An all-encompassing look at the penalty kick, soccer’s all-or-nothing play—its legendary moments and the secrets to its success No stretch of grass has been the site of more glory or heartbreak in the world of sports than the few dozen paces between goalkeeper and penalty kicker in soccer. In theory, it’s simple: place the ball beyond a single defender and secure a place in history. But once the chosen players make the lonely march from their respective sides of the pitch, everything changes, all bets are off, and anything can happen. Drawing from the hard-won lessons of legendary games, in-depth statistical analysis, expert opinion, and the firsthand experience of coaches and players from around the world, journalist Ben Lyttleton offers insight into the diverse attitudes, tactics, and techniques that separate success from failure in one of the highest-pressure situations sports has to offer.

The first of Nobel Prize winner Peter Handke's novels to be published in English, The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick is a true modern classic that "portrays the...breakdown of a murderer in ways that recall Camus's The Stranger" (The New York Times). The self-destruction of a soccer goalie turned construction worker who wanders aimlessly around a stifling Austrian border town after pursuing and then murdering, almost unthinkingly, a female movie cashier is mirrored by Handke's use of direct, sometimes fractured prose that conveys "at its best a seamless blend of lyricism and horror seen in the runes of a disintegrating world" (Boston Sunday Globe).

Penalty kicks play a significant role in determining the outcome of a match. Because of this—and because they don't happen in every game—fans, media, and even athletes and trainers are fascinated by them. Over the past 30 years, there have been more than 130 scientific studies which identify the motivational, strategic, anticipatory, and attention- and perception-based factors that can mean a successful or failed penalty kick. In this book, you will find information from these studies presented in such a way that is useful for athletes, trainers, managers, and even soccer fans. All the information on penalty kick methods is based on sport psychology and movement science. The authors have also included anecdotes of the biggest and most important penalties in the history of soccer. They connect these actual events with the scientific findings, creating real-life examples, making the science aspect easier to understand. Furthermore, they examine the penalty kick from both the kicker's and the goalkeeper's perspectives to explain shooting and saving techniques from every angle. A successful penalty kick takes more than just luck, and The Penalty Kick demystifies the science so that you will know how to win every penalty kick!

Penalty kicks play a significant role in determining the outcome of a match. Because of this - and because they don't happen in every game - fans, media, and even athletes and trainers are fascinated by penalty kicks. Over the past 30 years, there have been more than 130 scientific studies which identify the motivational, strategic, anticipatory, and attention- and perception-based factors that can mean a successful or failed penalty kick. This book presents the information from these studies in such a way that it is useful for the athletes, trainers, managers, and even the soccer fans. All the information on penalty kick methods is based on sport psychology and movement science. The authors have also included anecdotes of the biggest and most important penalties in the history of soccer. They connect these actual events with the scientific findings, creating real life examples which make it easier to understand the science. Furthermore, they examine the penalty kick from both the kicker's and the goalkeeper's perspectives to explain shooting and saving techniques from every angle. A successful penalty kick takes more than just luck, and The Penalty Kick demystifies the science so that the reader knows how to win every penalty kick!

An all-encompassing look at the penalty kick, soccer’s all-or-nothing play—its legendary moments and the secrets to its success No stretch of grass has been the site of more glory or heartbreak in the world of sports than the few dozen paces between goalkeeper and penalty kicker in soccer. In theory, it’s simple: place the ball beyond a single defender and secure a place in history. But once the chosen players make the lonely march from their respective sides of the pitch, everything changes, all bets are off, and anything can happen. Drawing from the hard-won lessons of legendary games, in-depth statistical analysis, expert opinion, and the firsthand experience of coaches and players from around the world, journalist Ben Lyttleton offers insight into the diverse attitudes, tactics, and techniques that separate success from failure in one of the highest-pressure situations sports has to offer.

A rousing history of the penalty kick and its introduction in English football by a famed British writer & editor. Football, in the 1880s, was a rough and dangerous game. To address the abhorrent state of the sport, William McCrum, an amateur Irish goalkeeper and the author's great-grandfather, proposed the penalty kick, a new and drastic sanction introduced to the game in 1891. For over a hundred years, this extraordinary phenomenon has not only regulated the conduct of football (also known as soccer) but has also inspired game theories and infiltrated classics of contemporary literature. An enthralling portrait of a lost age, The Penalty Kick: The Story of a Gamechanger is a family history, a social history, and a history of the world's most popular sport. It considers an extraordinary phenomenon as it examines the penalty kick’s psychological—even philosophical—grip on our imaginations, with its distillation of risk and chance into the penalty shoot-out, an all-or-nothing moment.

From the award-winning author of TAMAR, a time-shifting thriller about a vanishing soccer star, occult secrets, and the dark history of slavery. As the city of San Juan pulses to summer’s sluggish beat, its teenage soccer prodigy, El Brujito, the Little Magician, vanishes without a trace -- right after he misses a penalty kick and loses a big game for his team. Paul Faustino, South America’s top sports reporter, is reluctantly drawn into the mystery of the athlete’s disappearance. As a story of corruption and murder unfolds, Faustino is forced to confront the bitter history of slavery and the power of the occult. A deftly woven mystery flush with soccer and suspense, this gripping novel is a thrilling read not to be missed.

Science and Football V presents the edited papers from the Fifth World Congress on Science and Football that took place in Portugal in April 2003. The collection represents the latest scientific research into the variety of sports known as football such as association football; rugby codes (Union and League); national codes (American, Australian and Gaelic). A recurring theme for this series of conferences has been a commitment to bridge the gaps between theory and practice in the service of the promotion of high quality applied football science. The book is clearly structured into nine parts and focuses on the following key issues: introductory keynote address biomechanics and mechanics fitness test profiling of footballers performance and match analysis football medicine football training paediatric exercise science physiology and nutrition behavioural and social sciences. This collection provides valuable information for coaches, players, trainers, managers, medical and support staff, and scientific workers concerned with the range of football codes.

Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner single-handedly showed the world that applying counter-intuitive approaches to everyday problems can bear surprising results. Think Like a Freak will take readers further inside this special thought process, revealing a new way of approaching the decisions we make, the plans we create and the morals we choose. It answers the question on the lips of everyone who’s read the previous books: How can I apply these ideas to my life? How do I make smarter, harder and better decisions? How can I truly think like a freak? With short, highly entertaining insights running the gamut from “The Upside of Quitting” to “How to Succeed with No Talent,” Think Like a Freak is poised to radically alter the way we think about all aspects of life on this planet.

Sports psychology, exploring the effects of psychological interventions on important performance-related outcomes, has become ever more popular and prevalent within elite level soccer clubs in the past decade as teams look to gain psychological as well as physiological advantages over their competitors. The Psychology of Soccer seeks to present the detailed understanding of the theories underpinning the psychological issues relating to soccer, along with practical insights into effective psychological interventions and strategies This book uses contemporary theory and research to elucidate key concepts and applied interventions. It includes world-leading expert commentaries of contemporary theoretical and applied approaches in understanding critical issues in soccer, and provides practical implications and insights into working effectively in soccer-related contexts. The Psychology of Soccer is an evidence-based resource to guide research and facilitate practice and will be a vital resource for researchers, practitioners, and coaches within the area of sport psychology and related disciplines.