The Goalkeeper’s Dilemma

Facing a penalty kick, the dutiful soccer goalie has three basic choices: dive to the left; dive to the right; and stand in the middle. What’s the best choice?  According to research conducted by a team of Israeli scientists and published in the Journal of Economic Psychology, “the optimal strategy for goalkeepers is to stay in the goal’s center.” It’s true. So true that it is noted in a recent issue of the New York Times Sunday Magazine, which reports that the academics analyzed 286 penalty kicks and found that 94 percent of
the time the goalies dived to the right or the left — even though the
chances of stopping the ball were highest when the goalie stayed in the
center. Why then, do keepers prefer to dive dramatically to the left or right? The researchers suggest that no one, particularly not an athlete who is being observed by thousands of fans, wants to look like he is doing nothing.
To read more, click here, then click on the letter “G” and go to “Goalkeeper Science.”