul Cooper who had a good record of saving penalties always took a small step to one side so one side of the goal was bigger, he would then dive that way

This is the best tactic.

Even if the taker is thinking of putting it in the opposite corner, that small step/movement creates indecision and often forces a penalty which isn't as well directed

[gang]

Tony Macedo tried that too, but there wasn't so many penalties awarded then.

[cookieg]

Why do strikers always kick the ball the wrong way to where the keeper is diving?

[gang]

You're right Cookieg, it's as if they want to score; luckily we don't have that problem, we deliberately miss.

[clarkey]

One word:  Lookman

[cookieg]

Unless a keeper is facing Lookman and he doesn't really have to move but just stand still and catch the ball, there just isn't enough time to wait for the ball to be kicked and then dive. A keeper will try to work out which way a kick is going to go by looking at the angle of the run up, the direction of where the non-kicking foot is planted but even then there is no guarantee the keeper will guess which way the ball is kicked. Plus the speed with which a ball can be kicked, it can be in the back of the net before a keeper can react if he is waiting until the ball is kicked.

A penalty taker can hop skip and jump towards the ball while a keeper has to stand on his line and not make a forward move until the ball is kicked. The advantage will always be with the penalty taker.

[Lordedmundo]

Well the answer is that the direction they dive is where they think the penalty is going! Unless they are taking a bung of course...

They are working on the belief that they need to dive early enough in order to save the penalty if the taker is putting it in the bottom corner.

However, as we know (!) there are plenty of penalty takers who don't hit it accurately enough - so if the keeper waits until the ball is hit they probably have more chance of making a save. Obviously it depends on who the taker is and how good they are.

From a Fulham perspective - I do seem to remember that Bettinelli had a pretty good record in terms of penalty saves...

David de Gea needs to read this article: https://www.wikihow.com/Save-a-Penalty  064.gif

[H4usuallysitting]

I blame Tony Khan

[blingo]

Brian Clough said that if you stood still you would save half of the penalties taken. Watch how many players shoot at the middle of the goal.

[filham]

Agree with the OP,  these days you see many penalties go in which are in fact bad shots at goal.
Remember Kevin Lock, our old left back, always a hard shot into the corner, keeper never had a chance which ever way he dived or even if he stood still.

[cookieg]

Agree with the OP,  these days you see many penalties go in which are in fact bad shots at goal.
Remember Kevin Lock, our old left back, always a hard shot into the corner, keeper never had a chance which ever way he dived or even if he stood still.

Therefore waiting for the taker to kick the ball and then diving wouldn't have mattered as the ball was hit so hard it was in the back of the net before the keeper could react.

[Willham]

As a goalkeeper myself, I would say this when I was really young, and at that age had a higher than 50% saving record but as I grew up it was lower and lower until I remember a point I hadn't saved a penalty in around the last 10, that was when I started to realise my opponents shots had become much more powerful where my reaction speeds and height hadn't advanced in unison.

It got to the point I had to start reading the players stance, footwork, positioning to make a guess where they were shooting, my penalty saving started to creep back into my game but never as high as before. I think for adults, 18 yards for a clear shot on goal is too close for a keeper to react and fling himself that way to save a penalty. But you do need to time your dive spot on, for a player taking a penalty can sometimes react as their taking the shot to which way your diving.
The chest and the way they open the body is a good indicator to me, if they open out their chest I imagine their not going to be going across goal, if there chest closes vice versa,

Someone also mentioned the stepping to a side, i also liked this method. Another I did was leave a specific 'bigger side" then step into that side as their running up, leaving the other side now bigger, in their last second panic they swap their side and I'm now all ready for that.

Also if I see a player I imagine will be cocky , i call them the 'Ronaldo' types, then I resort back to child play. I wait for that second their foot touches to ball then i make a decision. I find these players like to 'place' the ball or try one of those cheeky lob pens, still never conceded one of them and will hate myself the day I do.

[Jim©]

Brian Clough said that if you stood still you would save half of the penalties taken. Watch how many players shoot at the middle of the goal.

Agree with that.
I saw a stat a few years ago saying that 4 in 10 go down the middle.

[Wolf]

Most of the pens in that final were technically very good. De Gea's pen was one of those that wasn't, it was very "saveable".

[RaySmith]

Brian Clough said that if you stood still you would save half of the penalties taken. Watch how many players shoot at the middle of the goal.

Agree with that.
I saw a stat a few years ago saying that 4 in 10 go down the middle.

If  you're nervous and uncertain, especially of you don't take many pens, the advice is to put the laces  through it, hit it straight down the middle, hard and low, gives you the best chance since the keeper is likely to dive to one  side or the other.

If you're nervous and  unconfident, its easy to mishit a shot if you're trying to place it, or hit it too soft or near the keeper, or telegraph which side you're going.

Every pro player should be able to score from a pen, and probably can in training, but  can be hard in games, when nerves come into it.

Berbatov was a supreme pen taker, and he was always so confident about what he was going to do, which he probably practised a lot too.