PsychologicalRepresentativeTactics
Reading advance information on a penalty (under-10)
A case study with an under-10 goalkeeper showed that giving advance information about the shooter’s tendency changes the child’s motor behaviour — delaying movement onset closer to the actual moment of ball contact, with more penalties saved. This exercise replicates that condition simply.
Choose a session and the exercise is added to today’s plan.
Load
- minutes
- 8
- dives/set
- 5
- Sets and reps
- 1 × 10
- Intensity
- Low
dives per set, per goalkeeper
Microcycle days it fits
MD-3, MD-2
Each bar’s height is that day’s dive ceiling.
Setup
- Goalkeepers
- 1
- server
- 1
- outfield player
- 0
Space: 10 × 11 m
Equipment: Balls, Full goal
The coach serves and manages the breaks.
1 steps
A series of penalties taken by the same teammate. In half the series, the coach says before each kick which side the shooter tends to favour; in the other half, no information is given.
Exercise sequence
Coaching points
- Even with the information, the final decision moment is still ball contact — advance information helps preparation, it doesn’t replace reading.
- Don’t treat the information as a guarantee; the shooter can change, and reacting too early to wrong information is worse than having none at all.
- Keep the base posture the same with and without information — the difference should be in come-out timing, not a different starting position.
- Celebrate saves made with and without advance information equally, so the child doesn’t think only the former "count".
Progressions
- Give the information, but wrong on some reps, to test whether the child trusts it too much.
- Switch the shooter mid-series, without warning.
Regressions
- Always give correct information, with no exceptions, in the first sessions.
- Reduce shot speed.