On winning the “lottery”: psychological preparation for football penalty shoot-outs

Abstract

The outcome of penalty shootouts is often referred to as a 'lottery', with the determining factor being luck rather than the skill level of the player. Throughout this article we hope to show why such attitudes towards physical and psychological preparation can diminish the perceived control of penalty takers and can negatively affect their behaviour and subsequent performance. From the synthesis of this evidence we provide task-specific recommendations that are structured around the dynamic nature of emotions that players are likely to experience during each phase of the shootout and which can be implemented or adapted to suit the individual needs of the player. These recommendations are designed to help applied professionals to optimise the psychological preparation for this scenario with the overall aim of helping players to take back control of the situation.

Teeing up for success: The effects of rational and irrational self-talk on the putting performance of amateur golfers

“…As such, we could surmise that participants were more likely to engage with rational self-talk statements prior to the task because they perceived rational self-talk as more useful, and consequently, performance was facilitated due to a positive self-fulfilling prophecy (Rosenthan & Jacobson, 1968). Second, previous researchers (e.g., Wood, Jordet, & Wilson, 2015) have suggested, and some researchers (e.g., Dixon, Turner, & Gillman, 2016) have found, positive associations between irrational beliefs and threat cognitive appraisals in relation to motivated performance situation. To explain, those with a rational view may be less likely to make a threat appraisals due to a realistic perspective of success and failure (i.e., "underperforming would be bad but certainly not the end of the world") and less likely to condemn themselves wholly for a behaviour (i.e., "I cannot be rated wholly as a failure for underperforming in a single instance").…”

Testing the construct validity of a soccer-specific virtual reality simulator using novice, academy, and professional soccer players

“…The examination of these types of questions would validate the feasibility of using VR for sporting scenarios where anxiety and distraction are prevalent and athletes need to maintain attentional control in order to avoid performance disruptions. Training in such situations is likely to desensitize players to threatening stimuli and provide a greater sense of perceived control (Wood et al 2015).…”

Tattoos and Penalty Success at the FIFA World Cup 2018

“…Penalties and in particular shoot-outs are often termed a "lottery" [9]. However, in recent years, attempts have been made to better understand and explain their outcomes scientifically [10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”