Effects of Providing Advance Cues during a Soccer Penalty Kick on the Kicker's Rate of Success

Abstract

The effect of explicitly providing goalkeeper's movement advanced cue to the kicker during a real penalty kick task was assessed. 32 expert soccer players (M age = 23.2 yr.), who were divided into four groups: an experimental group, a discovery group, a placebo group, and a control group, participated. Rate of success in the task was assessed, as well as goals, decision times, and ball flight times. Providing an advance cue significantly improved the players' rate of success relative to players without the advance cue; this difference was still present after 1 and 7 days without training. The experimental group adapted better to the time range within which the response could be effective, while the discovery group showed adaptations. Explicit instructions about the advance cues available from goalkeepers' actions before the dive during practice can improve penalty kick performance.