Yet another link from Cognitive Daily. If a goal keeper in soccer stands just slightly to one side of the goal there is a good chance that the kicker will aim towards the other corner. Makes sense right? Unfortunately, the keepers tend to not know which side they're on so it doesn't help them decide which way to dive when the ball is shot. What neither cog daily nor the person they're linking to for this study realize is that all the keepers teammates are often in a position to see which side the keeper is standing on just like the kicker. It shouldn't be hard to develop some sort of signal where the coach or teammates let the keeper know which side the kicker is likely to go to, thereby giving the keeper an advantage. Though perhaps the distances involved are so small and the teammates are significantly far enough away so that they too are unable to tell which side the keeper is on. Perhaps they need a tv screen on the bench to watch the zoomed live footage.

Labels: scientific study, soccer