The Sports Psychology Blog
Today's Sports Psychology blog, reflects on the Wolves home reverse to Manchester City.
Football: Marcus Hanhemann - Flat-Footed!
Its the post match interview at Molineux. His Wolves side have been beaten 3-0 by Manchester City. And Mick McCarthy is keeping his counsel about the referees assistant. But we know what he is thinking.
This is because, he wasn't keeping his counsel during the match. McCarthy was clearly incensed that the assistant kept his flag down, in a passage of play that led to City's second goal.
But was McCarthy right to direct his ire at the man with the flag? What about his keeper Marcus Hanhemann?
When Javier Garrido curled his free-kick around the Wolves wall, Hanhemann remained rooted to his line. Basically, he watched the free-kick, as it ended up in the bottom right hand corner.
And this is something that we see a lot of. Remember Ross Wallace's free-kick for Preston North End, in the Lancashire derby with Blackpool recently?
Blackpool keeper Matt Gilks watched flat-footed, as the ball sailed into his left hand corner. But why do good keepers, not try to save these free-kicks?
What happens is a keeper makes his mind up, on where he feels the free-kick is going to be placed. This decision, subtly shifts his body weight onto one side.
Therefore, if the kick goes to his other side, he cannot shift his weight fast enough, because his mind has become locked into expecting a certain outcome.
The key therefore, is to remain balanced, and be ready to quickly spring to the left or the right. Maybe Marcus Hanhemann would not have saved Garrido's free-kick. But he would have at least given himself a chance. Remember - the free-kick prediction game is fraught with risk!
