Cliff-edge Decisions: The Psychology of Penalties

In this episode, Steve chats to Dr Shehzad Naroo and Dr Lou Atkinson about penalty shootouts, and why the occasion, time of taking and psychology can play a part in succeeding in them. Dr Shehzad Naroo, is an optometrist who co-produced a research paper on penalties and penalty shoot-outs post-1997 ahead of the 2014 World Cup. Dr Naroo found penalties were taken in 25% of matches and converted 68% of the time, and the chances of winning doubled if they were scored. The chances of losing tripled if missed. Dr Naroo also gives his views on takers and goalkeepers’ techniques, including the visual clues they work on, the intimidation used, and his thoughts on the shoot-out orders. You can read Dr Naroo’s research piece . Dr Lou Atkinson cited Dr Pippa Grange, the psychologist who worked at the FA until the end of 2019, a period when England won a shoot-out against Columbia at the 2018 World Cup. Dr Atkinson explains various psychological theories including ‘paralysis by analysis’, ‘hastening & hiding’, ‘action bias’ and how ‘emotional contagions’ spread pride or shame across teams during shoot-outs. You can read more about Dr Atkinson’s citations and . If you’ve liked what you’ve heard and think: ‘I’d like a career in that’, then head to our website – and have a browse of some of the courses that have featured in this episode. They are: